GLC300e and battery life?

[Mervyn Jardin]

Hello
I believe I am one of the newbies that opted for the GLC300e PHEV variant. I have only had the car a couple of months and so far so good.

Now that I am starting to get the hang of remote charging (still very much a novice), the battery is running down to zero and of course due to the limited range, is being charged up to 100%. Since the car is only good for around 25 miles in electric, I think the zero to full charge is quite realistic from an owners point of view. ie. it has to be practical. In contrast to the big brothers out there that are fully electric with their big range, it seems likely they will be dropping down to say, 20% before charging up to say, 80% as I have heard is the optimised charge for battery longevity. A car with 100 plus miles of range, that is easy to do but with a PHEV, it is all but impossible. Does anyone know if the battery on these PHEV cars has the resilience to repeatedly go from zero to 100% on an almost daily basis? Its something I didn't consider until now I am getting used to the new plug in life.

 

[McDonald]

Welcome Mervyn. I'm sure someone on here who knows about this stuff with advise. John, our resident BMW enthusiast perhaps.

 

[Mervyn Jardin]

Thanks Mac.
I also have some other battery questions such as when my battery is zero, the car as if by magic manages to move all by itself up to a speed of around 5mph before the petrol engine cuts in. Every time it starts off, it does this. Question is where is the juice when the battery energy says zilch. I wonder if MB has bent the needle artificially on the indication system so there is always at least maybe 2 or 3% of the 13.5KWh battery remaining? It also begs the question, could it ever actually get to zero and if so,the petrol engine would have to start her off each and every time.
Thanks again
Merv

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

I don’t think it will get to zero - the i3 I was driving had to go back to BMW if it ran completely out of electrons... to be reset and charged again.

 

[Mervyn Jardin]

Thanks for welcome and info Blobcat

 

[John Laidlaw]

Welcome, it will be interesting to hear your real world experience of this model.
Nowadays the batteries are quite resilient, my i8 has an 8 year warranty for the batteries which would be activated if the battery capacity drops below 70%. My range is similar, theoretically 21 miles, but in reality that is quite dependent on a number of factors, including temperature and what auxiliary features you use (e.g. Aircon). My actual is nearer 17-18 miles.
the PHEV will go to Zero electric range available, but only briefly , as the petrol engine and braking will regenerate some range fairly quickly.
I have a pod point at home, the car gets plugged in whenever it is parked up there, so it rarely reaches 0 range. Like you, I have the remote charging (and conditioning) app, it's reasonably straight forward. When I was working at my office I would have it on a scheduled charge, 20 minutes full charge/condition before setting off.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Thanks Mac.
I also have some other battery questions such as when my battery is zero, the car as if by magic manages to move all by itself up to a speed of around 5mph before the petrol engine cuts in. Every time it starts off, it does this. Question is where is the juice when the battery energy says zilch. I wonder if MB has bent the needle artificially on the indication system so there is always at least maybe 2 or 3% of the 13.5KWh battery remaining? It also begs the question, could it ever actually get to zero and if so,the petrol engine would have to start her off each and every time.
Thanks again
Merv

I might have answered some of this on my other reply Merv, but you are right, my i8 will show 0 sometimes but still run for a short time.....

 

[Mervyn Jardin]

Welcome, it will be interesting to hear your real world experience of this model.
Nowadays the batteries are quite resilient, my i8 has an 8 year warranty for the batteries which would be activated if the battery capacity drops below 70%. My range is similar, theoretically 21 miles, but in reality that is quite dependent on a number of factors, including temperature and what auxiliary features you use (e.g. Aircon). My actual is nearer 17-18 miles.
the PHEV will go to Zero electric range available, but only briefly , as the petrol engine and braking will regenerate some range fairly quickly.
I have a pod point at home, the car gets plugged in whenever it is parked up there, so it rarely reaches 0 range. Like you, I have the remote charging (and conditioning) app, it's reasonably straight forward. When I was working at my office I would have it on a scheduled charge, 20 minutes full charge/condition before setting off.

I might have answered some of this on my other reply Merv, but you are right, my i8 will show 0 sometimes but still run for a short time.....

Thank you John
I was overseas in Abu Dhabi catching the last flight out on 24th March. I got the car on 25th and since been mostly in lockdown but working only 2.5 miles away and driving purely on electric apart from the odd longer trip at the weekend. As I had to rent initially, I have been going to the train station which is 5 minutes walk away and plugging in a 3 pin at 2.2kw. Its around 5 hours from 5 to 100%. All being well, I move into my house end of June and will install a wall charger but as yet not selected one. I note that MB recommend the BP Chargemaster with Polar grouping. Whatever I choose, I shall just probably plug in each night or alternate night for an hour at 7.2kw. I am looking at solar powered with battery installations as well depending upon cost.

 

[Srdl]

Hi Mervyn and welcome. Apart from all the electrickery, what do you think of the GLC or is it too soon to tell?

 

[Mervyn Jardin]

Hi Mervyn and welcome. Apart from all the electrickery, what do you think of the GLC or is it too soon to tell?

