Octavia iv real elec range

[Novascape]

Hey all,

 

Had my octavia iv estate for about 3 weeks now. Most I've been able to get the car to show for all elec range is 31miles with Aircon etc off. Which turned into about 29miles actual driving.

 

Does this get any better? With the claim of 43miles on a charge I was hoping for at least 35miles+

 

Thanks

[Markeknows]

As with all batteries it’s weather dependent. Whilst in Spain a few weeks ago my predicted range was way better. Wait til winter…

[Novascape]

Mostly been about 15-20c here so I would of thought that would be good operating temp range for the lithium battery?

 

 

[Edela]

Living in Spain, never turn off AC, often leave it on while car is parked and locked for some 20-30 minutes while in a shop. Car is preheated or pre-cooled in the morning, which saves a lot of battery on the first trip. Many short trips within my town (hills and lots of speed bumps) gives me 35-38km on full charge. One long round trip to the city center (living in outskirts of Madrid, so combination of 100km/h roads on the way there and smaller city roads inside) gives 55-60km on full charge. I think numbers would be even better if it was flat here, but it is not quite. Also it does not depend on outside temp as long as it is +20. In winter, when temperatures are below 10°C, there is less range, but not that significantly unless I'd try to heat the car like a sauna.

Edited 28 July, 2023 by Edela

[SkOmk4]

Today I test-drove a Cupra Formentor VZ e-Hybrid 245 HP - so the equivalent of the Octavia VRS iV.
It was quite impressive getting off my TDI/DSG 150 HP and "playing" with the Formentor in Sport mode. It made no sense to drive using Cupra-mode, since it was a 50-50% city-highway for about 45 minutes. Obviously the electric range of that car is naturally lower than the one of the Octavia iV - it's also indicated in the data-sheet.
However, since the dealership gave me the car with the battery 1/2 full, while I was testing the behavior and transitions between electric and ICE, a question rose in my mind... maybe you guys "iV-owners" can enlighten me:
If there's no more juice left in the battery, and you can no longer switch to EV-mode, AFAIK the car still behaves as a simple hybrid (non-PHEV), still keeping a battery reserve "hidden from the driver" - please correct me if I'm wrong. Now my question is: at this point, does the hybrid system still provide the electric-boost when you floor the noise-making pedal? Or is the electric motor only used to start from a complete stop?
I spent some time online (mainly youTube) to find an answer, but couldn't find anything relevant.
As a comment after the test: I would have loved to have the option of using the shifter-paddles on the steering-wheel as energy recovery adjustment (I saw this on other hybrids and it's great!), such that in town you can even go into one-pedal-drive mode. I guess it could be easily implemented SW-wise... to have an option in the Infotainment "Paddels-mode" with a choice between gear-changing and recovery-adjustment. 

 

P.S. I got a bit of torque-steer flooring the car on a straight line, rejoining the highway from a secondary road. It took me by surprise, I was expecting the electronics of the car to take care of that - but IT DID put a smile on my face...

L.E.  Another rookie question:
when you're out of electric range, do you guys get better mileage in town than on motorways - as it is the case with normal-hybrids I drove on several occasions?

 

 

Edited 29 July, 2023 by SkOmk4

[Novascape]

When my battery gets low and says zero range. It switches to hybrid and I still get the motor boost. Never had it not work. But then the car is pretty good at recovering energy. So either it holds some charge back for boost or it has always recovered enough energy by the time I need it..

 

Engine on its own is not very eco. But you are more likely to recover ev charge round town as you brake a lot more so will get higher mileage as it will top up and switch to ev. 

 

 

[DavidY]

20 hours ago, SkOmk4 said:

As a comment after the test: I would have loved to have the option of using the shifter-paddles on the steering-wheel as energy recovery adjustment (I saw this on other hybrids and it's great!), such that in town you can even go into one-pedal-drive mode. I guess it could be easily implemented SW-wise... to have an option in the Infotainment "Paddels-mode" with a choice between gear-changing and recovery-adjustment.

 

 

I don't have an IV myself, but according to this comment you can hold the left paddle to start manual regen, and hold right to return to auto mode.
 

