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Sun, vacation, good mood
In the plug-in Hybrid SUV on vacation
Four-part blog post on the big endurance test of the practical family SUV Outlander.
August is also the right time for an automotive blogger to take a few days off. This year, however, the vacation could only revolve around the endurance test of the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid. Integrated as a family SUV, he had to bring 2 adults, a toddler (1 year) and a dog on the well-deserved summer vacation. Dogs (4 months old) and toddlers (14 months old) make a vacation trip with their “own car” seem particularly useful. Where else can you take a break at any time, adapt the route to your wishes and remain individually independent? Just. As a family SUV with plug-in hybrid technology, the range problem of pure electric vehicles is also not an issue for the Outlander. While we like to plan our daily routes purely electrically at home, the trip on vacation shouldn't be from the compulsive search for a charging station be overshadowed. A clear case for the PHEV!
Vacation trip in the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid
- The advantage of the speed limiter in practice
- Batch / save strategy in the mountains
- That fits into the Outlander
- Route planning and consumption on the holiday trip
A vacation trip in the PHEV could be filled with many experiences, I want to limit myself to four sub-areas. While we hardly ever use the speed limiter in Germany and especially in everyday life, the “little brother” of the cruise control was a real help on vacation trips. Part 1 will deal with the speed limiter.
Charge / Save strategy in the mountains. The PHEV always makes sense to drive when the batteries are sufficiently charged. But what to do when the holiday destination in the mountains ignores any energy change and only knows charging stations from stories? Part 2 deals with the right “charge-and-save strategy” for the Outlander PHEV in the mountains.
Child and dog, that doesn't sound like much at first. But what if the child is a toddler and the dog is still a puppy? Then vacation luggage grows impressively, even though you only go on vacation for a week. From the dog bed to the stroller to drink rations and toddler food in the cool box. Everything has to go - an Outlander offers plenty of space! Part 3 takes a look at the load capacity of the Outlander.
Part 4 is about the route planning and consumption of the Outlander in the mountains. A holiday trip is usually easy, but the PHEV consumption is massively increased due to a lack of charging. What has consumed the PHEV Outlander in the mountains of Tyrol now?
In the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid on vacation
Part 1 - The advantage of the speed limiter
For many, Austria is the number one holiday destination. Not only the hotels have adapted to this, the police in Austria are also extremely “helpful”. Whenever you were in doubt whether you were driving 80 or 81 km / h - the police will help. The route to Berwang via Reutte and further over the Fernpass to Sölden is the top route for holiday traffic. And where many go on vacation, you can help a lot.
The Fernpass route is limited by various speed limits, Tempo 80 and Tempo 60 are quite frequent. Accordingly, the men and women in blue clothing are often on duty. Armed with a laser pistol, they leave no doubt as to who was traveling too fast and when. Tempo 80 is not a tempo on the open road, not even for the Outlander PHEV. But the temptation to be on vacation soon, yes, it can lead to high spirits. The arrogance is then ended with the red trowel of the police and a heavy fine for “driving too fast”. € 20 is actually always due.
Anyone who does not want to have their vacation budget reduced by “fines” has to be alert and attentive to the changing speed limits and check the speedometer needle like a pedant. Laser pistols and “helpful police officers” are waiting for new customers on the Fernpass route every day.
Speed Limiter - The Guardian Angel
On German autobahns, we tend to use adaptive cruise control, as the travel speed depends on the rest of the traffic. During the trip on vacation we learned to appreciate the benefits of the speed limiter for the first time. Set via the rocker switch of the cruise control, it regulates the “maximum speed” of the vehicle. In the towns you can sail or cruise purely electrically - as soon as you get out of town, you set the speed limiter to “Max 80 km / h” and then the Outlander drives against an invisible wall.
If you still want to drive faster, you can override the speed limiter by using the “kickdown function”. However, that was not taken into account, it was important to us not to exceed the maximum speed even with the frequent changes from uphill and downhill. The speed limiter helped very successfully - we usually passed the laser guns in silent electric mode and at the correct speed.
With its “monitoring function”, the speed limiter helps to reduce the stress level of a vacation trip. Too fast? Shouldn't happen with the speed limiter - not even out of carelessness.
Part 2 in the coming week deals with the correct “charge-and-save strategy” in the mountains.
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