Hi Everyone, some of you may have seen this video before as it is a re-upload. Some of the content from the original video had incorrect information for UK spec vehicles so apologies if it was misleading! I want this channel to showcase the latest models, tips & tricks, tutorials etc so want the correct information shown on here first time and every time.
I drive my new A250e Black Cosmos Premium since Wednesday....it's absolutely awesome... I decided to buy my first "great" car on May, I fell in love with this car and now I know I was right about those feelings... it is the most expensive car I bought since I got the driving licence 30 years ago but, God, it is really worth the money. It's not about the power or the speed... it's about the vibes. This car suits me like a tailoring suit.
There can be! In the UK A-Class’s have packages called Executive, Premium & Premium Plus. Premium is the one that gives you the subwoofer in the boot. It’s called Mercedes-Benz advanced sound system, 225 W - includes a mid-range speaker as the central speaker, one mid-range speaker in each of the front and rear doors as well as one tweeter in each door. For a little bit more bass a subwoofer bass box is installed in the rear, including a separate amplifier. Hope that helps!
My MB dealer lent me this car last Saturday as my own one was undergoing maintenance service. Never tried anything similar before - it reminded me of Depeche Mode's hit "Enjoy the Silence" !
Hi Nick. Bought my GLA 250e last October, just done 2338 miles because of lockdown and recent Hip replacement. Loving the car, just wanted to share consumption figures. Only put Petrol in once so far, 373 miles on petrol, 1963 miles on electric. 217mpg and 3.4mpKWh. In the coldest part of winter, during very hard frosts, a full charge was returning at worst 23 miles. At this time that figure is regularly 41/42. Hopefully soon I can get back to more travelling and get to know the car properly. Loving it so far.
Hi Nick - love the videos, incredibly informative. We took delivery of a A250e back in April and have a question (in 2 parts) about getting the best economy on a journey (apols if you have already explained this before). 1st part of the question: We will be travelling from Leeds to Burford in the Cotswolds (distance of approx 170 miles). Naturally we can't go all electric on that journey and we wont be intending to stop at a garage to recharge on the journey, so how do we set the car up to get the best economy over that journey? Here were my thoughts: 1. tell the satnav our journey (Leeds to Burford, Cotswolds) 2. leave the car in eco mode for the entire journey Ideally once there we'd find a charging point & recharge. 2nd part of the question: as above, but lets say there is no opportunity to charge at Burford & we want to eke out the electric for the return journey too (so 340 miles return trip minimum) - would you programme the satnav for the return journey too, so the car knows it has to conserve electric for that length of trip - or is this just totally stupid & unrealistic?! Thanks in advance. Owen
Hey Owen, Thank you and glad you like the videos! Just to help understand, plug-in hybrids don’t use electric over the course of your entire sat Nav journey. If you just jump into the car, and drive normally, it’ll use up all of the electric till it’s empty. When that’s used up, the engine will of course come on & it’ll try to regain bits of power from regenerative braking and will allow the engine to turn off as you slow down etc but fully electric driving won’t be possible because it’s all used up. The other option is to select “Battery Level” and it’ll retain the charge state for a future point in your journey. And then you can flick over to one of the other modes etc. There are a couple of things that of course can affect this such as an option in MBUX called “Electric in the City” and of course as mentioned above your drive mode. But there isn’t a way to make the electric stretch and last for a full journey like that. You can use electric or you can save it. Sport mode for example is another exception to that where it’ll use both together. How that makes sense! Of course the more you plug it in, the cheaper it will be, but unlike an all-electric vehicle you don’t have to, to complete a journey.
@@npoleary Perfect, thanks so much Nick for the reply. For some reason I'd assumed on a long journey that the electric element of the engine could occasionally kick in (even if not for very long) to try and assist the mpg of the petrol engine......not sure why I thought that though. Thanks again Owen
Great video Superb!!! Like the way you explained all different mode how to drive the car 👍👍👍 I will save you vedio to watch it when i am sitting in my car when i have bought it ..
I’ve had a C300de estate for the last year and you find a different way of driving. I go to Manchester from Sheffield over the Pennines and it’s about 110 miles return very hilly, I’m getting approx 103mpg for the journey, manually adjusting between hybrid and diesel, hybrid being used in the easy go areas and city driving. Lovely car but only let down is the hump in the boot area, but there has to be a compromise somewhere. Driving around home is approx 30-35miles on just electric. Pretty good for a mid to large estate.
Mines a C class I have a mode button to change how the battery charges or discharges. Hybrid is the default mode but when on the flat or slight down hill when your just tickling the engine switch to hybrid or E mode it’ll help the car coast without using a lot of electric, when the cars got to labour turn on to E save as this uses a lot of electric. I’m averaging 88.3 MPG and my commute is approx 70miles each way.
Hi Nick! Thank you so much for explaining in detail how a plug in hybrid works. I absolutely love all your videos as they are very informative and keep us up to date with all the latest tech in the car world! I hope you can answer my question... Do the batteries in the plug in hybrid need to be replaced once they are depleted from years of usage? If yes, maybe you can also include the cost of replacing a new battery in your computation together with the one that you explained. Let's say the battery needs to be replaced after certain number of years of usage or # of miles/kilometers of travel. Then include that to your earlier computation. Thanks a lot! Stay safe
Hi Roberto Co, Thanks for your kind comments and thanks for your question, Mercedes-Benz to my knowledge haven't released the price of the cost of the batteries I'd imagine because they are expensive right now being new, but fast forward to after the warranty expires on them then the price will have reduced quite significantly. Rest assured though, Mercedes-Benz hybrids have a 6 year warranty for peace of mind! I hope that answers your question with the available info I have!
Hi Nick, you said the hybrids have a 6 year warranty, is that the battery warranty or overall 6 year warranty. My GLA hybrid arrives next month and I am aware of the standard 3 year warranty on it unless you know otherwise?
Hi Asif, Yes you’re absolutely right! So in the UK and on all new Mercedes-Benz: 3 year warranty from the day your Mercedes-Benz was first registered in the UK no matter how many miles you drive. For any Mercedes-Benz PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), the warranty is valid up to 62,000 miles or 6 years whichever comes sooner. Hope that answers your question 👍🏼
Wow thanks for sharing that. I currently have one on order but was unable to teat drive one prior to order due to "disappointing" local dealer! Wish I was getting mine from yourselves, I've honestly learnt so much from the vids I hadn't been able to quiz my dealer on. Thank you!
Ah okay that’s alright Meeko! Glad you liked the video! Yes hybrids are different but once you get to grips with electric, kWh and charge points it’s easy once you know how! 😎
Think an important part you might not have mentioned is the appeal to Company car drivers, due to the massive tax savings. I currently have a 530e, i'm moving to an A250e most likely the saloon. For now I will stick with hybrids until the winter real world range on electrics is north of 250miles
Hi Munya44, No you’re absolutely right, the savings for company car owners are amazing right now but they can change each year in April so could change next year.
I've often wondered whether a hybrid like this can be useful for those of us without any possibility to charge at home. Simply driving and regenerative braking will give you 'some' charge. Is it enough to provide some benefit. I thought that perhaps it would be enough to get me out of our underground parking garage, and enough to get up to speed from traffic lights and then it's straight back to engine power - but it's back at the point where the engine is most efficient. Simply getting those short 5 seconds of e-assistance can get you some nice boost to fuel economy I would think/hope. I've never seen any kind of review where someone has tested what you get from a hybrid if you never charge it.
@@npoleary Hi Nick, great videos. Thats a good idea, I would love a video to understand what is the best way of driving my C300De. I have had it for 5 months now and still trying to work out the different ways of driving it. A video with tips on the most efficient way of driving and also what bits of the car are powered from the normal battery and what is charged from the lithium batteries.
Just ordered one of these, pick it up next Tuesday, very excited. Not new to PHEV have an Optima right now, which in fairness has been great, but Kia decided to discontinue this model so their loss, MB gain
Informative video, edited well! Thanks, you've put quite a bit of effort into this video. I enjoyed it too much, 10 minutes gone by so quickly. Your one of the few people who've got a video about the a250e. Probably the best one I've watched. I'm always curious what the MPG economy would be when the battery is completely depleted. This I can't find the answer to yet. From what I can gather about other PHEVs, the economy should be equivalent to a non-PHEV of the same vehicle (eg. the A180).
Hi Seng, ah thank you that means a lot! Yeah did take a while to film and edit! Yes you’re absolutely right, economy would be pretty much the same. I say pretty much as there are other variables but it will virtually be the same. Gains on PHEV’s are by plugging them in and using as much electricity as possible. In terms of cost per mile, it’s approx 1/3 of the cost when you’re running on Electricity. So charge as much as you can and when you can 🤓
@@npoleary agree, plugging in definitely would bring benefits. I heard some people buy PHEVs get excited about it for few weeks and never plug it in again haha yes....i know how much work editing takes, used to do videos as a day job!
Ah there we go! Yes I’ve heard of a few people doing that buying a plug in hybrid and not even bothering to charge it. They may as well had saved themselves the outright cost and just bought a petrol or diesel!
It also makes me wonder, how Toyota/Lexus Hybrids with a significantly smaller battery manage to consume a lot less than its petrol-only counterparts. Sureley a PHEV would have similar benefits to the Toyota/Lexus series-parallel hybrid setup. Although I guess when the engine is on and battery is depleted in a PHEV, it's making a lot of effort on the ICE engine to charge the battery.
Hi Nick , Just back from my test drive of the A250e hatchback, I think I will be ordering that as soon as I can #premplus,so comfortable, plush👍so much better than the golf gte 😳take care Nick 👍
Hi Nick, love your videos. Just wondering how would YOU drive one of these? In terms of modes. For motorway driving is it best to use eco or battery hold to attain the most mpg? Would you use petrol only on the motorway or eco with both combined? Basing my question on a 100 mile round trip with 15 miles of city driving? You have earned a subscriber 👍
The cool things is with plug-in hybrids is that you just jump in them and they do their thing. But there are settings to adjust if you want to. So by default in most plug-in hybrids out there, it’ll run on electric first, and when that’s used up, it’ll switch over to fuel. That’s the whole concept of them. The modes on hybrid are if you want to change that, so maybe you want to save the electric for when you get there (driving in London) or maybe you want both to give you more power for overtaking. Thanks for subscribing! 🙏
You should use the cars kWh/100km to work out the energy usage. Phevs often have a reserve to do supply more power when needed but also never full discharge on top of this, so the electric only prices should be even less.
Hi nick. I have got a a250e. On long journeys I like to drive the motorway part with engine and save the battery for when I reach London. But when I reach the fringe of a city but still on dual carriageway it literally will not let me drive in anything but electric. Leaving little electric for the busy city parts. Does the car have a smart thing that knows when your entering a city and puts it into electric only or am I being stupid and doing something wrong. Cheers
Hey Christopher Hoare, Ah perfect! Yes there is an “Electric in the City” mode usually enables by default. On your centre screen on your dashboard, press “HOME” then go to the EQ Menu. Should be in there, just deselect it and that should work 🤓
Nick O'Leary thankyou for taking time to reply. Had a look and found it. Cheers for that. Good tech for small city’s but geuss when driving through London it will just activate the moment it thinks your in city. Thanks again. 👍
Hi nick, Im thinking of getting one of these as a company car, i live in an apartment and won't be able to charge it every night. Will this have an negative effect over the battery or engine after time. What mpg can i expect just off the petrol engineer, am i right in saying it has a 37 litre tank? Cheers
Yes the petrol tank is smaller just so it doesn’t eat into the boot space too much. Your MPG will be almost the same as the standard 1.3L in the A180 & A200 but when you can, if you charge it you’ll see your running costs go down significantly. Head over to ZapMap and check out where the charge points are on your usual daily journeys. Shops, work etc, have a look and see where you might be able to charge. The more you run on electric, the cheaper it’ll be for you! 🤓 www.zap-map.com/live/
Good question! Either when it hits about 5-% on the battery or you accelerate hard. Or I guess the other time would be if you selected a mode called “Battery Level” which will try to prioritise using the engine.
