Parking Air Conditioning?

[status.six]

They changed the way PHEV emissions are calculated for 25MY cars and part of it was to encourage PHEV to be actually charged via an external power supply (and not the engine) , so most of not all manufacturers removed the facility to run the engine to charge the battery. The reason for the calculation change was that real world data showed that large proportions of PHEVs rarely got charged yet attracted tax breaks associated with their theoretical emissions.

Funnily enough my mate, who has free fuel from work, always ran his hybrid cars on petrol and never charged from the mains. He was getting like 22MPG hauling round a mostly empty battery pack the whole time!

 

[omelius]

If you’re only looking to buy a PHEV for tax benefits or incentives, you might end up relying solely on petrol and neglecting to charge the battery. In that scenario, the car essentially operates as a traditional hybrid, hauling around a heavy, mostly empty battery pack, which reduces overall efficiency—as evident from the 22MPG your mate was getting.

What’s worse is the issue with charging the PHEV battery indirectly via a plug from leisure battery. This introduces double charging loss: first, energy is lost during the conversion when charging the leisure battery, and second, more energy is lost when transferring from the leisure battery to the PHEV battery. Moreover, since new PHEVs do not allow direct charging from external sources other than mains, this inability applies the double-charging process in such cases, making it even less efficient and more impractical. Ultimately, relying on such a setup is far from ideal and only worsens the overall inefficiency of using a PHEV without charging it properly.

 

[WelshGas]

Ah okay, battery hold, that’s something useful at least. On my last X5 PHEV I could change the HV from the engine. On my new one that feature is gone. It’s a shame really but I can understand how it might have been misunderstood or misused.

I think the Cali PHEV can be rapid charged (DC) as well as level 2. That’s handy to have for topping the battery up when away from home. Level 2 charging out and about is a waste of time, too slow!

Shame VW didn’t include V2L on the California PHEV, that could have been a game changer

Rapid charge takes 3.5 hrs. Level 2 - 4.5hrs.

 

[WelshGas]

The car will still generate HV for the HV systems such as the Air Con etc. The car will also push energy back into the battery during regen braking, I think the key difference is not pushing energy into the battery and not using it when it is available. I would be surprised if it can be recoded easily, but there are some creative people.

When cruising there is a trickle charge to EV battery .

 

[Beachmoodon]

I have confirmation from dealer that PHEV version has air conditioning that can cool and also heat, it is operated from high voltage battery, so in camp you can plug in and use air conditioning, it is however different plug than that one for leisure battery, so there are two independent electric systems in car. This air conditioning can be also operated using we connect app. Beside of that there is also a possibility of petrol heater (7VC), that can be operated only from inside of van. So for me this is game changer and i decided to buy PHEV instead of TDI version.

Will this allow people to leave the ignition on as long as the Hybrid battery is fully charged without draining the battery fully, and will it enable you to keep the Air Con running? Also, does the Air Con run continuously if the 230V cable is connected to the charging area in the campsite?

 

[Californication69]

Will this allow people to leave the ignition on as long as the Hybrid battery is fully charged without draining the battery fully, and will it enable you to keep the Air Con running? Also, does the Air Con run continuously if the 230V cable is connected to the charging area in the campsite?

Good questions and will be very interesting to find out.

 

[WelshGas]

Will this allow people to leave the ignition on as long as the Hybrid battery is fully charged without draining the battery fully, and will it enable you to keep the Air Con running? Also, does the Air Con run continuously if the 230V cable is connected to the charging area in the campsite?

If the California Hybrid is the same as my Multivan Hybrid, then the AirCon can be switched On and run for 30 minutes after Ignition Off. This can be done a number of times until the EV charge level drops to base level when there is sufficient charge to start and drive the vehicle but not to run the AirCon without the IC engine running.
Even if the vehicle is plugged into an EV charger then the Aircon will still switch off after 30 minutes. It will not run continuously.

 

[bvddobb]

It doesn't make sense to pay extra for EV charging when you've already paid for the campsite hookup. Electricity is electricity—whether it's powering a caravan’s air conditioning or charging a PHEV with a 20 kWh battery. Campsites provide a fixed amperage supply, and as long as you're within that limit, you should be able to use it however you need.

That is not completely correct. It is not the amperage that determines the cost, it is the kWh consumed. It makes a huge difference if you consume 500 Wh on an average overnight stay, running just the fridge and some LED lights, or, say 50 kWh charging whatever. If you pay the average for the former, and consume the latter, the campsite loses a lot of money!

 

[Beachmoodon]

If the California Hybrid is the same as my Multivan Hybrid, then the AirCon can be switched On and run for 30 minutes after Ignition Off. This can be done a number of times until the EV charge level drops to base level when there is sufficient charge to start and drive the vehicle but not to run the AirCon without the IC engine running.
Even if the vehicle is plugged into an EV charger then the Aircon will still switch off after 30 minutes. It will not run continuously.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I know when the van was completely off the info panel redirected me to switch on the ignition for the air con. And so I had the vehicle with just the ignition on but not powered on and it was working. However, it depleted the battery quite rapidly.