The car was ordered in October 2014 and prior to delivery read every review I could find and watched every Youtube video so I knew as much about the car as was available. Still much to learn though. Here goes.
Took delivery of the (very high spec) car 7 days ago and so far so good. Local mileage all done on electric (ie 300mpg which is the max the DIS will indicate) having had the charging point installed by Chargemasterplc. Very good service so no complaints at all. Check out the grants available on the OLEV website.
Took the car on my 50 mile each way commute today with a maximum electric range of 26 miles at the start. The maximum achievable electric range on a full charge was 24 miles when the car was delivered but is slowly improving as the battery is charged and discharged. I achieved 64 mpg on the way to work and 67 mpg on the way back with almost 60% of each trip being emission free (ie no engine running). The engine is still very tight so more to be gained when it loosens up. No charging point at work (which is a power station!) so had to manage the electric bit very carefully. Most impressed with the hybrid auto function to achieve good mpg automatically. My journey is part fast A and B roads, dual carriage way and some motorway. 3 urban pinch points too which benefited the hybrid nature of the car very well. I drove it the same as my BMW 320D auto (E91 164bhp) which achieves about 45mpg.
With a little planning ahead and using the paddle shift to increase the regenerative engine braking as necessary (shifting the gear into sport also does the same thing) the car simply does not lose speed without putting energy back into the battery. Very impressive.
I was worried about the coast function but needn't have been. If the car is coasting having lifted off the accelerator completely it will not exceed the speed you were initially at. For example going down a long hill into my local town at 30 mph and lifting the throttle the car simply started charging the battery (akin to engine braking) without exceeding 30.
Very happy with the ride and handling too which I can declare is not too dissimilar to my former A3 2.0 Turbo sport quattro. Happy to take questions and to try things out on the car if you ask me. Else a further report in a few weeks.
Took delivery of the (very high spec) car 7 days ago and so far so good. Local mileage all done on electric (ie 300mpg which is the max the DIS will indicate) having had the charging point installed by Chargemasterplc. Very good service so no complaints at all. Check out the grants available on the OLEV website.
Took the car on my 50 mile each way commute today with a maximum electric range of 26 miles at the start. The maximum achievable electric range on a full charge was 24 miles when the car was delivered but is slowly improving as the battery is charged and discharged. I achieved 64 mpg on the way to work and 67 mpg on the way back with almost 60% of each trip being emission free (ie no engine running). The engine is still very tight so more to be gained when it loosens up. No charging point at work (which is a power station!) so had to manage the electric bit very carefully. Most impressed with the hybrid auto function to achieve good mpg automatically. My journey is part fast A and B roads, dual carriage way and some motorway. 3 urban pinch points too which benefited the hybrid nature of the car very well. I drove it the same as my BMW 320D auto (E91 164bhp) which achieves about 45mpg.
With a little planning ahead and using the paddle shift to increase the regenerative engine braking as necessary (shifting the gear into sport also does the same thing) the car simply does not lose speed without putting energy back into the battery. Very impressive.
I was worried about the coast function but needn't have been. If the car is coasting having lifted off the accelerator completely it will not exceed the speed you were initially at. For example going down a long hill into my local town at 30 mph and lifting the throttle the car simply started charging the battery (akin to engine braking) without exceeding 30.
Very happy with the ride and handling too which I can declare is not too dissimilar to my former A3 2.0 Turbo sport quattro. Happy to take questions and to try things out on the car if you ask me. Else a further report in a few weeks.