Most hybrids are quite pokey! They have so much power with the electric they will always be responsive. However if you think something’s not right defo contact Mercedes and they can check it out for you
Actually, the title of the video is misleading. I expected an explanation how the combination electric & petrol motor work technically. How they combine , clutch system of however it works.
Hey Ronalcools, thanks for the feedback! I made it quite some time ago back when I was starting to post to TH-cam. I always take suggestion from comments so I could add that to a suggestion for a future video on the technical aspects of it.
Absolutely! New video this Friday! Although I’m getting increasingly concerned the UK is about to go into a national lockdown again...so I’ll try and keep them coming weekly!
Thanks for video 🎉 , one question: I bought the same car and I use electric in city , now 3 days , by full 100% the range is 39 km! But before that the ranges were 51 km with 100% charge ! The weather and temperature of city is the same approximately , it Is problem with my car ?
Hey Parsa, that number is adaptive 🤓 It’s only working out the range based on what you’re using. It’ll adjust based on the previous 100 miles or so of driving.
Hi Nick, great video as always. I get my Premium Plus on Tuesday and wondered if the engine recuperates the the battery when running the ICE after the battery has depleted on journeys that exceed the electric only range.
Hi Stu, No new plug in hybrids can only top up the battery via physically plugging it in. The idea behind this is that you're not using fuel as it causes air pollution plus even if you could it's not an efficient way of putting power into a battery anyway. This is because the cost to you, electricity is about a 1/3 of the cost compared to fuel to travel the same distance.
Thanks Nick. I’d read somewhere that under breaking it harvests the kinetic energy and puts it into the battery. Obviously not in the same way as a self charging hybrid but just enough to give you a little helping hand towards topping it up. Seems to be mixed messages as I’ve seen videos of the MBUX showing the graphic of it charging (green animation on the drive train) when it’s using ICE only but cannot find anything that supports it. Thanks for the help. Keep up the videos. I’m new to MB’s so they been keeping me excited until mine arrives on Tuesday. Stu.
Hi bro… I like your videos. I’m trying to buy A250e but not the 2023 /2024 models because I don’t like they remove the touchpad. Can you tell me please tell me in your opinion which of the A250 has the best look and functions interior and exterior. Thank you 🙏🏾
Hey! Thank you! Glad you enjoy the videos! I’ve covered the A-Class on some of my other videos: th-cam.com/video/PWspwo-ZW1k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=u6FkebIh6oCwUiLR But if you can stretch to it, do consider the facelift version. Yes the touchpad is gone but Mercedes are one of the very few manufacturers who offer 4 ways to actually interact with their screens. (Central Touchpad, Touchscreen, Steering Wheel Touchpads & Voice). Removing one of them is really no big deal. Facelifts also have new tech, wireless CarPlay and more which I cover here: th-cam.com/video/Ft318ejsnu0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=fS4zO6u2nJQHDviM
Hi Nick, Great video. I have seen a few reviews on the A-class but never the A250e Sedan AMG line, any chance you could review and test drive this model please? Hints, tips and tricks all welcome.
Hi Godlike Mark, unfortunately Mercedes-Benz of Poole where I film haven’t got one of those but rest assured it’s identical to the hatchback in the video with one difference the boot being the shape of a saloon. All the other things like engines, power, trim levels and packages are all the same.
One question: is a car like this worth it if you don’t have a nearby charger? I guess I would do it like this: tank, give the battery charge, then use the electric motor for small commutes, and when it’s empty I’ll charge it up again with a bigger, petrol needed commute. I guess it’s not the most efficient way, but the only way I can use it. Should I just go for petrol or for this? Thanks!
Hey Tony, oh a GLC350e? Haven’t heard of that one? Where abouts are you based in the world? Sorry hard to tell in the comments! In the UK GLC hybrids are only known as a GLC 300e or GLC 300de (available in SUV or Coupe)
Really sorry as I don’t service cars myself I wouldn’t know but the recommended grades for oil will be detailed in the owners manual (or just get in touch with Mercedes directly and they’ll be able to able to help) 🤓 Tyre pressures are in the fuel filler cap (they’re unique to each car depending on wheels sizes etc)
The facelift changed recently which might have changed the range too, I managed to film the CLA in this video here (sadly not the hybrid but I hope to in the future!) th-cam.com/video/Wie56TRlBJM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VX7cyjSYGUjO_2EV
There’re designed to last as long as an engine but there’s a warranty on the battery for 6 years 🤓 Mercedes-Benz have a battery certificate on their website if you wanted to read more about it 👍🏼
Hi Only Full Fights, Ah that's easy, just use the DYNAMIC SELECT! There's several drive modes in there from Sport, Comfort, Electric, Battery Level & Eco. To use the engine and preserve the battery at its current state, use the mode Battery Level.
Got my a250e saloon yesterday. It is a gorgeous car and drives so nice. One question though, when fully charged the range only shows a max of 33 miles. Everywhere says 44 or so miles so are the settings wrong or something?
Hi Jsn421, Yes of course, so the range on the car is just like any petrol / diesel engine. It will show you a predicted range based on how you've driven before or what the car has experienced on the last few drives. If you drive extremely economically, with no traffic and A/C then this range is achievable. Of course if you have your heating / A/C on, experience heavy traffic with lots of starting and stopping then the quoted range will show less on the screen so it doesn't misinform you on what is actually achievable.
Hi nick, I see folk talking about using the Mercedes’ sat nav, that the car calculates how far your journey is, is this true? And also does comfort mode learn how I drive the car?
Hey Jordan, yes that’s right all Sat Nav’s will show you how far it is to travel and more specifically with Plug-in Hybrids, they can show you where charge points are located too. And yes I’ve heard all automatic gearboxes do adapt to the driver over time too.
Sadly no modern cars do not offer this as it decreases your MPG. I explain it in this video: th-cam.com/video/QzSYEP2eOSI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=N6WOl3LmcR9mlCJg Basically when you buy a plug-in hybrid, the whole point of spending more on a car usually is offset some of your driving on fuel to electric. Now if you’re using fuel to charge the battery up using a charge mode, then you may as well have not bought a hybrid in the first place. It seems really convenient to do this and charge while you drive but it takes off 15 to 20 MPG while doing so! In terms of energy used, charging using a plug or a wallbox is always cheaper than using fuel to charge the car up. The whole point of using hybrid is to not use fuel and use electric where you can. So yes, very convenient but it just costs more and kind of defeats the point if you’re just using fuel to charge the battery.
Hi Nick, sorry to regurgitate an old subject.I’m trying to find out what exactly the 0-62mph in 6.60 seconds spec is based on. Is that always achievable regardless of fuel choice or is that the optimum speed only attainable in Sport mode using electric and petrol combined?
0-60mph is with Sport mode with a combination of fuel & electric (charged of course) and dry conditions. You can use any grade of Unleaded Fuel for this as long as it’s RON 95 or higher.
Well depends on your journeys! If you drove 7 miles to work, 7 miles back again like me and you plugged it in at night, maybe never! Well unless you go on a long trip of course 😅
Yes you can, although it’s best to get the socket tested before plugging a car in so you may want to do this first. Yes your electricity bill will go up, but it would be replaced by your decreased fuel bill. To travel one mile, it would cost about a 1/3 on electricity than it would on petrol. Quite a saving! So yes electricity would increase but cheaper in the long run!
@@npoleary Oh great news Nick 👏Just a more in depth review on boot size,I think the interior stitching has changed colour to light grey ?Also spec difference from entry level to prem plus 🙏🏼I've looked at all video's on A250e & there isn't a recent 1 😫keep up the great work Nick 👍
Hi Nick, congratulations for the very professional videos. I have driven the A250e and was surprised to see that, with the battery fully charged, the predicted range was only about 25 miles. Now, I never believed it could cover the 43-44 miles advertised by Mercedes but this seems quite distant... Is this typical? Thanks
Thanks manxdoc! Yes that’s right it’s a predicted range, it’ll change and fluctuate throughout the seasons because in the winter, you’ll use more power. You can achieve this range as I have done it before 🤓 Need to be travelling around 40mph to 60mph and the outside temp needs to be approx 23°C. So of course it’s been fairly cold recently which will result in less range and the screen will reflect this.
Hi Nick, hope you’re well. I have acoustic lock enabled on the car but I notice when I exit the car, it won’t lock by itself and I have to manually lock it, is this because I have acoustic lock enabled? Is there a way to have acoustic lock enabled and the car to lock by itself when it can’t detect the key nearby? Thanks.
Hey Keyshore Kumar, no sadly there is no way that Mercedes cars will auto lock. If you unlock the car and don’t open a door, it will auto lock within a minute or two. However, if you unlock the car and you do open a door then it will stay unlocked indefinitely until you lock it.
Hi Nick, I just ordered an A250e premium plus hybrid saloon and was wondering how much will it cost to charge if the charge cost is 35p/kWh using a 50KWH charger? Assuming there is very little charge left, what would the charging speeds be like?
Hi Arun, Charging costs are easily worked out by multiplying the p/kWh by the battery size. So in your example above: £0.35p x 10.6kWh = £3.71 The A 250e has an in built system to convert AC to DC for your battery and that is rated at 7.4kW so it will only ever have the ability to charge at this max speed. Should be approx 2 hours for this from flat. Hope that helps!
Hi Nick, I hope you are doing good. I seem to notice the max range I have is now 27 miles and before it used to show 30 miles in pure electric. Is this due to the cold weather that the range has dropped? Is there any way the range can be extended I believe the car should be able to do 44 miles, I’m getting no where near that. Would the range increase in the summer? I often drive in eco mode anyway so I usually gain a mile or two. Thanks.
Hey Tom, this will be more then likely that you’re using more power in the winter. Wether has been fairly cold recently in the UK, so all EV’s and plug-in hybrids will be exactly the same. Over the coming months, due to the warmer weather, it’ll go back up again.
Hi niklas, No it won’t start charging, you’ll just want to plug in when you next can. The car does offer brake recuperation which helps but will not fully charge a battery. The idea of plug in hybrids is to get your power / fuel from the cheapest source which isn’t fuel from a fuel station. In terms of energy electricity is about 1/3 of the cost compared to fuel to travel the same distance.
Hi Nick, I just received my AMG a250e premium plus model. I was wondering which fuel to use. E10 or E5 ?Or a mixture of both ? (according to some reviews read online).
Hey Arun, according to some reviews? That’s strange…I mean check your fuel filler cap to be sure as it’ll state it on there. In the UK normal Unleaded has switched over to E10 and it’ll run absolutely fine on that to the point where you probably wouldn’t even notice! 🤓
Hi Nick, With PHEV like the A250e, the car always starts in electric mode. In Comfort Mode, or even in Electric mode, the petrol engine only comes in when "you need more", meaning more torque hence more rpm. I always learnt to warm up the (ICE) engine to a certain temperature before revving it up, otherwise will eventually reduce the life of the engine/break it down. Isn't the hybrid case actually triggering the cold petrol engine when high revs are required? Is there something that would be taking care of this counter-intuitive situation? Kind of keeping the engine as a "hot standby"? Love the car :) ! Cheers!
Hi Marco, yes absolutely I would never advise racing a cold engine. I know there’s electronic limiters in place to stop damage anyway. You can monitor the engine temperature on the dashboard just like normal but of course it will only heat up when the engine is on.
Hi Nick, there was a thread here, I wonder it was removed as you reposted this video. Anyways im sure you have been asked this before, I read somewhere to prolong the life of the battery you ensure you charge upto 80% and theres was something else about 20% . Can you explain this please. Would charging to 100% actually be around 80% taking into account the reserved part of the battery? Thanks
Hi Asif, Yes annoyingly I regretfully had to remove the original A250e video as it had incorrect information in it on UK spec cars. Yes so in the A250e, because of the reserved part you won’t necessarily have to worry about the battery part in that way. The only thing you should observe is that if you are leaving the vehicle idle for lengthy periods, park up the vehicle with a high-voltage battery charge level between 30% and 50% and don’t leave it plugged in for long periods of time (like a two week holiday for example). Just using it anywhere between 10% to 100% everyday or two is absolutely fine.
