C350e owners club

[Nick Harper]

I can just about squeeze 13 miles out of mine in this weather.

The Hybrid behaviour is the same in mine and E-SAVE (that I’ve started to use more than Hybrid on long journeys) is even more sensitive. The engine will still switch off, but not as often and it won’t stay off in many circumstances.

The way, I expect, to achieve closer to the published electric range is to coast more. It counts coasting and regenerative breaking as electric driving. The only time I've seen it indicate 19 miles was when I picked it up from the show room. It's indicated 16 a couple of times but immediately drops to 15 as soon as I engage drive. Normally full charge is indicated as 14 with it dropping to 13 on engaging drive. To be honest, I think all you need is the first and last 4 miles to be electric and that lifts the consumption from low 40s to high 50s might on most of my drives out of town.

 

[Dodgy]

The way, I expect, to achieve closer to the published electric range is to coast more. It counts coasting and regenerative breaking as electric driving. The only time I've seen it indicate 19 miles was when I picked it up from the show room. It's indicated 16 a couple of times but immediately drops to 15 as soon as I engage drive. Normally full charge is indicated as 14 with it dropping to 13 on engaging drive. To be honest, I think all you need is the first and last 4 miles to be electric and that lifts the consumption from low 40s to high 50s might on most of my drives out of town.

I think my battery pack has always been defective. It’s never predicted more than 11 miles range, despite me doing a lot of coasting (to the point of annoying people behind me [emoji51]). I’ve never delivered more than 13 miles before the engine kicked in. Still loving it and looking forward to keeping my lifetime mpg in the 60+ range, thanks to a lot of short journeys.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Never done more than 12ish either.

 

[Goldngin]

I have recently tried driving v carefully.i.e. Accelerating gently and not exceeding 50mph. Doing this I can eek out 16 miles, just. Must have charged the car more than 600 times in 2 years. Am thinking this frequency of charging will eventually shorten the battery life though. Normally 13 miles in Summer 9 in Winter would be more like it. 66% and 50% of manufactures quoted range sounds about on par for EV's/ PHEV's.

 

[Dodgy]

I have recently tried driving v carefully.i.e. Accelerating gently and not exceeding 50mph. Doing this I can eek out 16 miles, just. Must have charged the car more than 600 times in 2 years. Am thinking this frequency of charging will eventually shorten the battery life though. Normally 13 miles in Summer 9 in Winter would be more like it. 66% and 50% of manufactures quoted range sounds about on par for EV's/ PHEV's.

Mine gets down to 5 or 6 miles in winter. [emoji853]

 

[grober]

Did anyone miss my post elsewhere about this?
Mercedes pulls PHEVs from production to make way for third-gen tech | Autocar

 

[StanwaySteve]

Just gave my one back after 20000 miles. Averaged 38.9 mpg and maybe only charged it a dozen times. Driven gently mostly and a real mixture of roads etc. Loved it in a traffic but hated when the engine kicked in at low speeds as was so noise in comparison. I have an E estate coming soon to replace

 

[Dodgy]

Did anyone miss my post elsewhere about this?
Mercedes pulls PHEVs from production to make way for third-gen tech | Autocar

It’s great that he battery size is increasing and the drivetrain is improving, but it’s a shame the battery sizes are just to match the competition. I’d love 50 miles range, even though the battery would need to be nearly four times as big. Surely they could fit a smaller ICE to compensate for he weight if they have 121bhp from the electric motor?

I do about one third of my miles on battery power at the moment. I reckon it would be well over half with a bigger battery.

OK - I’ve just thought that through. Four times the battery size would be nearly 40kWh, which in a battery only EV would give you over 100 miles of range but in a hybrid it would be way less. Maybe a bigger battery needs a whole different design approach...

 

[Deleted member 126969]

It’s great that he battery size is increasing and the drivetrain is improving, but it’s a shame the battery sizes are just to match the competition. I’d love 50 miles range, even though the battery would need to be nearly four times as big. Surely they could fit a smaller ICE to compensate for he weight if they have 121bhp from the electric motor?

I do about one third of my miles on battery power at the moment. I reckon it would be well over half with a bigger battery.

