CX-60 Towing Mode and Charge Question

[kiwi_matt]

Hi team. I have a new CX-60 PHEV in New Zealand that came off the boat in late November. Only 600km and I haven’t experienced the issues others list so hopefully quite a few updates have been made to the latest models. I will post my experience after more kms on the clock.

I have a question about the towing mode that I haven’t used yet. I am going to be towing a 2000kg trailer in a few weeks time and there are some long hills on the route. I assume the car will really need both the electric motor and the engine operating when going uphill. Does the towing mode automatically place the car in charge mode and keep the battery topped up for hills or should I be putting it in charge mode and towing mode together?

Thanks heaps.

 

[Gajdzin]

Hi Matt. The car always maintains enough battery charge to assist maximum power requirements. The charge mode is meant for situations like: a long route ending with entering a city where you don't want to (or are legally required not to) use the internal combustion engine.

Having said which I have never used towing mode, so I don't know if after a prolonged max or near-max power requirement the battery wouldn't get depleted. But I seriously doubt it, assuming everything is fine with your car. Even in a hilly area there are sections where you don't need full power and then the battery immediately starts charging again, from the engine or regenerative braking.

Good luck and drive carefully with that 2t load behind

 

[kiwi_matt]

Hi all. I thought I would post my towing experience for others that find this forum. I was pulling a 2000kg boat about 350km each way. This is on New Zealand roads that are not flash - very windy and hilly in sections.

Overall I was really impressed with the car as a tow vehicle. My previous car was a Mitsi Pajero Sport so a serious tow car and I thought I would notice the step down but I didn’t. The CX-60 was sure footed and had plenty of power - the advantage of the two engines.

I tried just using towing mode on the way there but I completely ran out of charge on a hill and then didn’t build any through regenerative braking before the next so about 3/4 through the trip I used the charge mode. On the way back I had the charge button enabled the whole time and that made a big difference. I wasn’t able to recharge my car at my destination so it started low and never got over about 40% mostly hovering in the 20% zone (the charging mode seems very slow).

My previous diesel used to do about 15L/100km on this trip there and a little less back (more down hills). A lot for a diesel - a combo of not a particularly efficient engine, big cumbersome boat and windy hilly roads. I was dreading what a petrol engine would achieve… Surprisingly it was essentially the same. 15L/100km there and 14L/100km back even with the charge mode on.

Hopefully all that info is helpful for others!