High fuel consumption in winter

[jponte]

Hello everyone!
I’ve owned a MG3 Hybrid+ Luxury (or Trophy depending on the country) since this summer, and since the temperatures have dropped, my fuel consumption has increased significantly.
On average, I’m getting between 6-7L/100km (around 40-47mpg) in Eco mode while driving gently.
I’ve noticed that the petrol engine never shuts off due to the heating system being on, which significantly increases fuel consumption.
For context, I drive more on local roads than highways.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

[KeithS]

I drive in normal mode with level 2 regen braking, so all the standard settings, and there is definitely a reduction in Electric only driving in colder weather.
It's been milder in the UK over the last week, and the fuel economy has improved with a lot more driving in Electric, however as you say in colder weather the petrol engine is running virtually 100%.
It should be mentioned the petrol engine seems to mostly run to charge the battery at town speeds, only driving the car for motorway speeds.
The one annoying feature of what is otherwise quite a refined drive train, is when going up hills.
Seemingly the gearbox changes down to second gear, with engine revs rising to a noisy 2500 rpm (the revs normally associated with 70 mph on a motorway). I'm guessing it's the software detecting the hill, and revving the engine to provide more power to the batteries to give the electric motor enough power.

 

[Hybrid Ann]

Can anything be done about this Keith? Do you think.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

Hello everyone!
I’ve owned a MG3 Hybrid+ Luxury (or Trophy depending on the country) since this summer, and since the temperatures have dropped, my fuel consumption has increased significantly.
On average, I’m getting between 6-7L/100km (around 40-47mpg) in Eco mode while driving gently.
I’ve noticed that the petrol engine never shuts off due to the heating system being on, which significantly increases fuel consumption.
For context, I drive more on local roads than highways.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Hi Jponte, the topic of fuel consumption in cold temperatures, has been covered a few times in previous treads. It comes down to the fact that all cars will see increased fuel consumption in these circumstances, be they petrol, diesel, BEV or hybrid. Low temperatures will cause the engine/battery to be less effecient. Winter grade fuel is also less efficient than Summer grade fuel. In an ice car, we probably notice this inefficiency less as we expect to hear the engine, but those of us that came from cars with start stop might have experienced the lower instances of the auto stop kicking in. There will also be the need to use the heater more. The shorter days will require the lights to be used more and place greater demand on the auxiliary battery, which is charged from the hybrid battery. To minimise the effects of running the heating more, setting it to auto will keep it from running constantly. Other than that, all we can do is wait for the longer warmer days.

 

[KeithS]

Can anything be done about this Keith? Do you think.

I do wonder if MG could introduce a software update. Perhaps keeping the gearbox in a higher gear, unless the driver presses the accelerator firmly. As it stands the gearbox changes down irrespective of speed accelerator position as soon as a hill is detected.
From what I can tell I'm afraid there is no way of avoiding the issue from general driving or different driving modes.
It's a pity, as apart from this annoying/frustrating feature, the car is quite refined.
I'm guessing as your ZS is hybrid, it suffers from the same issue?

 

[Mantakas]

Hello everyone!
I’ve owned a MG3 Hybrid+ Luxury (or Trophy depending on the country) since this summer, and since the temperatures have dropped, my fuel consumption has increased significantly.
On average, I’m getting between 6-7L/100km (around 40-47mpg) in Eco mode while driving gently.
I’ve noticed that the petrol engine never shuts off due to the heating system being on, which significantly increases fuel consumption.
For context, I drive more on local roads than highways.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Same here mate. Notice that the consumption improves a lot after the first 5km. It also depends on the time of the day. If it's the first ride of the day, it's more difficult for the battery to recharge. Generally if you use ECO and regenerate program 2 in heavy traffic conditions you can easily go under 6 L/100km. In highways try program 1 (either ECO or NORMAL mode) and you could see numbers below 4,5 L/100km!
Of course it all depends on your need for speed! The more you press the pedal, the more you burn.

 

[DMeine]

mine (ZS Hybrid+) currently has a consumption of 7.7L per 100km. Even when the battery is full, the combustion engine stays on to heat the interior. If the car had an electric heater, it would be more economical because the combustion engine only comes on when the battery needs to be charged or is needed for driving. Renault and Dacia have such a heater and their consumption for the same driving style and distance is 6.4L for me. I drive a lot of distances at 140km/h and also have a Dacia Jogger Hybrid, so I can compare well.

 

[Radar]

Heres is an interesting video. Might allow engine to warm up quicker and heater be more efficent as well as increasing mpg.

 

[Tim19]

I can remember the days when we used to push cardboard down in front of the radiator to get the engine to warm up faster, and there was also a winter and summer setting on the air intake which pulled warm air from around the exhaust manifold to get the engine warmed up faster, everything comes round again....

 

[Deleted member 18108]

There were even after market radiator blinds available in kit form, for those too posh for cardboard. A radiator repair kit could even be purchased in the local grocers, in the form of an egg.

 

[bing]

I had the original Citroen C4 and I purchased the genuine Citroen winter grille which clipped on.
Really did work.

