Filled the battery, left home in auto E drive. Uses battery until you drain it all the way or unless you floor it. I made it 20 miles to the highway with 3 miles left of range and got on the highway. I noticed that in auto E drive it was still using the battery shortly thereafter at 55 to 60mph and down to 1 mile range. Further investigation finds that the engine does not kick in until you drive at least 64mph. I put the cruise on 65mph and it stayed running.

The car, at 65mph, nets around 37-38mpg in that range, that is, if its not recharging the battery. Save battery mode recharges the battery up to 91% but also drops the MPG by 12-13mpg. I tried it on the way back and net 24.8mpg at 65mph. The battery charged to 91% in about 45 miles. I was able to drive back home on the 91% on the side roads the 20 miles got home with 7% battery at night with headlights, and that brought the trip average to 36.2 mpg. Still lower than just using the engine without recharging the HVB.

Bottom line is, save battery mode should only be used if the battery is full or very close to it, so you don't charge much to get to 90-91%. If its drained forget about that option just drive fast enough on the highway to not waste the remaining battery, 65mph CC works. On the way up I did get 56.5 mpg, including the battery charged from home. I think I would have net closer to 40mpg if I had not recharged the battery and used it on the way back.

Just FYI, hope it helps my PHEV mini friends

-=>Raja.

 

Great insights Raja...I understand my Mini a little better each time you share.

 

36.2 is pretty darn good for a heavy vehicle like this!
Best I've gotten is 25 mpg on a tank.

 

 

Hi Raja, did you notice the gas engine milage drop in save battery mode?

Also, I noticed driving in auto edrive, the electric range showed 0 miles and my engine was running. But once I switched to green mode, it again went back to electric mode.

 

Hi Malapudi:

Yes its mentioned in my post, save battery mode is about 24 mpg while recharging the battery. It goes up once the battery is "full" around 92%.

Auto mode will recharge the battery some if its empty, could come up to 20%. The car will switch back to EV mode once you demand less power if there is some battery there to be used.

-=>Raja.

 

Is there a way to set green mode as default

 

You could use bimmercode to set default drive mode or save setting after engine is turned off.

 

I don't understand why save battery mode would reduce gas mileage so much. There is no gas driven charger, and as far as I know it just used regenerative braking.

 

I was also wondering charging the battery with level 1 charger would take about 6hrs. But in save mode, it brings the battery from 5% to 90% in less than an HR.