Real life experience

[KPG]

I'm looking for some real life advice please.

Currently I have the PHEV and always use my car for the same type of journeys. My typical journeys tend to be;

 

Small local journeys which are always all electric.

Oldham to Manchester Airport return mixed driving (always stop over)

Oldham to Coventry return mixed driving (always stop over)

Oldham to Milton Keynes return mixed driving (always stop over)

Oldham to Gateshead return mixed driving (always stop over)

I think you get the idea.

I'd like the real world idea of what sort of mileage you guys are getting from full electric if I make the switch please ?

 

I have zero interest in all this driving with no aircon, driving at slow speeds trying to break some kind of record I'm only really interested in opinions from those who are driving like normal people doing normal motorway speeds. At this time my local Toyota want to take my PHEV and replace it offering me a cracking deal so it's something I feel I need to look into.

Thanking you in advance.

 

 

[leosayer]

Real life experience for me driving under normal conditions combined city and motorway average is 4,1 miles/KW

[philip42h]

45 minutes ago, KPG said:

I'd like the real world idea of what sort of mileage you guys are getting from full electric if I make the switch please ?

I have zero interest in all this driving with no aircon, driving at slow speeds trying to break some kind of record I'm only really interested in opinions from those who are driving like normal people doing normal motorway speeds.

What you get will be very much dependent upon when and how you drive. EVDB gives realistic estimates for the AWD model:

• Highway - Cold Weather    140 miles
• Highway - Mild Weather    175 miles

Where:

• Cold weather: 'worst-case' based on -10°C and use of heating.
• Mild weather: 'best-case' based on 23°C and no use of A/C.
• For 'Highway' figures a constant speed of 70 mph is assumed.

You'll go further where you drive more slowly but you'll also lose a bit of range by using the aircon in summer ...

[Tom_Dww]

I have a BZ FWD since January & have 21K km on the clock. Range in any EV will depend on various factors. Speed, driving style, A/C, weight, temperature & weather to name a few. I tend to drive to the speed limit on urban but not above 115km on motorway. Mine is a FWD with the latest software update & I'm getting between 400km > 440km at the moment. According to what I have read the AWD has less range.

[KPG]

sounds like I'm better sticking with the PHEV or looking at another brand. I've also discovered that even the dual motor is less than 230 bhp so much slower than the competition.

[ernieb]

The PHEV works well if your local mileage is around 46miles on average. (Average of winter and summer). Even in HEV mode the car performs well and economically.

Mine typically shows an HEV range of 550miles on a full tank and today (warm weather) 57miles on EV. These are of course with the heating and AC on.

[KPG]

6 minutes ago, ernieb said:

The PHEV works well if your local mileage is around 46miles on average. (Average of winter and summer). Even in HEV mode the car performs well and economically.

Mine typically shows an HEV range of 550miles on a full tank and today (warm weather) 57miles on EV. These are of course with the heating and AC on.

I know had my PHEV for two years in September.

[egg]

On 6/23/2023 at 8:05 AM, KPG said:

sounds like I'm better sticking with the PHEV or looking at another brand. I've also discovered that even the dual motor is less than 230 bhp so much slower than the competition.

If I were in your position, after owning my BZ4X since November, I would still go full EV.

Thing's to consider,

While stopping overnight at your destinations, do you have the opportunity to charge overnight whilst at your accommodation?

If not, a little research for local EV chargers would pay massive dividends, and after a couple of trips, their location, reliability, would become second nature to you.

The majority of your mileage would be covered by the cheap charging at home.

EV wise,

If you could drop on a bargain almost brand new FWD BZ4X (little extra range than AWD, for not much less power), at the dealer, I'd go that route.

If the increased price of the brand new BZ4X is not an issue, then happy days.

If you can't charge overnight at your destinations, or don't want responsibility of finding available, reliable chargers, I'd go Tesla model Y (either standard range RWD or Long range AWD), also if you went Long range AWD, you probably wouldn't have to charge away from home even in winter if you didn't want to.

 

 

[Spo2]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:21 AM, egg said:

If I were in your position, after owning my BZ4X since November, I would still go full EV.

Thing's to consider,

While stopping overnight at your destinations, do you have the opportunity to charge overnight whilst at your accommodation?

If not, a little research for local EV chargers would pay massive dividends, and after a couple of trips, their location, reliability, would become second nature to you.

The majority of your mileage would be covered by the cheap charging at home.

EV wise,

If you could drop on a bargain almost brand new FWD BZ4X (little extra range than AWD, for not much less power), at the dealer, I'd go that route.

If the increased price of the brand new BZ4X is not an issue, then happy days.

If you can't charge overnight at your destinations, or don't want responsibility of finding available, reliable chargers, I'd go Tesla model Y (either standard range RWD or Long range AWD), also if you went Long range AWD, you probably wouldn't have to charge away from home even in winter if you didn't want to.

 

 

I just test drove Model Y, and actually liked it considering their super charger network. Content with my current C-HR but would be looking for new Model 3 update which is due soon. I do not like EVs where you need to keep the Battery between 20 to 80% which effectively reduce the practical range.

[OldSteve]

18 hours ago, Spo2 said:

I just test drove Model Y, and actually liked it considering their super charger network. Content with my current C-HR but would be looking for new Model 3 update which is due soon. I do not like EVs where you need to keep the battery between 20 to 80% which effectively reduce the practical range.

I didn't think you needed to keep the Battery in that range. Isn't that just the sweet spot for rapid charging?

[Spo2]

23 hours ago, OldSteve said:

I didn't think you needed to keep the battery in that range. Isn't that just the sweet spot for rapid charging?

I thought it is to prevent degradation and increase the longevity of the Battery.

[bZ4X]

I tested almost all EVs in the market. I own bz4x premiere edition and this is the only car I would prefer with this budget currently. My second option was KIA EV6. 

 

Very silent, comfortable driving, Toyota 10 years worry free warranty, after sales support is quite satisfying me as I had some troubles with it 😊. Range is enough for me to commute and use it for daily things. 

 

We own another petrol SUV car but no one wants to use it anymore 😉. 

[dab1054]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:20 PM, Spo2 said:

I thought it is to prevent degradation and increase the longevity of the battery.

There is a lot of hocus pocus about charging only to 80% and never going to 100%. I think some of it is historical- relating to earlier EV models where Battery management was not as good. Toyota consistently say that for the bZ4X you can AC (home charge) to 100% as much as you like without restriction. Why reduce your range by only charging to 80%? Although the bZ4X is Toyota's first major Battery EV we should remember that they have a vast amount of experience of using Battery technology in their very successful ICE/EV hybrids. My old 2008 Prius went for nearly 15 years with not a single problem with the battery!

[dab1054]

1 hour ago, bZ4X said:

I tested almost all EVs in the market. I own bz4x premiere edition and this is the only car I would prefer with this budget currently. My second option was KIA EV6. 

Agreed- I also test drove many EVs including Tesla, Kia, Hyundai etc before settling on the bZ4X. My second choice to the bZ4X was the Hyundai Ioniq 5- though that seems a very dated design when I see it these days. 

[ernieb]

I think that the first charge of the day (overnight at home) can be to 100% but subsequent charges during the day are restricted to 80%.

I think the 80% charge rule is about chemistry and Battery life charge cycles.

[TonyHSD]

This with Battery charge 20-80% is a lot of myth involved in.
No problems to fully charge your Battery up to 100% every day or every time you need. 
If you don’t drive the car for let say a couple of months then it is a good idea to charge up to 80% and leave it there. 
What is not good for batteries in general is to fully discharge them and fully charge them from 0% especially on a fast chargers, just try not to do that every time and you won’t have any Battery problems.
Very simple rules really that makes a common sense.  
In hybrids for example what is not good to turn off your engine while is charging the battery when at low soc and leave the car for longer time without use. 
Drive your evs and hybrids as you wish and as you would have drive any other type of cars. Use hvac, set ac on, heating on and your desired temperature in auto mode and forget about it. Just drive and enjoy your cars. 👍

[ChrisON]

21 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

This with battery charge 20-80% is a lot of myth involved in.
 

Yup - too many conflicting opinions about what you should/shouldn't do without clear, unequivocal data to support any of it. My view is that l will charge the bz4x as my needs dictate and rely on Toyota's warranty.

 

21 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Drive your evs and hybrids as you wish and as you would have drive any other type of cars. Use hvac, set ac on, heating on and your desired temperature in auto mode and forget about it. Just drive and enjoy your cars. 👍

This ^^^

My only worry/stress is when my solar isn't running at max capacity and it might cost me money to charge the bz4x. 😢

 

Chris

Edited July 5, 2023 by ChrisON
correcting typo's

[Cyker]

20-80% is the optimal range for maximizing Battery life, but there's no real issue with using the full range of the Battery. Like with the hybrids there is a hidden buffer anyway so you should never really hit 0/100% of the battery's real capacity.

The only thing about 0 or 100% is it's bad for the Battery to *hold* it there for extended periods, as this accelerates degradation. If you just charged it to 100% overnight to use it in the morning that'd be fine, but holding it at 100% or 0% for months without using it would shorten its life more noticeably (Still only a bit tho, but building as time goes on)

You'll find this with laptop batteries, esp. in older ones which don't have any intelligent battery management - If you leave it at 100% all the time and always plug it in, the one time you use it on battery you'll find it doesn't last as long as it should. Many higher-end laptops restrict the charge to stop that happening.

The general advice is to limit maximum charge to 80 for normal everyday use, e.g. commuting, but it's okay to ramp it up to 100% for the weekend or if you're going to go on a trip or something. 20% is generally a good time to think about finding a charger - Heck, even I start to think about refuelling when I get to 20%-ish and my cars have all been petrol or diesel!