I agree with your overall logic. In fact this is exactly why I alway run e-save mode on the highway. I guess with this M8 mode approach, you're using somewhat more electricity on the highway than I would, since I would get off the highway with the same % charge as when I got on.
I tried this on Saturday and although the mileage was better I saw no gain in battery mileage. Personally I would think you would just cause premature wear on the tranny as it wants to hold it in M8 instead of downshifting like normal.
Just heads up m8 will log all of your miles under hybrid. But it will be interesting how much range it will say you have at the end. I did it for my 50 mile drive into the office this morning until I got off the highway (after 45 miles or so). I had maybe 12 or 13 miles left at that point, then did the rest of the way in d hybrid.This is what I am typically getting on my morning commute. Not really traffic, but congestion where it would be rare to go above 55mph. I am averaging around 37mpg on a 85 mile commute. Morning commutes are mostly down hill, while on my way home is mostly up hill and I am still pulling almost 27 electric miles on my commute home. I am going to try the M8 method on my commute home and see what I can get with it.
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The AC compressor operates off of the high voltage battery.
So I tried it today and I kind of did the same thing as you and my trip info screen read 22.6 electric and 23.3 ICE. I don't really have a negative or a positive opinion of it, its ok. I'm going on a couple trips next month, I think this would be good for that. I almost got 1000 miles on my first tank with my regular commute, so I am sticking to that.
The original post was about tricking hybrid mode to run the ice and electric motor together instead of depleting the battery first. Which does happen by putting it in manual. I don’t think there’s much benefit to the other modes in manual, just a matter of preference for them.
With my results, I had trouble picturing it in my mind so I put everything into excel. For me, I used my app calculated mpg for the ICE engine (using hybrid to hybrid miles each fill-up) and my total miles mpg from the computer since my mileage was flat the few times I tried this m8. I used these numbers to get the gallons used for each trip scenario. I broke it up into distances of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 100 (my total work commute out of curiosity). For each distance the results were that normal d hybrid used less gas. It is always better to get the 28 miles without the ICE running and then the rest with the normal mileage. But the results were so close it was probably inconclusive, a quarter of a gallon at most for the shortest distances. Some traffic or weather event would be enough to change it in favor of the other. Now as drives got longer it got closer (logically it makes sense, 28 miles is a smaller and smaller % of the drive). But the OP said it eventually depletes the battery around 80 miles. I also put in the OP's results and it did benefit him. Its about a quarter of a gallon for m8. But he is getting worse electric range then me (21 vs 28). YMMV
For your situation, I think youd be more interested in miles per charge not mpg. I'd have to really think how to isolate that number from the m8 method. I guess you'd have to calculate how much gas you use in each method. Whichever method uses more gas would be best for you. I think though you'd be best served by using e save and choosing electric for times where you are under 45 or even stop and go traffic. Anything to maximize your range per charge.I pay an insane electric rate. This has helped me a lot. Even with 37s and a lift I can still average 25 mpg. But, I'm not charging as often as I would running the vehicle in hybrid mode. I was able to stretch my charging times out to every 2.5-3 days instead of daily. So for me even with high gas prices (3.25) gas is still cheaper than electric
I'm right there with you! Love those MA national grid rates!