Hey Ian, Honestly I haven’t driven one in the snow...but the battery weighs about 150kg so it’s like carrying two people in the back permanently. You’d only notice the extra weight if you swung it round a corner quickly. In terms of snow, there isn’t a snow mode or winter mode or anything (there is a setting for winter tyres however if you had them fitted). But there is an Eco mode to reduce power output which is the recommended mode for slippery conditions. Hope that helps!
Hi Ellie, all plug-in hybrids have a thing called brake recuperation which means when you brake, some of the power will go back to the battery. This is a very small amount however so will eventually run out and just switch to the engine. To make the most gains with a plug-in hybrid, just plug it in wherever possible. But the good thing about them, it’s not necessary to complete a journey. The more you do though, the cheaper it will be for you as it’s cheaper to travel a mile on electricity than fuel.
Hiya Nick, are you able to tell if if "MERCEDES-BENZ A CLASS HATCHBACK SPECIAL EDITIONS A250e AMG Line Edition 5dr Auto" is the basic specification? What is special editions? Cheers in advance
Hey Liam, most commonly in the UK specs you’ll see wording like Executive Package, Premium Package & Premium Plus Package. These are the ones to look out for as they add extras to the car 🤓 If it just states AMG line, then most likely it won’t include those.
Hi Nick - great video. Just got the A250E and wondering how to set max charge levels - for example I would like to charge the battery to a maximum of 80% however the app and the car touchscreen dont provide this option. Thank you!
Thank you! Ah very nice! Well typically with a plug-in hybrid you don’t need to. The buffer either end of the battery is built in so there is no option. EV’s do have that option to limit a charge because they have larger batteries but you don’t need to on an A250e.
Thanks for getting back to me. I have read in many places that the best way of keeping a healthy battery is to charge it within the 20-80% range. Based on what you have said there is no way of doing this apart from keeping an eye on the charging status yourself - is that fair to say? Thanks @@npoleary
Well you don’t need to for Mercedes hybrids they already have a slight reduction in the battery in what’s called the usable capacity. The previous A250e (in this video) had a battery capacity of around 15kWh but you could only use 10kWh. The 80% rule is already baked into it from what I heard from Mercedes.
is it correct that you have to purchase the 3pin plug lead? as only the public power outlet lead is supplied with the car? have been very tempted with putting my w177 A-Class premium in for a A250e CLA premium, but the more I read the more I think maybe not?? given that hybrids are being seen as bypasable on the road to full electric🤔😱
Hey LFC markeb, It possibly could vary from country to country but in the UK both leads are provided with the car. That’s the 3-pin and a Type-2 cable for wallboxes / public charging
10.6kWh is the useable capacity of this battery so this is the figure everyone should go by. This is also what the range figure would have been quoted at.
Hi, so at the start (when the car is new) the car will only allow a batterie capacity of 13.5kw (or 10.6kw usable). The Batterie actually is 15.6kw. So over time the car will give you a little bit more capacity to compansate for the fading of the Batterie. So 5years down the line you don't feel like the batterie has gotten smaller.
Hi is it okay to drive a plug-in hybrid E class on sports mood very often for break-in period purposes because in comfort mood the engine always tends to turn of. Is it okay or is it not safe for a brand new car any suggestions?
Hey Ashraf, as with all new cars they have a running in period which it’s advised not to to go to full acceleration on the pedal just for the few hundred miles or so. This can be because of the tyres and brakes needing to wear in a bit. After that you’ll be okay 🤓 Only Mercedes-AMG vehicles have a longer running in period which stretches up to 1,000 miles.
Nice video 👍🏼 Some posts say the A250e has a 15.6kwh battery pack while others say 10.6kwh. Is the 10.6kwh for driving and the rest reserved for other functions or how does it work?
Hi Ben, Thank you! :) Excellent question, the A 250e has officially a 15.6kWh battery pack but the useable capacity is 10.6kWh. So this is probably where people are getting their mix up of information as technically both are correct! I don't know the official reason as to why the battery capacity isn't maxed out at 15.6kWh but I've got a pretty good idea that it's down to maximising it's life expectancy. Basically, with Lithium-ion batteries, the less time they spend at 100% or when they're empty, the longer they will last so at a guess I'd imagine this is why the capacity is capped at 10.6kWh so it will last longer. It's useable capacity is right in the middle of the actual capacity of the battery. This sort of behaviour is quite common on most batteries but I think Mercedes-Benz are one of the few manufacturers who post both figures. I hope that answers your question without getting too technical!
Hey John, best to speak with Mercedes and they can let you know exact specifics as it can vary round the world. It’s hard to tell where everyone’s from on comments on TH-cam! 😅 In the UK, I’ve seen the new facelift has options for HUD which is exciting! 🤓
Hi Nick, Great review. I just wanted to enquire about the placement of the battery and fuel tank in the car. Are they placed next to each other? If so how does that work with safety? Are the mechanics for each system isolated?
Hey D O, Yes they are next to each other however safety is the forefront of new cars. In the event of anything going wrong (for example a crash) the system can literally shut off the entire system and isolate it. At this point it has to be checked over by a dealership and each system checked.
Hi Nick I have an A250e 71 plate that I bought from you guys last year. The battery only charges during the summer full charge to max 24 miles. I don't get any more miles than that. Do you have any suggestions? The car has just been in for a service and it's charging fine and holding its charge. When it hits winter I'm likely to only get about 8-10 miles of electric miles!! Can you help??
Hey Elouise that does seem a little lower than normal, if you got in touch with them, they might be able to get it checked out. The range indicator is adaptive and adapts to your driving and of course use of A/C so it will fluctuate depending on your journeys but I’d still say to get it checked.
Hello can we make soft clamp on battery charge for example minimum 20% and max. 80% so can’t charge car more than 80% and can’t use battery less than 20% ?
Ooo that’s up to you! Me personally I quite like black or titanium grey pearl/black. They are very similar honestly to the point it’s hard to tell! Grey’s always a nice safe colour that looks really smart. What colour was on your mind?
Hi Nick, My A250e is due soon but unfortunately I can’t get a wall charger due to no off road parking. So what are the charge times at charging stations. Are they the same 7.3kw chargers or higher? Thankyou for the video
Hi Saj, Oh no! If you live in the UK like me, I’d recommend downloading an app called Zap Map so you can do see where all of the charge stations are. And yes 1.75 hours to charge fully when flat. The car itself is limited to 7.2kWh so you can plug it into faster ones but it will only charge at that speed.
Hi nick you advertise that you can get as much as 250mpg with this car amg250e , I still don't know how you guys get that 250mpg, my wife got this 2021 A250e right now and I notice after you use the full charge electric you will go back to petrol and it seems like you are just using the 1.3L petrol engine 50_60mpg. So I still don't know why it says you can get 250mpg with this car, it's like trick to me.
It’s a tricky one to work out because it depends on the journey you do. So for example, if you drove 2 miles up the road, went into the shops then drove back and the engine didn’t switch on, you will have achieved 999+ miles per gallon, because you haven’t used any gallons of fuel, just electric. Another example, same trip but if you accelerated hard at the lights just once, then drove normally for the rest of it, then your MPG might be around 300-400 MPG because it averaged out on electric for most of it. And the final example, same trip again but this time you drove there on electric and then drove back with the engine on “Battery Level” (this mode uses the engine) then your MPG might be around the 100-200 MPG mark. Miles per gallon is very tricky to work out on hybrids because there is another source of power pushing you around which throws off stats. MPG is used to measure how much fuel we use, where as electric is measured in MPkWh (miles per kWh) This is why that figure seems high on short journeys but less on longer journeys. Of course the more you run on electric and plug it in, the better your MPG will be but with a plug-in hybrid you don’t have to to complete a journey.
Very interesting, thank you. Quick question, if you need to over take or join a motorway and need to accelerate fairly quickly will the car automatically use the combined power of the electric engine and petrol engine without selecting sport from the drving mode? One thing that bothers me is the possibility of the car feeling under powered.
Oh trust me it doesn’t feel underpowered! Yes of course no matter what mode you’re in, it’ll use engine and electric if you accelerate quickly past the pressure point on the accelerator pedal 🤓
I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with either. Pretty much all cars drive well these days no matter the manufacturer but it’s down to what you like and also how it integrates with your phone etc and how easy it is to use. 20 miles to work and back is perfect for hybrid or electric. You’d be able to cover that journey on electric only even in colder conditions too. Did you have any other longer journeys that you might do throughout the year? Electric vehicles are more expensive still at the moment but that is set to change in the coming years...
Hi Nick, Ordered the premium plus pack but wondered why the car doesn’t come with Rear heated seats/ ventilated seats and even a heated steering wheel?
Hey Tom, it’s something that Mercedes-Benz models don’t have. The only car where this is available is an S-Class. Wish they had a heated steering wheel! That would be good in the winter!
Actually no it doesn’t, it will start in electric but as soon as you go to pull away and accelerate enough it’ll keep the engine on. However in this mode it will turn the engine off as you’re slowing down which helps but accelerating again will turn it back on (again a couple of seconds later)
Hey Masato, The 8G-DCT is usually found on models that have higher torque. Most commonly it’s found on the diesel variants but as the A 250e has quite a bit of power it’s needs a more powerful gearbox 🤓
When the energy flow says charge and drive will it be using more fuel in order to do this or is it just from the energy it would of had to create anyway?
Just energy it would have created anyway. The only exception to that rule would be on some first generation hybrids which are on the C-Class & E-Class where you can can select a mode called charge. This will use more fuel.
Thanks just purchased the gla 250e projected I would do 24 miles however it only managed to do 15 ... 9 miles lost I have to say I’m not impressed with that at all.
Hybrids and electric cars range will always be heavily affected by: a) Stop / Start Traffic b) Acceleration c) Heating and A/C d) Cold Weather There’s not much you can do to help with traffic congestion apart from leaving not during rush hour but that is not always possible or convenient. To get the most range from your hybrid in this scenario roads where you rarely have to brake will offer the furthest range similarly to MPG in diesel and petrol cars. Acceleration is a nice easy one, if you accelerate hard, of course that will use up your battery / range more. Heating & A/C uses up your battery when on Electric as the car has to make heat. With the engine off it uses an auxiliary heater to warm the cabin. And finally cold weather, just like any lithium ion battery, they operate less efficiently in the cold so you will have to factor this in when using it day to day. Your range shown on the screen will always predict what you can actually achieve based on the previous completed journeys.
According to the Mercedes-Benz Online Showroom, there are 67 in the UK now! So it's already here, they're not out in every showroom yet as it seems like they're coming through now but you could order one of those now and have it delivered to your door or collect from your local Mercedes-Benz. Check it out here: shop.mercedes-benz.co.uk/new/results?ModelId=5&FuelId=3
Hi Nick, great review, I actually own the saloon version and you can’t tell it’s an A class. Sleek car, one quick question. When cruising motorway in comfort mode, when it uses the engine, I find the gear box doesn’t change down to 8th always. Which it will sit at 7th using more fuel. I have to manually select the gear before putting it back in auto which then sits there. Why is this?
Hi Kent Collins, Not the first I've been asked this! haha! But a great question! Well in fact don't forget the cars are more than capable of going faster on roads without any restrictions like the autobahn in Germany so if you did go faster then of course it will move into 8th gear and some models even have 9 gears! But of course if you're in the UK like me the national speed limit is 70 mph so is not always possible. One thing you could try is switch the DYNAMIC SELECT to Eco and see if that just gives it that little nudge to go into its final gear but don't worry if it doesn't!