Hi Srdl
I like it but for the first time in my life, I don't really feel that I can just jump in this car, drive and be relaxed, well not yet. I have had probably 20 cars over 40 years and there are so many driving options, such as BL, EL, Comfort, then its a case of do i use the inbuilt satnav from MB or use google maps but then i have the annoyance of pushing that to a smaller less interactive screen.

I am juggling to find the right balance of using battery only and petrol. e.g. what I do find is that occasionally the petrol jumps in and at the end of a fairly short journey, it was used for maybe 1 minute. I really do worry if this is good for the engine. Another problem I could find down the road is that the engine has only been operating at it normal temperature for 25% of this life. That is really bad for an engine. It needs to be operating at its normal oil and cylinder head temperature to reduce wear and be efficient. I try and take it on longer journeys at the weekend only using petrol so the engine has at least warmed up and burnt off any condensation.

I find the app will not find many small villages or points of interest which google will. "Hey mercedes" sometimes works and other times, i would be better off the old fashioned way. I only found out yesterday, there is the "trip" setting as the info on the app is not really giving me what I need to know. In old fashioned cars, you pressed a button it went to zero and when you fished your journey, you knew the mileage. Now, I have no confidence in what I am reading is my actual distance, fuel consumption etc. Its almost too whizzbang. you really need a few hours brief at delivery. I had absolutely NO brief on the car at all, except here are the keys, social distancing rules OK. This is not a complaint but a potential reason for my ignorance on managing the MBUX correctly.

Here are some observations on the fly. Its road holding is great with those 20in rims, it also goes like a rocket, its quiet, smooth and feels comfy. In other words like a MB is supposed to be. However, why oh why do MB have to throw in bigger and bigger wheels for each increase in spec? It rides like a board and wish it had 18 in rims and a nice smooth ride. I have also damaged one rim slightly due to running over a small kerb in Asda car park at an angle. That would not have happened with 18in rims. The new adaptive super duper lights are great although that's a first impression, I really need to do more night time driving. I find with the steering wheel in the fully up position I can only just see the dials. In fact, one eye is only able to see each top left or top right corner. I don't want to sit lower down as I wont see over the bonnet as much as I want to. The steering wheel is the new flat bottomed variety and think they reduced the diameter by one inch too small for my liking. I am 5 foot 9 inches, so I really don't know how taller drivers get on except they will have to slide back further and recline. Maybe I have a longer than average spine! The trunk is smaller on the 'e' variant but I knew that in advance, you just accept it. At least there is still room under the floor to keep two sets of plug in cables. In fact, it fits in very nicely and is very convenient and close to the rear charging point.

I am an aircraft engineer by profession and tend to analyse things quite a bit. In fact, that is probably my nemesis in trying to over analyse instead of just driving.

 

[Srdl]

Thanks Mervyn. I’m sure you will get to be far more comfortable with it once you start to use it more and everything becomes second nature. Unfortunately, I can’t offer any advice on MBUX because mine has the good old Comand system which most of us on here are so used to. However, on seating position, I’m 6ft 2in and I have no problems with position so, again, perhaps time will help you.

 

[petronious]

Hello
I believe I am one of the newbies that opted for the GLC300e PHEV variant. I have only had the car a couple of months and so far so good.

Now that I am starting to get the hang of remote charging (still very much a novice), the battery is running down to zero and of course due to the limited range, is being charged up to 100%. Since the car is only good for around 25 miles in electric, I think the zero to full charge is quite realistic from an owners point of view. ie. it has to be practical. In contrast to the big brothers out there that are fully electric with their big range, it seems likely they will be dropping down to say, 20% before charging up to say, 80% as I have heard is the optimised charge for battery longevity. A car with 100 plus miles of range, that is easy to do but with a PHEV, it is all but impossible. Does anyone know if the battery on these PHEV cars has the resilience to repeatedly go from zero to 100% on an almost daily basis? Its something I didn't consider until now I am getting used to the new plug in life.

Hello
I believe I am one of the newbies that opted for the GLC300e PHEV variant. I have only had the car a couple of months and so far so good.

Now that I am starting to get the hang of remote charging (still very much a novice), the battery is running down to zero and of course due to the limited range, is being charged up to 100%. Since the car is only good for around 25 miles in electric, I think the zero to full charge is quite realistic from an owners point of view. ie. it has to be practical. In contrast to the big brothers out there that are fully electric with their big range, it seems likely they will be dropping down to say, 20% before charging up to say, 80% as I have heard is the optimised charge for battery longevity. A car with 100 plus miles of range, that is easy to do but with a PHEV, it is all but impossible. Does anyone know if the battery on these PHEV cars has the resilience to repeatedly go from zero to 100% on an almost daily basis? Its something I didn't consider until now I am getting used to the new plug in life.

