PLug-in hybrids guide

How to get the most from your plug-in hybrid

Here we’ll give you a few tips on how to maximise your EV miles and get the best experience out of your plug-in hybrid.

Tip 1: Charging

Charge your car for ultra-low emissions

Charging your plug-in hybrid is the key to getting the best fuel economy and emissions from it.

Plug your car in at the end of the day so it charges overnight (when electricity is cheapest) and it will be fully charged long before the morning. At home you can charge from a standard plug socket or a dedicated wall charger.

The same commute for so much less

With the average UK commute just under 30 miles a day, getting into the habit of charging your PHEV overnight can mean your daily commute is done almost entirely on electric power, reducing the cost and your carbon footprint.

Discover PHEV savings

Tip 2: Driving

Optimise the way you drive

As with any car, how your drive has a big impact on how efficient your car is able to be. Simple things like dropping a few mph below the speed limit really add up over time.

Slow is smooth...

The Outlander PHEV has built in features that help you drive more economically like a speed limiter that lets you set your current speed as the maximum with the press of a button, and once the speed limit changes, you simply increase or decrease the limiter to match.

...and smooth is fast

Anyone who’s ever attended a Speed Awareness course will know that driving a little slower, leaving more of a gap between you and the car in front and allowing your car to slow down gradually as you come toward a junction has actually been proven to speed up journeys as you give yourself more time to react and do less sudden braking.

Regenerative Braking

A great feature of plug-in hybrids is regenerative braking, where the car captures the kinetic energy from braking to re-charge the battery and at the same time slows the car down when you lift your foot off the accelerator.

It’s perfect for coasting toward a junction or slowing your speed on a steep hill and Outlander PHEV has five regen braking settings that control how strongly the brakes engage.

Tip 3: Saving your charge

Choose when to drive on electricity

A modern plug-in hybrid like Outlander PHEV automatically switches between petrol and electric power depending on your driving style, but it doesn’t have the knowledge of your journey that you do.

Your journey, your way

If for example you know you’re going to drive at about 50mph for ten miles and then through a city in slow moving traffic, you can press the SAVE button and keep the battery charge for when it has the biggest benefit in traffic by not polluting the air.

Tip 4: EV driving

You decide when EV is best

Outlander PHEV also lets you tell it to drive solely on electric power, so if you know you’re only driving a few miles, hit the EV button and the car won’t switch to petrol until the battery is empty.

Tip 5: Travelling longer distances

How to be efficient on longer journeys

Re-charging on longer journeys is getting easier and easier with charge stations popping up in supermarkets, shopping malls and service stations across the UK and Europe. A little planning can go a long way.

If you’re staying somewhere overnight, take your charge cable with you and plug-in where you’re staying.

Why choose a plug-in hybrid?

The best of both worlds

The true power of a plug-in hybrid lies in its ability to offer the best of both the alternatives, giving you the longer range and more convenient refuelling of a petrol car with the ultra-low emissions potential of electric.

Not all hybrids are created equal

People often misunderstand the benefits of hybrid cars, and there’s a common misconception that all hybrids are more or less the same.

In reality a standard or self-charging hybrid (like a Toyota Prius) only offers very small increases in efficiency vs. an equivalent petrol car because the battery is small and only powers the car at very low speeds.

Find out more about the different types of hybrid car.