Hi nick. Just bought an A250e but it appears that it’s incapable of charging at a scheduled time. You can warm it up or cool it down at a specific time but not start/stop charging. Surely Mercedes know most ev owners charge overnight on an ev tariff. I think I will need to get a smart wall charger.
Hi Ged, This can be controlled from a smart wall box. So if you want the car to charge at certain time, this is the way to do it. Mercedes-Benz have partnered up with ChargeMaster in the UK and can offer a free wall box if you take delivery between September and December. I’m not sure if it’s a smart one but speak to your local Mercedes-Benz if you’re in the UK to find out more!
It is a smart ev charger, im getting it installed for free in 2 weeks, it has a app where you schedule the charging although reviews on the app are very poor but can complain im saving £600!
Hi, do you think that the battery autonomy is affected by low temperatures? I ask you this because my Class A 250E battery (at 100%), now shows an autonomy of 45km while, 1 month ago, used to show an autonomy of 55 km. The car is new and I bought it in November (so it shouldn't have particular problems)
Absolutely! All Lithium-ion batteries have this effect. I’ll be covering a video on this in the New Year so make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss it! The range meter also takes into account traffic and smaller journeys you may have done as well as heating use etc when on electric. Hope that helps!
Hi Nick, i own a A250E sedan since oct 2020. For exemple, i still do not understand how the Eco mode rly works. The mercedes manual is very short in words. Would love to see a video about the different modes (sport, comfort, battery lever, Eco) in depth.
Dynamic select purely changes how the car reacts to your input on the accelerator pedal and in the case of a plug-in hybrid, a couple of modes for electric only. Sport - Maximum power from electric motor and engine. Will use both together for responsive driving. Comfort - Normal power output from electric motor and engine. Will use electric first unless you accelerate hard, then the engine will come on too. Electric - Electric only mode. Emission free driving where the engine will only come on if you press past the pressure point on the accelerator pedal. Battery Level - This mode will try to save the battery’s current state of charge if driven economically. If you drive in a sporty manner, then electric will be used with the engine by not as much as the other modes. Eco - Basically the same as the comfort mode but it encourages eco driving by limiting power on the accelerator pedal. Hope that helps!
@@npoleary Thank alot for the respons!! What about regen in different modes (exept electric mode)? Why does it feel like the petrol engine consumes more in Eco mode than in BL/Comfort? I may be wrong, but it rly feels like that.
Regenerative braking can be adjusted when in the electric mode to suit your driving style, you can choose anything from D Auto to D+ etc. When running on petrol though, this process is automatically adjusted to allow you to change gear using the paddles if you wish. Also when running in Eco mode, this will save fuel and electricity as it limits the amount of power available to you. Due to the many many factors involved with day to day running, results you achieve on one day could be different to the next day. This is because of external factors, like weather, traffic, engine temperature, speed of travel etc
Hey Liam, yeah you should be able to but it does depend on the size of your pram! 🤓 You could always pop into your local Mercedes and you’ll be able to try it out on person! Failing that the boot dimensions are here in mm: share.icloud.com/photos/0R9kNOe4pZlhZePlqWqkXCAHw (Link valid for a few days)
Hi Nick the delivery of this car is expected in a couple of weeks but I had ordered premium plus with driving assistance package and due to the on-going pandemic crisis, it will not have augmented reality, wireless charging and hands free tailgate operation. Is the MBUX still good without the augmented reality? Also a bit gutted it won’t have wireless charging either.
Oh of course! Augmented Reality is just a really small snippet of MBUX, it’s some cool tech but I’ve known some people to even turn it off because it can be a little distracting. However you won’t miss out on any other MBUX features as that part is just for the Sat Nav and only comes on when the sat Nav talks to you anyway. With Wireless Charging, don’t worry you’re not missing out. I use a wireless charger at home all the time however when it comes to the car, because I’m using the phone (for Sat Nav, music etc), it barely charges when using wireless. It’ll charge much faster with a cable, so I always use that anyway.
Hey Malcolm, it’s impossible to answer I’m afraid unless you base it on a journey. MPG is miles per gallon, as in how many miles you travel per gallon. So if you go 20 miles up the road, your engine may not have switched on at all. This means your journey would have been unlimited MPG! However on the opposite side, if you get in the car and drive from the south of the UK to Scotland, you’ll do up to 42 miles on electric and then fuel the rest of the way (unless you plug in). If you didn’t plug in then your MPG will average out to somewhere in the 40’s. So...the more you plug in, the greater your MPG. And if your journeys are always 20 or 30 miles, you’ll unlikely ever even turn the engine on if you plug it in every night. Hope that kind of helps!
@@npoleary thanks for the reply.... what I was asking was if I charge the car up full and drove say 100 miles, with using the electric motor to help propel the car then what kind of MPG would I be getting if drove sensibly. Using hybrid mode.
Ah okay, it’s hard to tell as there’s no easy way of working it out. But I’m sure it’ll be more in the 60 - 70 MPG mark for that journey. That’s what I’d expect anyway!
@@npoleary ah ok, thought it would have been more than that, a lot less than the 250 mpg as advertised. Looking forward to picking it up in a weeks time. Thanks!!
250? Mpg? I mean well you could get it to show that on the screen if you did a shorter journey. The WLTP test procedure is 50 miles so this is probably why the figure is so high.
Hi, I'm picking up my A250e premium this week and will be doing a 300mile drive in a couple if weeks if charged full what would be the best settings for economy?
You can change the DYNAMIC SELECT to Eco, but just bear in mind to get the best economy you’ll want to plug it in (if you want to) on the way back. I should say, you don’t have to at all, but if you could do more miles with the engine off and run on electric that will improve your economy massively! You stopping for a drink or a snack?
@@rosstownsend4540 I’ve just seen this post and recently went on a trip to London in my new a250e the problem I found with charging my car on route is if you us a charger with a tethered lead the max charge is 7kwh even if using a 22kwh charge point so taking 1 hour 40 to fully charge or if you use the lead Mercedes supplied max charge rate is 3.7 kWh so nearly 3 hours to fully charge. I don’t know about you but my max stay at a service to include food etc would be 30 To 40 mins.
Morning Nick, I rarely go on long distances bout 200 max round trip?i test drove a id3 unreal experience?i would have either through salary sacrifice scheme at work ?the mercedes is cheaper at £385 pm BIKs,gross stopped £558?which is unreal ?the id3 would be gross £667 ?£425 taken after BIKs?so either would be great? I do like the A250e interior better 😉🤔👍
Eco is good for saving fuel but won’t be as powerful Comfort is good as it has a balance of power and eco Eco does also have a thing called gliding mode which can effectively “put the car into Neutral” and coast down the road which can save fuel too
Hi Everyone, some of you may have seen this video before as it is a re-upload. Some of the content from the original video had incorrect information for UK spec vehicles so apologies if it was misleading!
I want this channel to showcase the latest models, tips & tricks, tutorials etc so want the correct information shown on here first time and every time.
Does it rattle?
I drive my new A250e Black Cosmos Premium since Wednesday....it's absolutely awesome... I decided to buy my first "great" car on May, I fell in love with this car and now I know I was right about those feelings... it is the most expensive car I bought since I got the driving licence 30 years ago but, God, it is really worth the money. It's not about the power or the speed... it's about the vibes. This car suits me like a tailoring suit.
Haha awesome Mauro! Glad you’re enjoying it!
Just bought my new a class hybrid , its freaking amazing
Awesome S SS! Yeah it’s an amazing bit of kit! Would love one myself!
Can I ask you about the sound system Nick, is there a sub in the boot?
There can be! In the UK A-Class’s have packages called Executive, Premium & Premium Plus.
Premium is the one that gives you the subwoofer in the boot. It’s called Mercedes-Benz advanced sound system, 225 W - includes a mid-range speaker as the central speaker, one mid-range speaker in each of the front and rear doors as well as one tweeter in each door. For a little bit more bass a subwoofer bass box is installed in the rear, including a separate amplifier.
Hope that helps!
@@npoleary it does mate. Thank you very much
No problem 🤓
As always a tremendous video. Waiting for my E300de and is totally hooked on these videos. Thanks a lot Nick!
Thanks macdogge! Glad you like them! Next one goes live tomorrow!
My MB dealer lent me this car last Saturday as my own one was undergoing maintenance service. Never tried anything similar before - it reminded me of Depeche Mode's hit "Enjoy the Silence" !
Hi Nick.
Bought my GLA 250e last October, just done 2338 miles because of lockdown and recent Hip replacement. Loving the car, just wanted to share consumption figures. Only put Petrol in once so far, 373 miles on petrol, 1963 miles on electric. 217mpg and 3.4mpKWh. In the coldest part of winter, during very hard frosts, a full charge was returning at worst 23 miles. At this time that figure is regularly 41/42. Hopefully soon I can get back to more travelling and get to know the car properly. Loving it so far.
Aha amazing! That’s great to hear!
I’d still love a plug-in hybrid for that very reason. All of my miles are pretty much local 🤓
Hi Nick - love the videos, incredibly informative. We took delivery of a A250e back in April and have a question (in 2 parts) about getting the best economy on a journey (apols if you have already explained this before).
1st part of the question:
We will be travelling from Leeds to Burford in the Cotswolds (distance of approx 170 miles). Naturally we can't go all electric on that journey and we wont be intending to stop at a garage to recharge on the journey, so how do we set the car up to get the best economy over that journey?
Here were my thoughts:
1. tell the satnav our journey (Leeds to Burford, Cotswolds)
2. leave the car in eco mode for the entire journey
Ideally once there we'd find a charging point & recharge.
2nd part of the question: as above, but lets say there is no opportunity to charge at Burford & we want to eke out the electric for the return journey too (so 340 miles return trip minimum) - would you programme the satnav for the return journey too, so the car knows it has to conserve electric for that length of trip - or is this just totally stupid & unrealistic?!
Thanks in advance.
Owen
Hey Owen,
Thank you and glad you like the videos!
Just to help understand, plug-in hybrids don’t use electric over the course of your entire sat Nav journey.
If you just jump into the car, and drive normally, it’ll use up all of the electric till it’s empty. When that’s used up, the engine will of course come on & it’ll try to regain bits of power from regenerative braking and will allow the engine to turn off as you slow down etc but fully electric driving won’t be possible because it’s all used up.
The other option is to select “Battery Level” and it’ll retain the charge state for a future point in your journey. And then you can flick over to one of the other modes etc.
There are a couple of things that of course can affect this such as an option in MBUX called “Electric in the City” and of course as mentioned above your drive mode. But there isn’t a way to make the electric stretch and last for a full journey like that. You can use electric or you can save it. Sport mode for example is another exception to that where it’ll use both together.
How that makes sense! Of course the more you plug it in, the cheaper it will be, but unlike an all-electric vehicle you don’t have to, to complete a journey.
@@npoleary Perfect, thanks so much Nick for the reply. For some reason I'd assumed on a long journey that the electric element of the engine could occasionally kick in (even if not for very long) to try and assist the mpg of the petrol engine......not sure why I thought that though.
Thanks again
Owen
Oh yes can't wait to get it 🙏🏼could you do any more videos on it please 🙏🏼all the best m8
Great video Superb!!!
Like the way you explained all different mode how to drive the car 👍👍👍 I will save you vedio to watch it when i am sitting in my car when i have bought it ..
Awesome thanks Gary! 🤓
Glad you liked it!
I’ve had a C300de estate for the last year and you find a different way of driving. I go to Manchester from Sheffield over the Pennines and it’s about 110 miles return very hilly, I’m getting approx 103mpg for the journey, manually adjusting between hybrid and diesel, hybrid being used in the easy go areas and city driving. Lovely car but only let down is the hump in the boot area, but there has to be a compromise somewhere.
Driving around home is approx 30-35miles on just electric. Pretty good for a mid to large estate.
Hi Stuart, great to hear you’re enjoying your hybrid! I know they’re so good, wish I had one myself!
