blaser

Driving with the 2018 RLX I see on the left battery gauge that the charge drops fast.
It started from 3/4 and dropped to less then a half after driving in the city for 10-15 min on 30-35 mph
is it normal?

hondamore

Bottom line, the range you are experiencing in EV mode is normal - in fact, it seems superior to what I get in my '14 Sport Hybrid. I've noticed my wife's 2018 MDX Sport Hybrid also seems to have more EV mode range, so I suspect the battery packs have evolved since the first introduction of the Sport Hybrid concept in the 2014.

The battery/electric motor system in the Sport Hybrid is primarily an assist or boost to the gasoline engine which is required "most of the time" (although in steady state driving below 55 mph the electric motors are adequate allowing the engine to turn off). In a 4600 pound luxury sedan, the hybrid system is there mostly for performance with the improved fuel economy being a nice side effect.

andysinnh

Same with my wife's '18 RLX Sport Hybrid. The drop in the battery is slower than I expected given what I'd read with earlier RLX threads, and on par with what the MDX threads discuss. It took me a while to understand exactly what the role of the hybrid mode was in the RLX, and if you look at it purely as an assist mode concept - with the ability to go EV-only on level stretches until you need to really power the car - it behaves as you'd expect. The wife on her trip commuting to work gets 35 mpg out of this big car, which I feel is amazing - and it does kick out of EV mode off and on when she needs power, or when the battery needs to charge a bit back up.

I'd say what you're seeing is typical.

andy

George Knighton

Just trust the car and don't worry about it. :-)

If you're driving under about 50 mph for extended periods, the car will try to use the battery by itself as much as possible.

You'll see it repeatedly quickly vary between 80% and 20%.

That's where batteries are happiest, and as long as you are not in sport mode the car will usually not charge above 85%.

If you're in sport mode, it'll charge to 100% because the car assumes you will want to be using the electric motors in addition to the gasoline motor, for the most power. The car will charge to 100% because it cannot predict ahead when you will put a large demand on the electric motors.

blaser

George before I saw your post I drove this morning to the office I decided to switch to sport mode and the battery charged to 100%.

pcloadletter

It will also regen to 100% on a long decent and the engine will kick on to bleed off excess energy.

Interesting observation, driving hard, then parking, the engine will run to charge the battery and stabilize temps. Driving normally, then parking, the engine will shut off.