OK - I’ve just thought that through. Four times the battery size would be nearly 40kWh, which in a battery only EV would give you over 100 miles of range but in a hybrid it would be way less. Maybe a bigger battery needs a whole different design approach...

50 miles range would mean I'd probably buy petrol once a year, if that....so you then have to ask, why not go full EV? It's a fine balance isn't it - too big a battery and the overhead of carrying all the ICE around becomes less and less tolerable. Too small and you wonder if its worth having the EV bit at all...except that it is of course

IF we see one of the new solid state battery technologies with 3 to 4 times the energy density (or even double TBH) making it to market, then it's a no-brainer to make hybrids with better range and smaller ICE, but as things are at present, 30 miles is probably about it for a C-class sized car with decent performance.

It all makes you have to think more carefully about how you drive. How far, how fast, how often, where to. Clearly that's not progress for some, and I do get that, but for others, maybe an opportunity to be a bit more involved in the whole process??

 

[C350eWagon]

I took delivery of my c350e Estate on Thursday. Initially I thought I would not bother charging at home as i'm already paying tax on my fuel, but after plugging in at a shopping centre over the weekend I decided to let it charge over night ready for the Monday morning grind. 17 miles range shown at point of departure - Hybrid up to the motorway and then e-save until I exited. Electric range recovered to 18 miles as I joined the traffic into Birmingham and as luck would have it about 18 miles still to cover.

The long and short is that it hit 68.9 mpg on the journey in (24 miles / 14 motor off) and with Aircon blasting at an icy 18 degrees i'll take that - As we don't have charge points at the office it will be interesting to see what I can get on the way home tonight - This compares with an ave. of 52.6 (over 6 months) in the Ionic Hybrid that the Merc replaces.

 

[Dodgy]

I took delivery of my c350e Estate on Thursday. Initially I thought I would not bother charging at home as i'm already paying tax on my fuel, but after plugging in at a shopping centre over the weekend I decided to let it charge over night ready for the Monday morning grind. 17 miles range shown at point of departure - Hybrid up to the motorway and then e-save until I exited. Electric range recovered to 18 miles as I joined the traffic into Birmingham and as luck would have it about 18 miles still to cover.

The long and short is that it hit 68.9 mpg on the journey in (24 miles / 14 motor off) and with Aircon blasting at an icy 18 degrees i'll take that - As we don't have charge points at the office it will be interesting to see what I can get on the way home tonight - This compares with an ave. of 52.6 (over 6 months) in the Ionic Hybrid that the Merc replaces.

What did you think about the Ionic? I’ve half-thought about the full BEV option...

 

[C350eWagon]

What did you think about the Ionic? I’ve half-thought about the full BEV option...

For the money it was an excellent car - Good spec but absolutely built to a price. We are running quite a few here as pool cars & for the reps, all standard hybrids. No PHEV or full EV - Lots of complaints about performance but I never really had an issue with it. Oh and surprisingly spacious.

 

[NickPlymouth]

I can't seem to get the climate pre-heat to schedule properly from the app, the website or from the car. It doesn't seem to matter what the state of charge is, or even if it is plugged in.

When I try to set a time in the car (see pic). I turn to one of the numbers and after a second the car turns it back to off. Via the app and it says the car refused.

I've only managed to get it working through the web through a combination of actions (e.g. pick a time, turn off, then click activate now. At which point it might decide to schedule a time).

It will only work reliably direct from the key. The garage had a look and said it was because the HV battery was not sufficiently charged, but I'm convinced this is not the reason (at least most of the time).

There is a menu where you set driver or whole car, which I've done, so I don't think it is that. Could I be missing something?

Any advice welcome.

 

[stuartj]

I can't seem to get the climate pre-heat to schedule properly from the app, the website or from the car. It doesn't seem to matter what the state of charge is, or even if it is plugged in.

When I try to set a time in the car (see pic). I turn to one of the numbers and after a second the car turns it back to off. Via the app and it says the car refused.

I've only managed to get it working through the web through a combination of actions (e.g. pick a time, turn off, then click activate now. At which point it might decide to schedule a time).

It will only work reliably direct from the key. The garage had a look and said it was because the HV battery was not sufficiently charged, but I'm convinced this is not the reason (at least most of the time).

There is a menu where you set driver or whole car, which I've done, so I don't think it is that. Could I be missing something?

