Marketing con! Fuel consumption with auxiliary engine.

[Kermit power]

Does anyone else have a PHEV with a separate auxiliary petrol engine for heating?

My former C350e didn't, and the battery range would drop from around 15 miles on a mild spring day to about 4 miles in sub-zero temperatures.

My current XC60 does, and it gives me pretty much bang on 20 miles in any weather conditions.

The con job kicks in when you realise that I've done at least 95% of my journeys during Covid on battery power only, yet still have an mpg of around 65mpg, and still have to top the tank up from time to time, as really annoyingly the sodding thing won't turn the heating on if you've got the low fuel warning light on, even with a fully charged battery!

It feels like a complete con to claim the battery range it does when you're only going to get that when the ambient temperature outside the car serendipitously happens to match what you want inside it.

Even more frustratingly, there is no option to say that I want the heating to be done by the batteries, which would make perfect sense if I knew I was only doing a short trip.

[Silent1]

Is the heating not done by the coolant from the engine rather than a heat pump thereby it’s unable to use the batteries to generate heat?

[Kermit power]

Silent1 said:

Is the heating not done by the coolant from the engine rather than a heat pump thereby it’s unable to use the batteries to generate heat?

Possibly, although the Merc managed it both ways.

[buggalugs]

I’ve found that having the heating a little lower and using the heated heats seems to use a bit less power in my beemer. Pre-heat is good too but the 3 pin charger can’t keep up with the power draw so you end up starting with a not full battery.

[normalbloke]

You need THE Mercedes jacket,hat,scarf and stringbacks package.