 

[SkOmk4]

Thanks for that, but I think what that post was saying is "how to get OUT of coasting".

Even my TDI DSG has this very annoying setting - going into coasting when you lift off the accelerator with the DSG in D-mode; and indeed, clicking the left paddle will engage back the clutch. When I was "preparing" for the Formentor test-drive I saw some video showing that even the PHEV DSG is coded such that it will go into coasting in some situations when in "D". However, if you keep the DSG in S-mode it will always regen when lifting from the accelerator. But the regeneration intensity cannot be changed as far as I understood and tested.

I drove other PHEVs where you could change the regeneration intensity with the paddles - really enjoyable!

[Novascape]

You can adjust the regen level in settings but not sure if it can be done by the paddles. I'll give it a go.

[Edela]

On 29/07/2023 at 17:55, SkOmk4 said:

If there's no more juice left in the battery, and you can no longer switch to EV-mode, AFAIK the car still behaves as a simple hybrid (non-PHEV), still keeping a battery reserve "hidden from the driver" - please correct me if I'm wrong. Now my question is: at this point, does the hybrid system still provide the electric-boost when you floor the noise-making pedal? Or is the electric motor only used to start from a complete stop?

My Octavia always keeps 1% of charge and uses it whenever I accelerate. However, if there wasn't possibility to recuperate energy or recharge battery, I see that every next acceleration gets shorter and weaker boost from battery.
I shall mention though that SW 1941 changed battery management and now recharging battery works a bit differently. For example, before I could got to battery settings and put it to "charge battery" mode, and car would start engine and charge battery even if it is parked. It was a nice way to heat engine in winter and make car defrost. Now it wouldn't start engine and charge battery unless I'm actually accelerating, it switches engine off again to coast or when car is standing. Though I have an impression that it charges battery more efficiently now.
 

 

On 29/07/2023 at 17:55, SkOmk4 said:

L.E.  Another rookie question:
when you're out of electric range, do you guys get better mileage in town than on motorways - as it is the case with normal-hybrids I drove on several occasions?

Can't really compare, but overall even with empty battery I have very decent mileage on freeways. Last winter made a round trip across Europe and even in Germany with speeds around 170 my total consumption was slightly above 6 liters. In fact, I don't see any point to charge battery before going on a long run on freeways, it drains in the first 100-150km and does not make any difference on a long run, just unnecessary expense to charge it. Though it helps a lot that on a hills car switches off engine and regens.
 

 

On 29/07/2023 at 17:55, SkOmk4 said:

As a comment after the test: I would have loved to have the option of using the shifter-paddles on the steering-wheel as energy recovery adjustment

I would love to have that, too. Sadly, it is not how it works in Octavia, even though this is how they've done in Enyaq.

 

 

23 hours ago, DavidY said:

and hold right to return to auto mode.

It is actually quite annoying that long hold of the right paddle is needed to switch back to auto. I figured that you may just continue driving normally and it will go back automatically after some 5 seconds.

[PoloGaz]

On my iv I’ve been experimenting with the left paddle to start high regen rate; on my car I just need to press it once briefly and it gives me high regen until I use the accelerator again, by which time it goes back to auto mode. So it’s working in my car just as the person above mentioned they wished it could. Mine is brand new on software version 1941

 

When I press the left paddle I also briefly see in the virtual cockpit screen an indicator that the car is in M2 or M3 etc instead of D mode. But even with the engine running it doesn’t seem to actually affect the gear selected

 

my kodiaq had the paddle shift so it’s felt quite natural going over to this system from that car

 

Edited 31 October, 2023 by PoloGaz

[Edela]

13 hours ago, PoloGaz said:

So it’s working in my car just as the person above mentioned they wished it could.

What we were talking about is changing regen force by paddles, not just switching it on and off. Also, at least on my 2020 model, it does not switch full regen when toggling left paddle. It is some sort of automatic mode and It never brakes as hard as it could. For example, driving downhill I toggle left paddle and car still accelerates while regenerating, but if I toggle cruise control, it starts regenerating much better and has no problem holding constant speed. I imagine that it would start applying full regen if I choose it to do so in the settings, but it would come with regen kicking in when I release gas pedal, which I don't need at all.

