Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ?

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Wed 29 Nov 2023 22:49
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - yrhengastan62

Hi all, assuming that the performance figures of the Octavia phev are given with both battery and engine at maximum tilt, how is the performance affected if the battery is discharged? Does it drop off to that of the basic 1.4litre engine so my car becomes a sluggish drive ? Thinking of buying one but can't find any data on this. I guess this is true of all PHEVs? Thanks for the help and advice.

Edited by yrhengastan62 on 29/11/2023 at 22:49

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Wed 29 Nov 2023 23:33
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - Adampr

My understanding is that the petrol engine keeps the battery charged so you get higher fuel consumption, not lower performance.

Another member here, Skidpan, has a Superb PHEV so can no doubt confirm or deny.

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Thu 30 Nov 2023 09:20
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - craig-pd130

I can't speak for VW group PHEVs but I had a BMW 225xe PHEV for 3 years.

The car's brain never allowed the traction battery to become completely discharged, when the charge level drops to around 5% the petrol engine will kick in to put some charge back into the battery. That remaining 5% charge is sufficient to add the electric assistance to maintain the car's performance in all conditions.

With the BMW, if the battery charge was below 50%, flicking the car into 'sport' mode would automatically engage the petrol engine for longer periods of time, and would charge the traction battery up to 51% (at a small penalty in fuel consumption), so if you were approaching an area in which you wanted to drive in pure EV mode you'd have plenty of charge to do so.

I'd expect the VW group cars work in a similar way. The electronics are pretty smart. For what it's worth, the BMW's fuel costs (petrol plus the cost of charging at home) worked out at pretty much exactly 50mpg in my 3 years of ownership - which was better than any of the 3 turbodiesel family cars I'd had beforehand.

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Thu 30 Nov 2023 09:29
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - yrhengastan62

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense and I'm sure the phev designers must have thought of this. I was just thinking that once the battery was discharged there would be a drop in performance and I'd be lugging around an extra 200kg of phev bits and pieces that would mean the car would perform less than the standard 1.5 petrol. However, I cant see that the full 245 is going to be available and I've paid for something I'm not going to get. I guess there's always a trade off unless there's some data to demonstrate what happens

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Thu 30 Nov 2023 11:39
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - skidpan

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense and I'm sure the phev designers must have thought of this. I was just thinking that once the battery was discharged there would be a drop in performance and I'd be lugging around an extra 200kg of phev bits and pieces that would mean the car would perform less than the standard 1.5 petrol. However, I cant see that the full 245 is going to be available and I've paid for something I'm not going to get. I guess there's always a trade off unless there's some data to demonstrate what happens

Have a Superb PHEV which is mechanically near identical (think the Octavia VRS has a bit more power.

When we visit Scotland twice a year it never gets charged simply because we cannot charge it at our lodge and only found one working charging point in 6 visits (put in 10 miles while had a short snack).

So after about 350 miles the battery is "empty" and for the remaining 650 miles of each visit its a normal hybrid. That means we still get better performance (when needed) than the Superb non-PHEV (we had one before the PHEV) and better mpg figures despite the extra weight. When needed press the "power" button and it lights up brilliantly.

To sum up the PHEV has extra go all the time, you get what you pay for.

When we change I would be shocked if we did not get another Superb PHEV (providing the new model - estate only fits in the garage).

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Fri 1 Dec 2023 08:02
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - yrhengastan62

Great answer and very informative, thanks for taking the time skidpan, much appreciated ??

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Thu 30 Nov 2023 13:11
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - craig-pd130

I guess there's always a trade off unless there's some data to demonstrate what happens

The only trade-off when the main battery is low is that petrol consumption will be higher when 'pressing on' because the petrol engine is driving both the transmission AND the big starter / generator unit.

I never found performance to be any different irrespective of level of battery charge, the 225xe was amusingly rapid, both away from the lights and in terms of overtaking punch on A and B roads. The throttle response was literally electric.

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Fri 1 Dec 2023 19:19
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - DavidGlos
Kuga PHEV driver here. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in performance when the battery is depleted
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Fri 1 Dec 2023 22:31
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - bathtub tom

I doubt if most drivers would ever explore the limits of power/torque. On the occasions I've used 'tested the envelope', passengers have commented to the ffect of "mine would blow up if I did that" - sadly, that's what they believe!

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Sat 2 Dec 2023 08:24
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - RT

I doubt if most drivers would ever explore the limits of power/torque. On the occasions I've used 'tested the envelope', passengers have commented to the ffect of "mine would blow up if I did that" - sadly, that's what they believe!

I drive an automatic diesel - when using full throttle, eg when overtaking, I have every faith that the transmission will change up before the rev limit is reached, and even then the engine rev limiter itself will keep things safe if the transmission electronics failed.

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Sat 2 Dec 2023 09:19
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - bathtub tom

One diesel I had (maestro non turbo) I would often do full throttle up changes. The rev limiter would prevent it from blowing up and the flywheel effect would give the car an extra kick.

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Sun 3 Dec 2023 00:45
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - sajid

One diesel I had (maestro non turbo) I would often do full throttle up changes. The rev limiter would prevent it from blowing up and the flywheel effect would give the car an extra kick.

This reminds me of a program in the early 90s about driving in the motorway about

This sales guy who got a new company car. He was handed a key fob rover

And thought it was a 220 gsi anyway the car was parked away and he eventually found it was a maestro deisel clubman non turbo. He as so embarrassed by it and him and his wife nearly had a mental breakdown..

The maestro he commented was so slow the hgv would overtake him

Maybe one of the posters would know..

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Sun 3 Dec 2023 01:27
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - sajid

One diesel I had (maestro non turbo) I would often do full throttle up changes. The rev limiter would prevent it from blowing up and the flywheel effect would give the car an extra kick.

This reminds me of a program in the early 90s about driving in the motorway about

This sales guy who got a new company car. He was handed a key fob rover

And thought it was a 220 gsi anyway the car was parked away and he eventually found it was a maestro deisel clubman non turbo. He as so embarrassed by it and him and his wife nearly had a mental breakdown..

The maestro he commented was so slow the hgv would overtake him

Maybe one of the posters would know..

Just remembered its called from a to be motoring

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Sun 3 Dec 2023 09:21
Skoda Octavia vrS iV - PHEV performance when discharged ? - bathtub tom
The maestro he commented was so slow the hgv would overtake him

Some exaggeration there! It wasn't slow and would cruise at and above motorway NSL easily. it was very economical and handled well, probably because of the fatter tyres it had, no doubt to support the weight of that diesel lump up front. It just had poor acceleration and I got used to following stuff at 50MPH on single carriageways as it didn't have enough grunt to safely overtake.

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