Hello Forum

Was just wondering if my new plug-in hybrid, that i have ordered, will need the engine to run in order to run the heaters. I am asking this as if i drive in EV mode only does that mean i will not be able to turn the heaters on ?

From my limited experience of the Mini PHEV demo car in November you can run the climate control in hot or cold aircon no problem in EV mode BUT doing so reduced the EV range from 26 miles to 18 almost the instant I switched the heating on. So the mini had heated seats, heated mirrors, and heated front and rear screens but no heated steering wheel, it also has a complex climate control system. When the car was plugged into the mains/charging point the dash came to life asking if I wanted to set the timed ELECTRIC heating (similar system to the Evoque’s electric PTC heater) to pre-warm tyre cabin at the same time as charging. PHEVs have complex heaters as they not only have to heat and cool the cabin but also the battery pack to maintain it ar it’s most efficient. So whichever mode you are in except the “I’m a skinflint and only want electric drive and no creature comforts” mode which RRS and the Mini bothe have as does Muddy’s Milk Float where you can set the system to shutdown the in car heating to increase the battery range then you have heating and cooling but at the cost of shortened EV range. Toyota have helped get around this by offering an optional roof that is a solar panel on the newest cars so they can boost the battery further even if the car is parked up away from a charger and they can do the pre cooling air on bit like RRS timed climate can without a huge effect on EV range. Hope that helps you a bit. I expect the RRS will have the same “pre-heat” mode when plugged into the mains air a charger. One thing with the Mini’s navigation system is that in several of the drive modes if you program a route into the Satnav it will then decide when to run the car in petrol engine only mode or EV mode and it will also decide whether it can charge the battery during a journey without effecting the petrol performance using either excess power from the engine or the regenerative braking system - it is a similar system to the BMW i3 and i8’s I believe. One thing I have been warned about is brake wear (or rather lack of it!) in PHEVs and EV’s because of the regen braking system - people get so used to it that they don’t use the brakes to slow down but the regenerative system and brakes often corrode through lack of use on EV’s and PHEVs........... this can result in an MOT failure at 3 years old too! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW