My quest for improved economy from my DS5 Hybrid4 goes on.
I had the chance to chat to Christophe Hancke, PSA Peugeot Citroen’s director of hybrid vehicles, about what I needed to do to see a real-world fuel figure nearer to the official 74.3mpg. The current 44.4mpg average is hugely disappointing, especially since I’ve tried lots of different techniques, including a special AA DriveTech training course for hybrid drivers. None have raised the overall figure.
After much discussion over my fuel sheet and the assertion by Hancke that he claims to know drivers who have achieved the official mpg, we came to the conclusion that I was driving the ‘wrong’ kinds of routes. Given this is the one thing I can’t change, it seems I’m doomed to poor mpg.
He did, however, answer one question that I’d been unsure about, saying that for the best economy the car must be left in ‘auto’ mode and not overridden into full-EV or sport modes. However, I’ve done this ever since our meeting and it’s yet to make a noticeable impact on fuel consumption.