Can you tell me how to drive on bettery , I bought Mercedes hybrid but don't know how it work on bettery
Mines a C class I have a mode button to change how the battery charges or discharges. Hybrid is the default mode but when on the flat or slight down hill when your just tickling the engine switch to hybrid or E mode it’ll help the car coast without using a lot of electric, when the cars got to labour turn on to E save as this uses a lot of electric. I’m averaging 88.3 MPG and my commute is approx 70miles each way.
Hi Nick! Thank you so much for explaining in detail how a plug in hybrid works. I absolutely love all your videos as they are very informative and keep us up to date with all the latest tech in the car world! I hope you can answer my question... Do the batteries in the plug in hybrid need to be replaced once they are depleted from years of usage? If yes, maybe you can also include the cost of replacing a new battery in your computation together with the one that you explained. Let's say the battery needs to be replaced after certain number of years of usage or # of miles/kilometers of travel. Then include that to your earlier computation. Thanks a lot! Stay safe
Hi Roberto Co,
Thanks for your kind comments and thanks for your question, Mercedes-Benz to my knowledge haven't released the price of the cost of the batteries I'd imagine because they are expensive right now being new, but fast forward to after the warranty expires on them then the price will have reduced quite significantly.
Rest assured though, Mercedes-Benz hybrids have a 6 year warranty for peace of mind!
I hope that answers your question with the available info I have!
Hi Nick, you said the hybrids have a 6 year warranty, is that the battery warranty or overall 6 year warranty. My GLA hybrid arrives next month and I am aware of the standard 3 year warranty on it unless you know otherwise?
Hi Asif,
Yes you’re absolutely right! So in the UK and on all new Mercedes-Benz:
3 year warranty from the day your Mercedes-Benz was first registered in the UK no matter how many miles you drive.
For any Mercedes-Benz PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), the warranty is valid up to 62,000 miles or 6 years whichever comes sooner.
Hope that answers your question 👍🏼
Wow thanks for sharing that. I currently have one on order but was unable to teat drive one prior to order due to "disappointing" local dealer! Wish I was getting mine from yourselves, I've honestly learnt so much from the vids I hadn't been able to quiz my dealer on.
Thank you!
Ah okay that’s alright Meeko! Glad you liked the video!
Yes hybrids are different but once you get to grips with electric, kWh and charge points it’s easy once you know how! 😎
This is really a dream! One day!
Think an important part you might not have mentioned is the appeal to Company car drivers, due to the massive tax savings. I currently have a 530e, i'm moving to an A250e most likely the saloon. For now I will stick with hybrids until the winter real world range on electrics is north of 250miles
Hi Munya44,
No you’re absolutely right, the savings for company car owners are amazing right now but they can change each year in April so could change next year.
This video is exactly what I was looking for! How to use electric only? Thank you
An awesome! Got a newer version too!
th-cam.com/video/QzSYEP2eOSI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=3szW5hoZwmphAeMC
I've often wondered whether a hybrid like this can be useful for those of us without any possibility to charge at home. Simply driving and regenerative braking will give you 'some' charge. Is it enough to provide some benefit. I thought that perhaps it would be enough to get me out of our underground parking garage, and enough to get up to speed from traffic lights and then it's straight back to engine power - but it's back at the point where the engine is most efficient. Simply getting those short 5 seconds of e-assistance can get you some nice boost to fuel economy I would think/hope. I've never seen any kind of review where someone has tested what you get from a hybrid if you never charge it.
Hi Vee Macks,
That's not a bad shout actually! I've planned out a few videos for the coming weeks already but I will add that to my list to consider!
@@npoleary Hi Nick, great videos. Thats a good idea, I would love a video to understand what is the best way of driving my C300De. I have had it for 5 months now and still trying to work out the different ways of driving it. A video with tips on the most efficient way of driving and also what bits of the car are powered from the normal battery and what is charged from the lithium batteries.
Sort of covered that one already 🤓
th-cam.com/video/J2GM83dtbes/w-d-xo.html
+
th-cam.com/video/CxDgVQ3v9NE/w-d-xo.html
Just ordered one of these, pick it up next Tuesday, very excited. Not new to PHEV have an Optima right now, which in fairness has been great, but Kia decided to discontinue this model so their loss, MB gain
Ah awesome Simon! I’m sure you’ll love it!
Informative video, edited well! Thanks, you've put quite a bit of effort into this video. I enjoyed it too much, 10 minutes gone by so quickly. Your one of the few people who've got a video about the a250e. Probably the best one I've watched.
I'm always curious what the MPG economy would be when the battery is completely depleted. This I can't find the answer to yet. From what I can gather about other PHEVs, the economy should be equivalent to a non-PHEV of the same vehicle (eg. the A180).
Hi Seng, ah thank you that means a lot! Yeah did take a while to film and edit!
Yes you’re absolutely right, economy would be pretty much the same. I say pretty much as there are other variables but it will virtually be the same. Gains on PHEV’s are by plugging them in and using as much electricity as possible.
In terms of cost per mile, it’s approx 1/3 of the cost when you’re running on Electricity. So charge as much as you can and when you can 🤓
@@npoleary agree, plugging in definitely would bring benefits. I heard some people buy PHEVs get excited about it for few weeks and never plug it in again haha
yes....i know how much work editing takes, used to do videos as a day job!
Ah there we go!
Yes I’ve heard of a few people doing that buying a plug in hybrid and not even bothering to charge it. They may as well had saved themselves the outright cost and just bought a petrol or diesel!
It also makes me wonder, how Toyota/Lexus Hybrids with a significantly smaller battery manage to consume a lot less than its petrol-only counterparts. Sureley a PHEV would have similar benefits to the Toyota/Lexus series-parallel hybrid setup.
Although I guess when the engine is on and battery is depleted in a PHEV, it's making a lot of effort on the ICE engine to charge the battery.
Very good work !!
Thanks Person :)
Evening Nick,I've ordered the A250e hatchback prem plus today 🔥mountain grey 🔥new deal for November 🙏🏼
Awesome!! 🤓🤓🤓
@@npoleary £405 net p/m with 2x insurance, servicing, tyres #greatdeal
Wow that sounds amazing 🤓
Bet you’re excited!!
Amazing going for a ride with nick to day in the video Andrew
Hi Nick ,
Just back from my test drive of the A250e hatchback, I think I will be ordering that as soon as I can #premplus,so comfortable, plush👍so much better than the golf gte 😳take care Nick 👍
Sounds great Ian! Glad you enjoyed it!
@@npoleary Really nice Nick 👌a lot better than the golf gte 👍I think anyway 🤔
Thanks for your help Nick 👍keep up the great videos bud 👍see if you could do another video on A250e maybe 🙏
Hi Nick, love your videos. Just wondering how would YOU drive one of these? In terms of modes. For motorway driving is it best to use eco or battery hold to attain the most mpg? Would you use petrol only on the motorway or eco with both combined?
Basing my question on a 100 mile round trip with 15 miles of city driving? You have earned a subscriber 👍
The cool things is with plug-in hybrids is that you just jump in them and they do their thing. But there are settings to adjust if you want to.
So by default in most plug-in hybrids out there, it’ll run on electric first, and when that’s used up, it’ll switch over to fuel. That’s the whole concept of them. The modes on hybrid are if you want to change that, so maybe you want to save the electric for when you get there (driving in London) or maybe you want both to give you more power for overtaking.
Thanks for subscribing! 🙏
Hi nick andrew thinks Mercedes Benz make such amazing cars they are soo cool
You should use the cars kWh/100km to work out the energy usage. Phevs often have a reserve to do supply more power when needed but also never full discharge on top of this, so the electric only prices should be even less.
Very true! It’s been a while since I filmed this one 🤓
Hi nick. I have got a a250e. On long journeys I like to drive the motorway part with engine and save the battery for when I reach London. But when I reach the fringe of a city but still on dual carriageway it literally will not let me drive in anything but electric. Leaving little electric for the busy city parts.
Does the car have a smart thing that knows when your entering a city and puts it into electric only or am I being stupid and doing something wrong.
Cheers
Hey Christopher Hoare,
Ah perfect! Yes there is an “Electric in the City” mode usually enables by default.
On your centre screen on your dashboard, press “HOME” then go to the EQ Menu. Should be in there, just deselect it and that should work 🤓
Nick O'Leary thankyou for taking time to reply.
Had a look and found it. Cheers for that.
Good tech for small city’s but geuss when driving through London it will just activate the moment it thinks your in city.
Thanks again. 👍
Hi nick,
Im thinking of getting one of these as a company car, i live in an apartment and won't be able to charge it every night. Will this have an negative effect over the battery or engine after time.
What mpg can i expect just off the petrol engineer, am i right in saying it has a 37 litre tank?
Cheers
Yes the petrol tank is smaller just so it doesn’t eat into the boot space too much.
Your MPG will be almost the same as the standard 1.3L in the A180 & A200 but when you can, if you charge it you’ll see your running costs go down significantly.
Head over to ZapMap and check out where the charge points are on your usual daily journeys. Shops, work etc, have a look and see where you might be able to charge. The more you run on electric, the cheaper it’ll be for you! 🤓
www.zap-map.com/live/
When does the petrol kick in?
Good question! Either when it hits about 5-% on the battery or you accelerate hard. Or I guess the other time would be if you selected a mode called “Battery Level” which will try to prioritise using the engine.
Hi Nick, with the hybrid has it smoothed out the delayed action on the accelerater. Our car lurches on occasion from a standing position.
Most hybrids are quite pokey! They have so much power with the electric they will always be responsive.
However if you think something’s not right defo contact Mercedes and they can check it out for you
Actually, the title of the video is misleading.
I expected an explanation how the combination electric & petrol motor work technically.
How they combine , clutch system of however it works.
Hey Ronalcools, thanks for the feedback! I made it quite some time ago back when I was starting to post to TH-cam. I always take suggestion from comments so I could add that to a suggestion for a future video on the technical aspects of it.
There really nice cars Andrew really interested them
Morning Nick,Think I'm goin to go for A250e hatchback, mountain grey 🙏🔥🙏#rollonnovember stay safe bud 🙏
Nick ive booked a test drive ,waiting for covid to get back to tier 2 - 3 🙏
Ah that’s good Ian! When’s it safe to do so, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
@@npoleary Not sure Nick but no rush m8 👍keep up the great videos 👍 any new 1s coming soon 😉
Absolutely! New video this Friday!
Although I’m getting increasingly concerned the UK is about to go into a national lockdown again...so I’ll try and keep them coming weekly!
@@npoleary I know Nick not good ,take care ,speak again soon🙏
Thanks for video 🎉 , one question: I bought the same car and I use electric in city , now 3 days , by full 100% the range is 39 km! But before that the ranges were 51 km with 100% charge ! The weather and temperature of city is the same approximately , it Is problem with my car ?
Hey Parsa, that number is adaptive 🤓
It’s only working out the range based on what you’re using. It’ll adjust based on the previous 100 miles or so of driving.
Great video
Thank you! 🤓
Hi Nick, great video as always. I get my Premium Plus on Tuesday and wondered if the engine recuperates the the battery when running the ICE after the battery has depleted on journeys that exceed the electric only range.
Hi Stu,
No new plug in hybrids can only top up the battery via physically plugging it in. The idea behind this is that you're not using fuel as it causes air pollution plus even if you could it's not an efficient way of putting power into a battery anyway. This is because the cost to you, electricity is about a 1/3 of the cost compared to fuel to travel the same distance.
Thanks Nick. I’d read somewhere that under breaking it harvests the kinetic energy and puts it into the battery. Obviously not in the same way as a self charging hybrid but just enough to give you a little helping hand towards topping it up. Seems to be mixed messages as I’ve seen videos of the MBUX showing the graphic of it charging (green animation on the drive train) when it’s using ICE only but cannot find anything that supports it. Thanks for the help. Keep up the videos. I’m new to MB’s so they been keeping me excited until mine arrives on Tuesday. Stu.