[SkOmk4]

Not sure if the Octavia hybrid system behaves the same as the one I now have on the Formentor, but AFAIK it's identical.
So, what I've been able to find out so far:
- using the left paddle will switch the DSG to Manual Mode, if you press more than once you're actually changing gears down - which in turn means more regen. So it somehow emulates the system that I've met on other EV or hybrid cars - stronger regeneration.

- resuming DSG Automatic Mode will be seamless - once you press the accelerator it will go into Auto quite soon. But NOT if you're in Sport Driving Mode; if in Sport, one needs to keep the right paddle pressed for 1-2 seconds and the DSG will go from M to S (not D, obviously).

- driving in Sport Mode is almost like driving in one-pedal mode. The regen is automatically set to "Strong"; I've been using it a lot on the winding mountain roads and I barely needed to touch the brake pedal. It's quite nice. However, if I'm not mistaking, when I engage Sport Mode the car Automatically switches to Hybrid - it will not stay in EV mode.
- I personally think it's a bit stupid to allow a hybrid car to do "coasting", but over 1 month (since I have the car) I've learnt to go out of coasting using the left paddle when I think it's needed. On the other hand, the CUPRA SW allows the user to set the Regen Mode to Strong, Low or AUTO - I hope the Octavia has the same option. If one uses Strong - it will be almost one-pedal drive, as in the Sport Mode I mentioned above, but without ICE. I tested Low regen setting, and it is too low for my taste... Auto Regen will allow coasting (annoying for me) but the car will start regenerating energy once it detects that the car in front is slowing down or is too close - which is quite a nice feature! And the Regen strength is variable, adjusted by the car - according to the distance to the car in front, or how strong the car in front is braking (BTW - NOT to be confused with ACC!)

 

17 hours ago, PoloGaz said:

the car is in M2 or M3 etc instead of D mode

That is actually showing you what gear is engaged in your DSG. It is really changing gears when you're using the paddles.

[Edela]

2 hours ago, SkOmk4 said:

using the left paddle will switch the DSG to Manual Mode, if you press more than once you're actually changing gears down - which in turn means more regen.

I will check this next time I will drive in hybrid mode, but in electric it only switches on regen and switching 'gears' up or down does nothing.

[DavidY]

On 01/11/2023 at 16:22, SkOmk4 said:

- using the left paddle will switch the DSG to Manual Mode, if you press more than once you're actually changing gears down - which in turn means more regen. So it somehow emulates the system that I've met on other EV or hybrid cars - stronger regeneration.

I think the suggestion was that "hold"ing the paddle - which I assume is a long pull instead of a short one - might change the regen without changing gear?

 

Quote

I personally think it's a bit stupid to allow a hybrid car to do "coasting", but over 1 month (since I have the car) I've learnt to go out of coasting using the left paddle when I think it's needed.

I have a Mk3 with DSG and I do like the coasting feature on some roads.  It's not very good in stop-start congested urban traffic but if you're lucky enough to drive on a fairly quiet national speed limit road, it can be great. I'm sure they did the maths that it saves fuel (otherwise why bother building the feature) and this was with an ICE car where the engine is idling all the time - a hybrid would be even better as the ICE could presumably stop completely.

But I don't see any logic to remove the coasting option from hybrids, as long as the regen can be controlled so you don't end up braking later.

On the right road, if you have kinetic energy it's always going to be most efficient to keep it as kinetic energy as long as that's what you need. Converting to electrical energy is always going to waste some of it and be less efficient than coasting (but more efficient than braking).

Edited 2 November, 2023 by DavidY

[PoloGaz]

Can confirm short press is doing the gears. Will try a long press next time!

 

it took me ages to find how to alter the regen behaviour. It’s well buried in the menus now. Options are either. On, Auto or Off. I didn’t try the On setting. I assume that’s the new high? Not sure why you’d turn it off.

[SkOmk4]

I was wondering the other day what is the average electric consomption you guys get on Octavia; by average I mean per EV trip, since it's too complicated to calculate on long term with the ICE sometimes kicking in...