I have recently purchased the GLC 300e and noted how the battery capacity increased the more you ran the battery down. This in turn then led to an increase in mileage charge. The maximum capacity I have achieved is 32.9 miles which gives me a charge of around 28/29 miles. However if I let it run to 0% it only shows around 24.2 miles and provides a charge of around 22 miles. To get the increased capacity was only achievable by continuing to run it on 0%

 

[JAYCEE55]

I have recently purchased the GLC 300e and noted how the battery capacity increased the more you ran the battery down. This in turn then led to an increase in mileage charge. The maximum capacity I have achieved is 32.9 miles which gives me a charge of around 28/29 miles. However if I let it run to 0% it only shows around 24.2 miles and provides a charge of around 22 miles. To get the increased capacity was only achievable by continuing to run it on 0%

I took delivery of a new GLC300de a couple of weeks ago and have run the battery to 0% 4 or 5 times. The maximum available indicated battery range I can get after a full charge to 100% is 21 miles. It's the SUV with an 'up to 29 miles' all electric range in theory. Liking the car very much so far, but wondering if the anticipated 29 miles range is unrealistic.

 

[Srdl]

I took delivery of a new GLC300de a couple of weeks ago and have run the battery to 0% 4 or 5 times. The maximum available indicated battery range I can get after a full charge to 100% is 21 miles. It's the SUV with an 'up to 29 miles' all electric range in theory. Liking the car very much so far, but wondering if the anticipated 29 miles range is unrealistic.

Welcome - great car (especially if you ignore the diesel and electric bits ). I suspect the quoted range for any battery vehicle is as realistic as the mpg figures that are quoted for ICE cars

 

[JAYCEE55]

Welcome - great car (especially if you ignore the diesel and electric bits ). I suspect the quoted range for any battery vehicle is as realistic as the mpg figures that are quoted for ICE cars

Ha! Fair....

 

[NMM]

If the battery design is anything like its big brother, the EQC, running to either 0 or 100 isn't a problem. MB design it very cautiously so that neither 0 nor 100 is really flat or full. So it doesn't strain it the way I think it can with some Teslas. You can relax and just use it fully.

I think the GLC and GLE hybrids have similar interior tech to the EQC. Have to say I find it superb, including how seamlessly MBUX works alongside Android.

What I don't understand about otherwise very good hybrids like the GLC and GLE (and X5) is why they have such slow charging. It means topping up at a petrol station isn't an option. The 110 kW speed of an EQC means you can go for a coffee and by the time you come back it's added a hundred miles. I'm not sure why this isn't offered with high class hybrids.

 

[petronious]

I took delivery of a new GLC300de a couple of weeks ago and have run the battery to 0% 4 or 5 times. The maximum available indicated battery range I can get after a full charge to 100% is 21 miles. It's the SUV with an 'up to 29 miles' all electric range in theory. Liking the car very much so far, but wondering if the anticipated 29 miles range is unrealistic.

Mine could be anything from 22 to 29. Whatever it says on the app it always between 2 to 3 miles below what it says for 100%
I have the Homecharge station fitted so now only use that and if over time that will be better

 

[bc507]

I took delivery of a new GLC300de a couple of weeks ago and have run the battery to 0% 4 or 5 times. The maximum available indicated battery range I can get after a full charge to 100% is 21 miles. It's the SUV with an 'up to 29 miles' all electric range in theory. Liking the car very much so far, but wondering if the anticipated 29 miles range is unrealistic.

I took delivery of my GLC300de a few weeks ago and now it will already only show up to 21 miles range at 100% charged status after a couple of charges from both 0% and mid level, always using a commercial charging station at min 7kw. The first time I recharged it after a long distance +150mi trip - having run it down to 0% it did seem to recharge to 27 miles range at 100%. In reality it seems to be now capable of only doing only 10 miles anyway on electric, that is with all climate control, radio etc switched off during driving and with very careful driving style. Does not appear to be anywhere near capable of achieving the 27mi range as sold, so I am wondering if it has a battery issue...

 

[Blobcat]

I took delivery of my GLC300de a few weeks ago and now it will already only show up to 21 miles range at 100% charged status after a couple of charges from both 0% and mid level, always using a commercial charging station at min 7kw. The first time I recharged it after a long distance +150mi trip - having run it down to 0% it did seem to recharge to 27 miles range at 100%. In reality it seems to be now capable of only doing only 10 miles anyway on electric, that is with all climate control, radio etc switched off during driving and with very careful driving style. Does not appear to be anywhere near capable of achieving the 27mi range as sold, so I am wondering if it has a battery issue...

Nope, it’s the way it is. Cold temp kills range.

Hybrids should be banned (other opinions are available ) The massive waste in resources in carrying a battery around you don’t need just to satisfy another ecomentalist rule shouldn’t be allowed in any sane world…

 

[B8VET]

Just took delivery of glc 300de about three weeks ago. Range shown after full charge varies 27 to 29. As others have said was also surprised that even when it shows empty it will keep going on electric from self generating. Very pleased with car and can’t believe how smooth and quiet it is and the way it switches from electric to diesel without you even being aware it’s done so. Home charger means in 1 hour 30 minutes it’s fully charged. Have found the Mercedes me app very fickle on notifications and tracking the vehicle status. Technology moved on long way since our 2008 clc was bought and still have this as well.