Hi bro… I like your videos. I’m trying to buy A250e but not the 2023 /2024 models because I don’t like they remove the touchpad. Can you tell me please tell me in your opinion which of the A250 has the best look and functions interior and exterior. Thank you 🙏🏾
Hey! Thank you! Glad you enjoy the videos! I’ve covered the A-Class on some of my other videos: th-cam.com/video/PWspwo-ZW1k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=u6FkebIh6oCwUiLR
But if you can stretch to it, do consider the facelift version. Yes the touchpad is gone but Mercedes are one of the very few manufacturers who offer 4 ways to actually interact with their screens. (Central Touchpad, Touchscreen, Steering Wheel Touchpads & Voice). Removing one of them is really no big deal.
Facelifts also have new tech, wireless CarPlay and more which I cover here: th-cam.com/video/Ft318ejsnu0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=fS4zO6u2nJQHDviM
Hi Nick, Great video. I have seen a few reviews on the A-class but never the A250e Sedan AMG line, any chance you could review and test drive this model please? Hints, tips and tricks all welcome.
Hi Godlike Mark, unfortunately Mercedes-Benz of Poole where I film haven’t got one of those but rest assured it’s identical to the hatchback in the video with one difference the boot being the shape of a saloon. All the other things like engines, power, trim levels and packages are all the same.
How fast can you go on electric power alone? Some cars cannot manage motorway speeds on electric so interesting to know if this can. Thanks in advance
87mph top speed in electric, after that point the engine will kick in 🤓
Having an electric stater , does this rid the car or that delayed start on a hill.
Don’t think any automatic should roll back on a hill! If something’s not right with your own one, defo contact Mercedes and they can take a look!
One question: is a car like this worth it if you don’t have a nearby charger? I guess I would do it like this: tank, give the battery charge, then use the electric motor for small commutes, and when it’s empty I’ll charge it up again with a bigger, petrol needed commute. I guess it’s not the most efficient way, but the only way I can use it. Should I just go for petrol or for this? Thanks!
One question, how would you charge it up? Would you rely on public charging?
I just got a 2018 GLC350e 4matic i love it !!! however it is a very heavy car electric only last about 10 miles :(
Hey Tony, oh a GLC350e? Haven’t heard of that one? Where abouts are you based in the world? Sorry hard to tell in the comments!
In the UK GLC hybrids are only known as a GLC 300e or GLC 300de (available in SUV or Coupe)
Im using a250e when fully charge its 60km.. but if you switch on the AC it will down to 48km
Yes that’s right! Using climate control will reduce your overall range as it uses the batteries power to produce cooling / heating
Nick what’s the best oil for my a250e and the air pressure for the tires 😊
Really sorry as I don’t service cars myself I wouldn’t know but the recommended grades for oil will be detailed in the owners manual (or just get in touch with Mercedes directly and they’ll be able to able to help) 🤓
Tyre pressures are in the fuel filler cap (they’re unique to each car depending on wheels sizes etc)
Do you know if there is a difference of range/battery capacity between 2020 vs 2023 versions of the CLA 250e?
The facelift changed recently which might have changed the range too, I managed to film the CLA in this video here (sadly not the hybrid but I hope to in the future!)
th-cam.com/video/Wie56TRlBJM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VX7cyjSYGUjO_2EV
What about the degeneration of battery? How much capacity does it lose over time?
There’re designed to last as long as an engine but there’s a warranty on the battery for 6 years 🤓
Mercedes-Benz have a battery certificate on their website if you wanted to read more about it 👍🏼
How do you change the settings to where it doesn’t drive in only electric?
Hi Only Full Fights,
Ah that's easy, just use the DYNAMIC SELECT! There's several drive modes in there from Sport, Comfort, Electric, Battery Level & Eco. To use the engine and preserve the battery at its current state, use the mode Battery Level.
Nick O'Leary Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
No problem 😊
Got my a250e saloon yesterday. It is a gorgeous car and drives so nice. One question though, when fully charged the range only shows a max of 33 miles. Everywhere says 44 or so miles so are the settings wrong or something?
Hi Jsn421,
Yes of course, so the range on the car is just like any petrol / diesel engine. It will show you a predicted range based on how you've driven before or what the car has experienced on the last few drives. If you drive extremely economically, with no traffic and A/C then this range is achievable. Of course if you have your heating / A/C on, experience heavy traffic with lots of starting and stopping then the quoted range will show less on the screen so it doesn't misinform you on what is actually achievable.
Hi nick, I see folk talking about using the Mercedes’ sat nav, that the car calculates how far your journey is, is this true? And also does comfort mode learn how I drive the car?
Hey Jordan, yes that’s right all Sat Nav’s will show you how far it is to travel and more specifically with Plug-in Hybrids, they can show you where charge points are located too.
And yes I’ve heard all automatic gearboxes do adapt to the driver over time too.
Hi, is it possible to charge the battery whilst driving? If so what setting do you need the car to be on. On my current hybrid i often do this.
Sadly no modern cars do not offer this as it decreases your MPG.
I explain it in this video: th-cam.com/video/QzSYEP2eOSI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=N6WOl3LmcR9mlCJg
Basically when you buy a plug-in hybrid, the whole point of spending more on a car usually is offset some of your driving on fuel to electric. Now if you’re using fuel to charge the battery up using a charge mode, then you may as well have not bought a hybrid in the first place. It seems really convenient to do this and charge while you drive but it takes off 15 to 20 MPG while doing so! In terms of energy used, charging using a plug or a wallbox is always cheaper than using fuel to charge the car up. The whole point of using hybrid is to not use fuel and use electric where you can.
So yes, very convenient but it just costs more and kind of defeats the point if you’re just using fuel to charge the battery.
does the transmission box work with electric as well? or will it work only during regular fuel?
Yes all of the power is sent through the transmission whether you’re on electric or the engine
Hi Nick, sorry to regurgitate an old subject.I’m trying to find out what exactly the 0-62mph in 6.60 seconds spec is based on. Is that always achievable regardless of fuel choice or is that the optimum speed only attainable in Sport mode using electric and petrol combined?
0-60mph is with Sport mode with a combination of fuel & electric (charged of course) and dry conditions.
You can use any grade of Unleaded Fuel for this as long as it’s RON 95 or higher.
Its a great saving ,just wondering how often i would have to put petrol in a250e?
Well depends on your journeys! If you drove 7 miles to work, 7 miles back again like me and you plugged it in at night, maybe never! Well unless you go on a long trip of course 😅
@@npoleary Hi Nick ,I've booking a test drive 🙏would it be ok to charge through 3 pin plug most nights?would it cost much ??
Yes you can, although it’s best to get the socket tested before plugging a car in so you may want to do this first.
Yes your electricity bill will go up, but it would be replaced by your decreased fuel bill.
To travel one mile, it would cost about a 1/3 on electricity than it would on petrol. Quite a saving! So yes electricity would increase but cheaper in the long run!
@@npoleary I live in a new build property so the electricity is all new Nick ?just wondering do i need to get a home charger??
You don’t need to but it will decrease the charging speed from 5.5 hours to under 2 hours on an A250e 🤓
We could do with a in depth review Nick 🙏🏼A250e hatchback
Hey Ian, what more did you want to know? I wasn’t planning on producing another video on the A250e 🤓
@@npoleary Oh great news Nick 👏Just a more in depth review on boot size,I think the interior stitching has changed colour to light grey ?Also spec difference from entry level to prem plus 🙏🏼I've looked at all video's on A250e & there isn't a recent 1 😫keep up the great work Nick 👍
Hi Nick, congratulations for the very professional videos.
I have driven the A250e and was surprised to see that, with the battery fully charged, the predicted range was only about 25 miles. Now, I never believed it could cover the 43-44 miles advertised by Mercedes but this seems quite distant...
Is this typical? Thanks
Thanks manxdoc! Yes that’s right it’s a predicted range, it’ll change and fluctuate throughout the seasons because in the winter, you’ll use more power. You can achieve this range as I have done it before 🤓
Need to be travelling around 40mph to 60mph and the outside temp needs to be approx 23°C. So of course it’s been fairly
cold recently which will result in less range and the screen will reflect this.
@@npoleary Thanks Nick. That makes sense
Hi Nick, hope you’re well. I have acoustic lock enabled on the car but I notice when I exit the car, it won’t lock by itself and I have to manually lock it, is this because I have acoustic lock enabled? Is there a way to have acoustic lock enabled and the car to lock by itself when it can’t detect the key nearby? Thanks.
Hey Keyshore Kumar, no sadly there is no way that Mercedes cars will auto lock.
If you unlock the car and don’t open a door, it will auto lock within a minute or two.
However, if you unlock the car and you do open a door then it will stay unlocked indefinitely until you lock it.
Hi Nick,
I just ordered an A250e premium plus hybrid saloon and was wondering how much will it cost to charge if the charge cost is 35p/kWh using a 50KWH charger? Assuming there is very little charge left, what would the charging speeds be like?
Hi Arun,
Charging costs are easily worked out by multiplying the p/kWh by the battery size. So in your example above:
£0.35p x 10.6kWh = £3.71
The A 250e has an in built system to convert AC to DC for your battery and that is rated at 7.4kW so it will only ever have the ability to charge at this max speed.
Should be approx 2 hours for this from flat.
Hope that helps!
Hi Nick, I hope you are doing good. I seem to notice the max range I have is now 27 miles and before it used to show 30 miles in pure electric. Is this due to the cold weather that the range has dropped?
Is there any way the range can be extended I believe the car should be able to do 44 miles, I’m getting no where near that. Would the range increase in the summer? I often drive in eco mode anyway so I usually gain a mile or two. Thanks.
Hey Tom, this will be more then likely that you’re using more power in the winter. Wether has been fairly cold recently in the UK, so all EV’s and plug-in hybrids will be exactly the same. Over the coming months, due to the warmer weather, it’ll go back up again.
If u empty the battery driving further and cant stop for a charge, does the petrol automaticly start charging the battery or how does this work ?
Hi niklas,
No it won’t start charging, you’ll just want to plug in when you next can. The car does offer brake recuperation which helps but will not fully charge a battery. The idea of plug in hybrids is to get your power / fuel from the cheapest source which isn’t fuel from a fuel station. In terms of energy electricity is about 1/3 of the cost compared to fuel to travel the same distance.
Is this the same engine as the GLA hybrid?
It sure is 🤓
Hi Nick, I just received my AMG a250e premium plus model. I was wondering which fuel to use. E10 or E5 ?Or a mixture of both ? (according to some reviews read online).
Hey Arun, according to some reviews? That’s strange…I mean check your fuel filler cap to be sure as it’ll state it on there.
In the UK normal Unleaded has switched over to E10 and it’ll run absolutely fine on that to the point where you probably wouldn’t even notice! 🤓
Hi Nick,
With PHEV like the A250e, the car always starts in electric mode. In Comfort Mode, or even in Electric mode, the petrol engine only comes in when "you need more", meaning more torque hence more rpm. I always learnt to warm up the (ICE) engine to a certain temperature before revving it up, otherwise will eventually reduce the life of the engine/break it down. Isn't the hybrid case actually triggering the cold petrol engine when high revs are required? Is there something that would be taking care of this counter-intuitive situation? Kind of keeping the engine as a "hot standby"?
Love the car :) !
Cheers!
Hi Marco, yes absolutely I would never advise racing a cold engine. I know there’s electronic limiters in place to stop damage anyway.
You can monitor the engine temperature on the dashboard just like normal but of course it will only heat up when the engine is on.
Hi Nick, there was a thread here, I wonder it was removed as you reposted this video. Anyways im sure you have been asked this before, I read somewhere to prolong the life of the battery you ensure you charge upto 80% and theres was something else about 20% . Can you explain this please. Would charging to 100% actually be around 80% taking into account the reserved part of the battery? Thanks
Hi Asif,
Yes annoyingly I regretfully had to remove the original A250e video as it had incorrect information in it on UK spec cars.