I'm asking because on the Formentor I never saw anything below 17.5 - 17.8 kWh/100 km, and those are really  isolated cases, with ideal temperatures and nice traffic.
Most of the time I see values between 19 and 22 kWh/100km, urban commute over 12 km, moderate traffic with an average speed of 20-25 km/h over the entire trip. Cupra mentions 14-15 kWh/100km WLTP and I'm constantly getting some 33% above that, without pushing the car and using regen most of the time. 

[Edela]

Consumption values are some random values tbh. Here is a recent example: I drove 50 km and arrived home with 5% left, infotainment shows my consumption was 15 kWh/100km. How does this make sense if battery is 11 kWh? Even if useful capacity is more like 10 kWh, with such low consumption I should have made over 60 km. So watching such numbers I surprisingly learned that actually ICE cars estimate consumption much better than EVs...

[SkOmk4]

Ok, so Octavia SW is a bit more optimistic when it comes to consumption evaluation... 🙂
What you're saying is that (since you left with 100% battery) at 15 kWh/100km you would expect 7.5 kWh used over 50 km, which would mean the battery should still have about 25% at destination? That's assuming a total usable capacity of about 10-10.5 kWh...
Which actually means that the trip computer report is close to the WLTP, but doesn't make too much sense when you crunch the numbers at the end of your trip, right?

On mine - as far as I can tell - the math it's pretty consistent. I have a 12 km trip to work (same trip back in te evening) on flat urban landscape; the car uses on average 25-30% of the battery each way, depending on temperature, traffic (or my shoe 🙃).
So I generally have 40-50% of the battery when I return home after 24 km, which translates into 40-48 full electric range from 100%. That's actually very close the 20-22 kWh/100km the car is reporting, but really far from the WLTP (which I never believed anyway).

[Novascape]

I've never been able to understand the elec consumption data. I just go on a view on average I can do about 28miles in winter and about 34 in summer on full charge. But I live in an up and down world. Not many flat roads near me.

[jpg86]

In the last week (since the 1941 update) I’ve only been able to get 24 miles from a full charge. That sound normal? 

[Edela]

6 hours ago, SkOmk4 said:

Which actually means that the trip computer report is close to the WLTP, but doesn't make too much sense when you crunch the numbers at the end of your trip, right?

I'm not referring to WLTP at all. I mean, I've seen average of 30 or 40 for a trip, so it doesn't seem like car tries to make numbers nicer and closer to WLTP. I just think that for some reason car can't evaluate consumption well. Which is a big surprise to me, since I thought unlike air flow in ICEs, electrical current flow is something we learned to measure very precisely. But not in an EV for some reason. I suspect that what car regenerates is not what it actually charges in its battery and this is where the difference coming from.

Edited 7 November, 2023 by Edela

[mccririck]

Don't forget some electricity will be used for air conditioning, lights etc. Also if you're accelerating heavily that will use more than pulling away gently.

 

I have noticed when the charge is at zero miles it will show it's charging the battery sometimes while my foot is on the accelerator pedal on flat or even slightly uphill roads. It must be putting resistance into the regenerative braking which means more petrol is being used than normal.

[SkOmk4]

13 hours ago, Edela said:

I suspect that what car regenerates is not what it actually charges in its battery and this is where the difference coming from.

I see what you mean... and it sounds a bit strange.
I didn't notice anything similar on mine, and I'm almost sure it would be the same management SW on both cars, since the entire hybrid system is identical. As I mentioned before, the numbers seem to add up quite nicely in terms of range and real mileage. I even checked against the report of the charging App and things do make sense if one takes into account the charging and discharging efficiencies. 

 

13 hours ago, mccririck said:

Don't forget some electricity will be used for air conditioning, lights etc.

Agreed, but that's also the case when driving an ICE - so all in all, the real-world mileage should include everything.
 

[PetrolDave]

15 hours ago, jpg86 said:

In the last week (since the 1941 update) I’ve only been able to get 24 miles from a full charge. That sound normal? 

The 1941 update is to the infotainment system only, so will have no effect on the powertrain.

 

More likely is the colder wetter weather affecting the power drain (wipers, heater, etc.) and hence the range.