Any advice welcome.

I had a similar problem - I spoke to Mercedes ME customer services who were very helpful. They did a remote reset of the car interface and next day all worked perfectly.

Go on to the Mercedes ME portal and look at the help bit and they have a number to call which is free.

 

[Nick Harper]

I can't seem to get the climate pre-heat to schedule properly from the app, the website or from the car. It doesn't seem to matter what the state of charge is, or even if it is plugged in.

When I try to set a time in the car (see pic). I turn to one of the numbers and after a second the car turns it back to off. Via the app an

I have just this second phoned Mercedes-Benz about this and spoken to a very nice French lady. This has never worked reliably since I got the car in January. Hopefully, she will help me fix it.

 

[NickPlymouth]

I had a similar problem - I spoke to Mercedes ME customer services who were very helpful. They did a remote reset of the car interface and next day all worked perfectly.

Go on to the Mercedes ME portal and look at the help bit and they have a number to call which is free.

Thanks for that. I will give them a ring this weekend hopefully.

 

[TheCorm]

Hi All,

Well these summer days are definitely improving my range, i'm currently up to about 800 miles since last fillup averaging about 128mpg. My 19.5 mile commute is about 3 miles of ICE each way 40% tank left.

I'm loving that I have to set Mercedes Me to l/100km and convert in order to see the mpg figure!

Got a problem with my nearside tyre, ages ago it started catching on the lining, Mercedes dealer told me something had flown up and hit it and they'd cut the bit it was catching (or replace at great cost). I suspected this was not the case and now I have worrying wear on the outer side of the tyre (not the wall).....

2018-07-09 08.36.52.jpg

Mercedes Lookers leasing are very tight with their tyre replacements, Arval covered things like punctures etc. but they won't cover anything but usual wear and tear.

 

[NickPlymouth]

Hi All,

Well these summer days are definitely improving my range, i'm currently up to about 800 miles since last fillup averaging about 128mpg. My 19.5 mile commute is about 3 miles of ICE each way 40% tank left.

I'm loving that I have to set Mercedes Me to l/100km and convert in order to see the mpg figure!

Got a problem with my nearside tyre, ages ago it started catching on the lining, Mercedes dealer told me something had flown up and hit it and they'd cut the bit it was catching (or replace at great cost). I suspected this was not the case and now I have worrying wear on the outer side of the tyre (not the wall).....

2018-07-09 08.36.52.jpg

Mercedes Lookers leasing are very tight with their tyre replacements, Arval covered things like punctures etc. but they won't cover anything but usual wear and tear.

You could try putting the wheel on full lock (both directions) and checking for clearance or better still, get a friend to slowly turn from lock to lock whilst you look (no fingers!).

But I would definitely get the tracking checked too.

Nick.

 

[Dodgy]

Hi All,

Well these summer days are definitely improving my range, i'm currently up to about 800 miles since last fillup averaging about 128mpg. My 19.5 mile commute is about 3 miles of ICE each way [emoji4] 40% tank left.

I'm loving that I have to set Mercedes Me to l/100km and convert in order to see the mpg figure!

Got a problem with my nearside tyre, ages ago it started catching on the lining, Mercedes dealer told me something had flown up and hit it and they'd cut the bit it was catching (or replace at great cost). I suspected this was not the case and now I have worrying wear on the outer side of the tyre (not the wall).....

2018-07-09 08.36.52.jpg

Mercedes Lookers leasing are very tight with their tyre replacements, Arval covered things like punctures etc. but they won't cover anything but usual wear and tear.

I’d not thought about the l/100km option. It just goes to show how seriously MB take the mpg estimate when they refuse to show you any values more than 66% of their official ones!

I’m currently on 63mpg for a tank that included a 200 mile round-trip. Not too shabby, but not even close to yours.

Would you consider another hybrid when your lease expires?

 

[TheCorm]

You could try putting the wheel on full lock (both directions) and checking for clearance or better still, get a friend to slowly turn from lock to lock whilst you look (no fingers!).

But I would definitely get the tracking checked too.

Nick.

Just had a poke around the wheel with it full left and right and I can't see where it could be catching so am still baffled. I can see where they trimmed the lining before but I don't think it's catching.