Yes so in the A250e, because of the reserved part you won’t necessarily have to worry about the battery part in that way. The only thing you should observe is that if you are leaving the vehicle idle for lengthy periods, park up the vehicle with a high-voltage battery charge level between 30% and 50% and don’t leave it plugged in for long periods of time (like a two week holiday for example).
Just using it anywhere between 10% to 100% everyday or two is absolutely fine.
£1.10 liter of petrol.
£0.15 kWh electric.
Now
£1.75 liter of petrol.
£0.30 kWh electric.
How times have changed.
I know...it's crazy! Might have to do another A 250e video! 😅
Hi Nick, on the display what does the car icon under the green READY indicate? Looked everywhere but can't find what it is on my a250e.
Hi walkon84,
The car icon is Active Lane Keeping Assist. I cover it in this video if you fancied a look: th-cam.com/video/aaFgs8oAONU/w-d-xo.html
Hi Nick ,Do you know how the A250e is in the snow m8??is there a winter setting 🤔
Hey Ian,
Honestly I haven’t driven one in the snow...but the battery weighs about 150kg so it’s like carrying two people in the back permanently. You’d only notice the extra weight if you swung it round a corner quickly.
In terms of snow, there isn’t a snow mode or winter mode or anything (there is a setting for winter tyres however if you had them fitted). But there is an Eco mode to reduce power output which is the recommended mode for slippery conditions.
Hope that helps!
Hi nick, can the car charge up the battery while driving ?
Hi Ellie, all plug-in hybrids have a thing called brake recuperation which means when you brake, some of the power will go back to the battery. This is a very small amount however so will eventually run out and just switch to the engine.
To make the most gains with a plug-in hybrid, just plug it in wherever possible. But the good thing about them, it’s not necessary to complete a journey. The more you do though, the cheaper it will be for you as it’s cheaper to travel a mile on electricity than fuel.
Hiya Nick, are you able to tell if if "MERCEDES-BENZ A CLASS HATCHBACK SPECIAL EDITIONS A250e AMG Line Edition 5dr Auto" is the basic specification?
What is special editions?
Cheers in advance
Hey Liam, most commonly in the UK specs you’ll see wording like Executive Package, Premium Package & Premium Plus Package. These are the ones to look out for as they add extras to the car 🤓
If it just states AMG line, then most likely it won’t include those.
Hi Nick - great video. Just got the A250E and wondering how to set max charge levels - for example I would like to charge the battery to a maximum of 80% however the app and the car touchscreen dont provide this option. Thank you!
Thank you! Ah very nice!
Well typically with a plug-in hybrid you don’t need to. The buffer either end of the battery is built in so there is no option. EV’s do have that option to limit a charge because they have larger batteries but you don’t need to on an A250e.
Thanks for getting back to me. I have read in many places that the best way of keeping a healthy battery is to charge it within the 20-80% range. Based on what you have said there is no way of doing this apart from keeping an eye on the charging status yourself - is that fair to say? Thanks @@npoleary
Well you don’t need to for Mercedes hybrids they already have a slight reduction in the battery in what’s called the usable capacity.
The previous A250e (in this video) had a battery capacity of around 15kWh but you could only use 10kWh.
The 80% rule is already baked into it from what I heard from Mercedes.
is it correct that you have to purchase the 3pin plug lead? as only the public power outlet lead is supplied with the car? have been very tempted with putting my w177 A-Class premium in for a A250e CLA premium, but the more I read the more I think maybe not?? given that hybrids are being seen as bypasable on the road to full electric🤔😱
Hey LFC markeb,
It possibly could vary from country to country but in the UK both leads are provided with the car.
That’s the 3-pin and a Type-2 cable for wallboxes / public charging
Great video. Although why do different sites state the battery is 15.6kw and you say 10.9kw?
10.6kWh is the useable capacity of this battery so this is the figure everyone should go by. This is also what the range figure would have been quoted at.
Hi, so at the start (when the car is new) the car will only allow a batterie capacity of 13.5kw (or 10.6kw usable).
The Batterie actually is 15.6kw. So over time the car will give you a little bit more capacity to compansate for the fading of the Batterie. So 5years down the line you don't feel like the batterie has gotten smaller.
Hi is it okay to drive a plug-in hybrid E class on sports mood very often for break-in period purposes because in comfort mood the engine always tends to turn of. Is it okay or is it not safe for a brand new car any suggestions?
Hey Ashraf, as with all new cars they have a running in period which it’s advised not to to go to full acceleration on the pedal just for the few hundred miles or so. This can be because of the tyres and brakes needing to wear in a bit.
After that you’ll be okay 🤓
Only Mercedes-AMG vehicles have a longer running in period which stretches up to 1,000 miles.
Nice video 👍🏼 Some posts say the A250e has a 15.6kwh battery pack while others say 10.6kwh. Is the 10.6kwh for driving and the rest reserved for other functions or how does it work?
Hi Ben,
Thank you! :)
Excellent question, the A 250e has officially a 15.6kWh battery pack but the useable capacity is 10.6kWh. So this is probably where people are getting their mix up of information as technically both are correct!
I don't know the official reason as to why the battery capacity isn't maxed out at 15.6kWh but I've got a pretty good idea that it's down to maximising it's life expectancy.
Basically, with Lithium-ion batteries, the less time they spend at 100% or when they're empty, the longer they will last so at a guess I'd imagine this is why the capacity is capped at 10.6kWh so it will last longer. It's useable capacity is right in the middle of the actual capacity of the battery. This sort of behaviour is quite common on most batteries but I think Mercedes-Benz are one of the few manufacturers who post both figures.
I hope that answers your question without getting too technical!
Does the A250e have HUD?
Hey John, best to speak with Mercedes and they can let you know exact specifics as it can vary round the world. It’s hard to tell where everyone’s from on comments on TH-cam! 😅
In the UK, I’ve seen the new facelift has options for HUD which is exciting! 🤓
Hi Nick,
Great review. I just wanted to enquire about the placement of the battery and fuel tank in the car. Are they placed next to each other? If so how does that work with safety? Are the mechanics for each system isolated?
Hey D O,
Yes they are next to each other however safety is the forefront of new cars. In the event of anything going wrong (for example a crash) the system can literally shut off the entire system and isolate it.
At this point it has to be checked over by a dealership and each system checked.
Can you help me how will car drive on bettery I bought Mercedes hybrid car but don't know how to drive on bettery
Hey Amarpreet, which model of Mercedes did you buy and what year?
@@npoleary Mercedes c300 hybrid
Is that a C300e or C300h? 🤓
Hi Nick I have an A250e 71 plate that I bought from you guys last year. The battery only charges during the summer full charge to max 24 miles. I don't get any more miles than that. Do you have any suggestions? The car has just been in for a service and it's charging fine and holding its charge. When it hits winter I'm likely to only get about 8-10 miles of electric miles!! Can you help??
Hey Elouise that does seem a little lower than normal, if you got in touch with them, they might be able to get it checked out.
The range indicator is adaptive and adapts to your driving and of course use of A/C so it will fluctuate depending on your journeys but I’d still say to get it checked.
Hello can we make soft clamp on battery charge for example minimum 20% and max. 80% so can’t charge car more than 80% and can’t use battery less than 20% ?
Hi Wael Elsayed,
Unfortunately no not on hybrids there isn’t an option for that. Not that I’ve seen anyway.
Morning Nick,could you do a video on CLA Shooting Brake 250e plz 🙏 I myt go for 1 of those 👍
I’d love to Ian! Unfortunately, they are very difficult to get hold of! If I do get my hands on one though I will do!
Nick,I myt go for the 250e shooting brake ,not sure on colour & colour of leather🤔👍
Ooo that’s up to you! Me personally I quite like black or titanium grey pearl/black. They are very similar honestly to the point it’s hard to tell! Grey’s always a nice safe colour that looks really smart. What colour was on your mind?
Hi Nick, My A250e is due soon but unfortunately I can’t get a wall charger due to no off road parking. So what are the charge times at charging stations. Are they the same 7.3kw chargers or higher? Thankyou for the video
Hi Saj,
Oh no! If you live in the UK like me, I’d recommend downloading an app called Zap Map so you can do see where all of the charge stations are. And yes 1.75 hours to charge fully when flat.
The car itself is limited to 7.2kWh so you can plug it into faster ones but it will only charge at that speed.
Nick O'Leary Thankyou for the speedy reply. Going forward Is this likely to change in the form of a recall do you think?
Not at all! This is what the car is designed to do and will be like that until a new model / facelift comes out.
Hi nick you advertise that you can get as much as 250mpg with this car amg250e , I still don't know how you guys get that 250mpg, my wife got this 2021 A250e right now and I notice after you use the full charge electric you will go back to petrol and it seems like you are just using the 1.3L petrol engine 50_60mpg. So I still don't know why it says you can get 250mpg with this car, it's like trick to me.
It’s a tricky one to work out because it depends on the journey you do. So for example, if you drove 2 miles up the road, went into the shops then drove back and the engine didn’t switch on, you will have achieved 999+ miles per gallon, because you haven’t used any gallons of fuel, just electric.
Another example, same trip but if you accelerated hard at the lights just once, then drove normally for the rest of it, then your MPG might be around 300-400 MPG because it averaged out on electric for most of it.
And the final example, same trip again but this time you drove there on electric and then drove back with the engine on “Battery Level” (this mode uses the engine) then your MPG might be around the 100-200 MPG mark.
Miles per gallon is very tricky to work out on hybrids because there is another source of power pushing you around which throws off stats. MPG is used to measure how much fuel we use, where as electric is measured in MPkWh (miles per kWh)
This is why that figure seems high on short journeys but less on longer journeys. Of course the more you run on electric and plug it in, the better your MPG will be but with a plug-in hybrid you don’t have to to complete a journey.
@@npoleary hi Nick thank for explaining now i understand now
Very interesting, thank you. Quick question, if you need to over take or join a motorway and need to accelerate fairly quickly will the car automatically use the combined power of the electric engine and petrol engine without selecting sport from the drving mode? One thing that bothers me is the possibility of the car feeling under powered.
Oh trust me it doesn’t feel underpowered! Yes of course no matter what mode you’re in, it’ll use engine and electric if you accelerate quickly past the pressure point on the accelerator pedal 🤓
@@npoleary thanks for your reply. With 450nm torque combined the car should shift. Just a bit sceptical regarding the hybrid and driving performance.
After the lockdown is over, give it a try! Most dealerships have them available for test drive 🤓
Hi Nick ,cheers for reply bud ,im in between a full electric or the A250e
I do bout 20 miles a day to work n back 🤔
I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with either. Pretty much all cars drive well these days no matter the manufacturer but it’s down to what you like and also how it integrates with your phone etc and how easy it is to use.
20 miles to work and back is perfect for hybrid or electric. You’d be able to cover that journey on electric only even in colder conditions too. Did you have any other longer journeys that you might do throughout the year? Electric vehicles are more expensive still at the moment but that is set to change in the coming years...
Will you show the GLA 250 e when It's coming?
Maybe 👀
We shall see!
Just need to wait for Mercedes-Benz of Poole to get one!
Definitely please do! Although I get mine on 15 October 2020!
Ah you might beat them to it! It’s very similar though to the A250e video I made Asif, but I’m pretty sure you’ve already watched that! 😅
Hi Nick, Ordered the premium plus pack but wondered why the car doesn’t come with Rear heated seats/ ventilated seats and even a heated steering wheel?
Hey Tom, it’s something that Mercedes-Benz models don’t have. The only car where this is available is an S-Class.
Wish they had a heated steering wheel! That would be good in the winter!
@@npoleary Nick I had a question, if you have the “battery level” mode on will the car start with the ignition sound just like a normal petrol car?
Actually no it doesn’t, it will start in electric but as soon as you go to pull away and accelerate enough it’ll keep the engine on.
However in this mode it will turn the engine off as you’re slowing down which helps but accelerating again will turn it back on (again a couple of seconds later)
Nick, do you have any idea why the a250e comes with an 8speed DCT auto whereas every other a class gets the 7G DCT auto
Cheers
Hey Masato,
The 8G-DCT is usually found on models that have higher torque. Most commonly it’s found on the diesel variants but as the A 250e has quite a bit of power it’s needs a more powerful gearbox 🤓
@@npoleary
That’s brilliant Nick, I never knew that! Thank you
When the energy flow says charge and drive will it be using more fuel in order to do this or is it just from the energy it would of had to create anyway?
Just energy it would have created anyway. The only exception to that rule would be on some first generation hybrids which are on the C-Class & E-Class where you can can select a mode called charge. This will use more fuel.
Thanks just purchased the gla 250e projected I would do 24 miles however it only managed to do 15 ... 9 miles lost I have to say I’m not impressed with that at all.
Hybrids and electric cars range will always be heavily affected by:
a) Stop / Start Traffic
b) Acceleration
c) Heating and A/C
d) Cold Weather
There’s not much you can do to help with traffic congestion apart from leaving not during rush hour but that is not always possible or convenient. To get the most range from your hybrid in this scenario roads where you rarely have to brake will offer the furthest range similarly to MPG in diesel and petrol cars.
Acceleration is a nice easy one, if you accelerate hard, of course that will use up your battery / range more.
Heating & A/C uses up your battery when on Electric as the car has to make heat. With the engine off it uses an auxiliary heater to warm the cabin.
And finally cold weather, just like any lithium ion battery, they operate less efficiently in the cold so you will have to factor this in when using it day to day.
Your range shown on the screen will always predict what you can actually achieve based on the previous completed journeys.
Great video, looking forward to seeing the CLA 250e! Any idea on when this is entering the market?
According to the Mercedes-Benz Online Showroom, there are 67 in the UK now! So it's already here, they're not out in every showroom yet as it seems like they're coming through now but you could order one of those now and have it delivered to your door or collect from your local Mercedes-Benz.
Check it out here:
shop.mercedes-benz.co.uk/new/results?ModelId=5&FuelId=3
Hi Nick, great review, I actually own the saloon version and you can’t tell it’s an A class. Sleek car, one quick question. When cruising motorway in comfort mode, when it uses the engine, I find the gear box doesn’t change down to 8th always. Which it will sit at 7th using more fuel. I have to manually select the gear before putting it back in auto which then sits there. Why is this?
Hi Kent Collins,
Not the first I've been asked this! haha! But a great question!
Well in fact don't forget the cars are more than capable of going faster on roads without any restrictions like the autobahn in Germany so if you did go faster then of course it will move into 8th gear and some models even have 9 gears! But of course if you're in the UK like me the national speed limit is 70 mph so is not always possible.
One thing you could try is switch the DYNAMIC SELECT to Eco and see if that just gives it that little nudge to go into its final gear but don't worry if it doesn't!
Nick O'Leary Thanks Nick, il try that next time. Yes I am from the UK too, not too far from yourself!
Aha! Awesome let me know how you get on! 😎
Hi nick. Just bought an A250e but it appears that it’s incapable of charging at a scheduled time. You can warm it up or cool it down at a specific time but not start/stop charging. Surely Mercedes know most ev owners charge overnight on an ev tariff. I think I will need to get a smart wall charger.
Hi Ged,
This can be controlled from a smart wall box. So if you want the car to charge at certain time, this is the way to do it. Mercedes-Benz have partnered up with ChargeMaster in the UK and can offer a free wall box if you take delivery between September and December. I’m not sure if it’s a smart one but speak to your local Mercedes-Benz if you’re in the UK to find out more!
Nick O'Leary thanks nick smart charger ordered via dealer ( free) to replace my non smart charger. Great videos btw
Thanks Ged! Ah awesome glad to hear you got one on order!
It is a smart ev charger, im getting it installed for free in 2 weeks, it has a app where you schedule the charging although reviews on the app are very poor but can complain im saving £600!
Hi, do you think that the battery autonomy is affected by low temperatures? I ask you this because my Class A 250E battery (at 100%), now shows an autonomy of 45km while, 1 month ago, used to show an autonomy of 55 km. The car is new and I bought it in November (so it shouldn't have particular problems)
Absolutely! All Lithium-ion batteries have this effect. I’ll be covering a video on this in the New Year so make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss it!
The range meter also takes into account traffic and smaller journeys you may have done as well as heating use etc when on electric.
Hope that helps!
@@npoleary damn! i thought i already subscribed!!! I just subscribed now...
Thanks for the answer... i'll wait your next video then
Aha! Thanks!
Yeah I’m hoping it’ll be a good one!
Hi Nick, i own a A250E sedan since oct 2020. For exemple, i still do not understand how the Eco mode rly works. The mercedes manual is very short in words. Would love to see a video about the different modes (sport, comfort, battery lever, Eco) in depth.
Dynamic select purely changes how the car reacts to your input on the accelerator pedal and in the case of a plug-in hybrid, a couple of modes for electric only.
Sport - Maximum power from electric motor and engine. Will use both together for responsive driving.
Comfort - Normal power output from electric motor and engine. Will use electric first unless you accelerate hard, then the engine will come on too.
Electric - Electric only mode. Emission free driving where the engine will only come on if you press past the pressure point on the accelerator pedal.
Battery Level - This mode will try to save the battery’s current state of charge if driven economically. If you drive in a sporty manner, then electric will be used with the engine by not as much as the other modes.
Eco - Basically the same as the comfort mode but it encourages eco driving by limiting power on the accelerator pedal.
Hope that helps!
@@npoleary Thank alot for the respons!! What about regen in different modes (exept electric mode)? Why does it feel like the petrol engine consumes more in Eco mode than in BL/Comfort? I may be wrong, but it rly feels like that.
Regenerative braking can be adjusted when in the electric mode to suit your driving style, you can choose anything from D Auto to D+ etc. When running on petrol though, this process is automatically adjusted to allow you to change gear using the paddles if you wish. Also when running in Eco mode, this will save fuel and electricity as it limits the amount of power available to you. Due to the many many factors involved with day to day running, results you achieve on one day could be different to the next day. This is because of external factors, like weather, traffic, engine temperature, speed of travel etc
@@npoleary Awsome, ty for the respons! You got a follower!
Thank you! 🙏 🤓
Is nick going for A RIDE ride IN A NOTHER CAR AT SOME POINT
Maybe 🤔
Although I don’t have access to all cars, what would you like to see? 🤓
@@npoleary the gle or e class
Hi nick. You think you'd be able to fit a pram in the boot. I've ordered one without thinking 🤔
Hey Liam, yeah you should be able to but it does depend on the size of your pram! 🤓
You could always pop into your local Mercedes and you’ll be able to try it out on person!
Failing that the boot dimensions are here in mm: share.icloud.com/photos/0R9kNOe4pZlhZePlqWqkXCAHw
(Link valid for a few days)
@@npoleary yeah sorry vague question. I mean I've watched videos and it looks a decent size. Any more videos on the a250e coming up?
No worries!
Wasn’t planning to do another video on the A250e specifically but have got some ideas for future plug-in hybrid content 🤓
Hi Nick the delivery of this car is expected in a couple of weeks but I had ordered premium plus with driving assistance package and due to the on-going pandemic crisis, it will not have augmented reality, wireless charging and hands free tailgate operation. Is the MBUX still good without the augmented reality? Also a bit gutted it won’t have wireless charging either.
Oh of course! Augmented Reality is just a really small snippet of MBUX, it’s some cool tech but I’ve known some people to even turn it off because it can be a little distracting.
However you won’t miss out on any other MBUX features as that part is just for the Sat Nav and only comes on when the sat Nav talks to you anyway.
With Wireless Charging, don’t worry you’re not missing out. I use a wireless charger at home all the time however when it comes to the car, because I’m using the phone (for Sat Nav, music etc), it barely charges when using wireless. It’ll charge much faster with a cable, so I always use that anyway.
@@npoleary Thanks Nick, is it worth taking out a smart insurance for a 4 year leased deal?
Smart Insurance? Is that like a gap insurance or insurance for damage to paintwork or something?
@@npoleary Insurance for minor dents/ paintwork etc..
Ah okay, we’ll it’s totally up to you! 🤓
Useful to have though just in case something happens!
How big is the boot on the A250e?
310 Litres with the seats up
&
1,125 Litres with the seats down
🤓
@@npoleary thanks
Just ordered my A250e in mountain Grey, what is the mpg when using both electric and fuel. Great video!
Hey Malcolm, it’s impossible to answer I’m afraid unless you base it on a journey.
MPG is miles per gallon, as in how many miles you travel per gallon. So if you go 20 miles up the road, your engine may not have switched on at all. This means your journey would have been unlimited MPG!
However on the opposite side, if you get in the car and drive from the south of the UK to Scotland, you’ll do up to 42 miles on electric and then fuel the rest of the way (unless you plug in). If you didn’t plug in then your MPG will average out to somewhere in the 40’s.
So...the more you plug in, the greater your MPG. And if your journeys are always 20 or 30 miles, you’ll unlikely ever even turn the engine on if you plug it in every night.
Hope that kind of helps!
@@npoleary thanks for the reply.... what I was asking was if I charge the car up full and drove say 100 miles, with using the electric motor to help propel the car then what kind of MPG would I be getting if drove sensibly. Using hybrid mode.
Ah okay, it’s hard to tell as there’s no easy way of working it out. But I’m sure it’ll be more in the 60 - 70 MPG mark for that journey. That’s what I’d expect anyway!
@@npoleary ah ok, thought it would have been more than that, a lot less than the 250 mpg as advertised. Looking forward to picking it up in a weeks time. Thanks!!
250? Mpg? I mean well you could get it to show that on the screen if you did a shorter journey. The WLTP test procedure is 50 miles so this is probably why the figure is so high.
Hi, I'm picking up my A250e premium this week and will be doing a 300mile drive in a couple if weeks if charged full what would be the best settings for economy?
You can change the DYNAMIC SELECT to Eco, but just bear in mind to get the best economy you’ll want to plug it in (if you want to) on the way back. I should say, you don’t have to at all, but if you could do more miles with the engine off and run on electric that will improve your economy massively! You stopping for a drink or a snack?
@@npoleary Thanks for the reply! Yes I'll probably stop for around 45 minutes each way, and did wonder about plugging it in at the services.
@@rosstownsend4540 I’ve just seen this post and recently went on a trip to London in my new a250e the problem I found with charging my car on route is if you us a charger with a tethered lead the max charge is 7kwh even if using a 22kwh charge point so taking 1 hour 40 to fully charge or if you use the lead Mercedes supplied max charge rate is 3.7 kWh so nearly 3 hours to fully charge. I don’t know about you but my max stay at a service to include food etc would be 30 To 40 mins.
When will A 250e be available in the U.S.?
Ooo I don’t know Kevin! You’ll have to contact your local Mercedes. Hopefully they can shed some light on when and if it will in the future!
Morning Nick,
I rarely go on long distances bout 200 max round trip?i test drove a id3 unreal experience?i would have either through salary sacrifice scheme at work ?the mercedes is cheaper at £385 pm BIKs,gross stopped £558?which is unreal ?the id3 would be gross £667 ?£425 taken after BIKs?so either would be great?
I do like the A250e interior better 😉🤔👍
Aha! I’m not too clued up on BIK’s but I know the further it will travel on electric, the more beneficial it is for you!
Up to you I guess!
What is best eco or comfort
Eco is good for saving fuel but won’t be as powerful
Comfort is good as it has a balance of power and eco
Eco does also have a thing called gliding mode which can effectively “put the car into Neutral” and coast down the road which can save fuel too
@@npoleary great. Thanks for the speedy response. 👍👍👍👍
No worries! 🤓🙏