 

[ChrisM47]

I have noticed the same increase in fuel consumption and the constantly running engine in these colder weeks. The engine stops almost immediatly if I switch off the heating. Using the heated seats and heated steering wheel is an effective alternative but no good if you have cold feet! However, I cant say if the overall effieciency is improved because you are still using additional energy and that has to come from fuel. It does seem to me that a perhaps a compromise could be made in the software configuration for example when set to eco mode as compared to normal mode.
With regard to the engine high revs when a hill is detected, I agree that again this seems unnessesary when it happens almost immediately an incline is detected. A ten second delay would avoid it happening on short inclines.

 

[DMeine]

It also depends on the temperature you set it to, at 19 degrees the combustion engine goes out sooner than at 22 degrees. You have to experiment a little with the setting

 

[Euan Mason]

The same is true with a fully electric car. I’ve owned an MG ZS EV and now an MG 4 and in both cases I’ve found the cars use less electricity in warmer temperatures. This seems to be the case even if I don’t employ heaters or air conditioners.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

This is down to the fact that batteries are less efficient when working below their optimum temperature. Some evs use heat pumps to warm up the batteries to help combat this. However this is an additional cost and bumps up the purchase price.

 

[Pigger1972]

Was worried about mine until realised it's just when you have heater on when you start..but even then I get good mpg..

 

[IDC]

When we got ours in the summer and took it on holiday, so long runs at 50-60mph, we averaged 58.9mpg. Now, in the winter & short runs it is 44.2mpg. That is still better than the Fiat it replaced and my wife's Honda Civic. They would also drop mpg in the winter, just not as dramatically.

 

[mgpooter]

I totally agree with all the above. We all knew the consumption would go up in the cold but I find the consumption worse on this MG3HEV than the previous two MG3s I had - on motorways especially. I once got 54mpg at 60mph on the old MG3, on motorways this one appears to be around the 48mpg mark. (no heater) Consumption is far better poodling around in built-up areas - great!
On these cold days, we must really clean all the frost/snow off the windows when, still dressed up for the cold, we 'switch on'; I make sure the heating is off, but the engine still has to kick-in to warm up the battery! Of course with the heating off there is no fan running, its shut off for recirculation and there is no chance any remaining frost can be removed by the heater either - great! As the car now steams up immediately and the first few miles are dreadful as the 'Auto' has to be turned on (once you have found it with the gloves on) to see out. Then driving just the 1/2 mile to the motorway, accelerating up to 60/70mph I found my new, cold engine running at 4000rpm!!! - we have to watch out for that too. (MG3 was 3K at 70) Only advantage of this car as I see it, when you need a quick squirt you've got it.

 

[KeithS]

I totally agree with all the above. We all knew the consumption would go up in the cold but I find the consumption worse on this MG3HEV than the previous two MG3s I had - on motorways especially. I once got 54mpg at 60mph on the old MG3, on motorways this one appears to be around the 48mpg mark. (no heater) Consumption is far better poodling around in built-up areas - great!
On these cold days, we must really clean all the frost/snow off the windows when, still dressed up for the cold, we 'switch on'; I make sure the heating is off, but the engine still has to kick-in to warm up the battery! Of course with the heating off there is no fan running, its shut off for recirculation and there is no chance any remaining frost can be removed by the heater either - great! As the car now steams up immediately and the first few miles are dreadful as the 'Auto' has to be turned on (once you have found it with the gloves on) to see out. Then driving just the 1/2 mile to the motorway, accelerating up to 60/70mph I found my new, cold engine running at 4000rpm!!! - we have to watch out for that too. (MG3 was 3K at 70) Only advantage of this car as I see it, when you need a quick squirt you've got it.

You make a good point regarding increased revs. Whilst I haven't experienced the4,000 rpm figure,as I live on a hill every journey sees the revs go up to about 2,500 when only travelling at 25 mph approx.
Apart from this tendency for the gearbox to change down to presumably second to purely (and noisily) charge the battery, the drive train can be very refined.
It's this that represents the main disappointment in what is otherwise a good package, and you have to wonder how much development went into this aspect of the vehicle. Whilst Stelantis products for example have issues, you have to wonder whether a fundamental issue like this would have got through development.
As for fuel economy, even in these cold weather conditions the economy is still better than that of my previous daily runabout- a DS3 3dr 1.2 auto.

 

[Deleted member 18108]

I totally agree with all the above. We all knew the consumption would go up in the cold but I find the consumption worse on this MG3HEV than the previous two MG3s I had - on motorways especially. I once got 54mpg at 60mph on the old MG3, on motorways this one appears to be around the 48mpg mark. (no heater) Consumption is far better poodling around in built-up areas - great!
On these cold days, we must really clean all the frost/snow off the windows when, still dressed up for the cold, we 'switch on'; I make sure the heating is off, but the engine still has to kick-in to warm up the battery! Of course with the heating off there is no fan running, its shut off for recirculation and there is no chance any remaining frost can be removed by the heater either - great! As the car now steams up immediately and the first few miles are dreadful as the 'Auto' has to be turned on (once you have found it with the gloves on) to see out. Then driving just the 1/2 mile to the motorway, accelerating up to 60/70mph I found my new, cold engine running at 4000rpm!!! - we have to watch out for that too. (MG3 was 3K at 70) Only advantage of this car as I see it, when you need a quick squirt you've got it.

Each to his own, Id rather keep the car comfortable heat wise, so I have a clear windscreen and side windows. I'm getting reasonable economy even at that. But I see where you're coming from.