“Free” driving miles in E53
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2025 e53
“Free” driving miles in E53
My wife and I drove up to Yosemite, great trip. As we left our hotel I used the battery hold option for the first time. I figured I would save the battery for the stop and go traffic we would hit in LA. I was super surprised to see that the ICE did not appear to switch on (no rpm’s showing on dial) and my battery remained fully charged. As I continued driving the range of the ICE actually increased. So, obviously not a complaint but I’m curious as to what was powering my car for 50 miles or so?
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My wife and I drove up to Yosemite, great trip. As we left our hotel I used the battery hold option for the first time. I figured I would save the battery for the stop and go traffic we would hit in LA. I was super surprised to see that the ICE did not appear to switch on (no rpm’s showing on dial) and my battery remained fully charged. As I continued driving the range of the ICE actually increased. So, obviously not a complaint but I’m curious as to what was powering my car for 50 miles or so?
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My wife and I drove up to Yosemite, great trip. As we left our hotel I used the battery hold option for the first time. I figured I would save the battery for the stop and go traffic we would hit in LA. I was super surprised to see that the ICE did not appear to switch on (no rpm’s showing on dial) and my battery remained fully charged. As I continued driving the range of the ICE actually increased. So, obviously not a complaint but I’m curious as to what was powering my car for 50 miles or so?
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2025 e53
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yes, that’s kinda what I was thinking. It was just strange to see no RPMs and no battery usage for that length of time. During this trip I finally got past the breakin so had a chance to put my foot down a bit. Love the performance of you need it and the economy as well.
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AMG E53 214.063; BMW IXM
Here’s how I see it — when you’re in Battery Hold, the goal isn’t to completely shut off hybrid assist, it’s to maintain your current state of charge. So if the battery’s already full and you’re braking or coasting, the system will still use that regenerated energy right away instead of “wasting” it. That’s why the ICE might not kick in much, and you’ll see the fuel range actually go up a bit.
The E53’s 48-volt setup is always doing little things in the background — even when the battery gauge shows “empty,” there’s still a hidden reserve that the ISG uses and recharges continuously. So what you experienced makes sense: the car was basically running on regen energy for stretches and minimizing ICE use.
In short, Battery Hold doesn’t lock out the electric side — it just keeps your battery around the same level while still using recovered energy to help power the car.
The E53’s 48-volt setup is always doing little things in the background — even when the battery gauge shows “empty,” there’s still a hidden reserve that the ISG uses and recharges continuously. So what you experienced makes sense: the car was basically running on regen energy for stretches and minimizing ICE use.
In short, Battery Hold doesn’t lock out the electric side — it just keeps your battery around the same level while still using recovered energy to help power the car.
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Remember that break-in miles is based on miles the ICE engine is powering the car. If you are basing it on total miles you likely haven't reached break-in when you think since as you have observed, the ICE is not always being used.
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I am surprised that MB does not factor the ICE/EV mileage ratio into the calculation for scheduling the oil change interval.
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Here’s how I see it — when you’re in Battery Hold, the goal isn’t to completely shut off hybrid assist, it’s to maintain your current state of charge. So if the battery’s already full and you’re braking or coasting, the system will still use that regenerated energy right away instead of “wasting” it. That’s why the ICE might not kick in much, and you’ll see the fuel range actually go up a bit.
The E53’s 48-volt setup is always doing little things in the background — even when the battery gauge shows “empty,” there’s still a hidden reserve that the ISG uses and recharges continuously. So what you experienced makes sense: the car was basically running on regen energy for stretches and minimizing ICE use.
In short, Battery Hold doesn’t lock out the electric side — it just keeps your battery around the same level while still using recovered energy to help power the car.
The E53’s 48-volt setup is always doing little things in the background — even when the battery gauge shows “empty,” there’s still a hidden reserve that the ISG uses and recharges continuously. So what you experienced makes sense: the car was basically running on regen energy for stretches and minimizing ICE use.
In short, Battery Hold doesn’t lock out the electric side — it just keeps your battery around the same level while still using recovered energy to help power the car.
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2014 E350 Wagon, 2025 GLC 350e, 2026 E53 Wagon
Break-in miles are bogus. I'd rip it as soon as you can if you want to seat those rings properly. The break-in period has more to do with getting used to the car and the liability than anything else. My daughter's GLC PHEV has 5k miles and only about 800 of it was ICE mile.
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That is what I thought but the manual states to use E and C mode for break in, which means theoretically you could do the 1k miles without using the ICE. I made sure I did 1k miles using the ICE. Back when I raced motorcycles the prevailing wisdom was to top it from the get go, better for the seals, not sure how true that was but I never had any issues.
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I asked my sales concierge this question and he answered, "Mercedes has laser etched cylinder walls. You don't need to break-in the cars."
The owner's manual says the break-in period is 1,000 miles, where you drive under 85 miles per hour in EL, H, or B modes, etc.
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Can you see somewhere how many ICE miles and how many EV miles you have driven so that you know when you reach the break-in point?
I asked my sales concierge this question and he answered, "Mercedes has laser etched cylinder walls. You don't need to break-in the cars."
The owner's manual says the break-in period is 1,000 miles, where you drive under 85 miles per hour in EL, H, or B modes, etc.
I asked my sales concierge this question and he answered, "Mercedes has laser etched cylinder walls. You don't need to break-in the cars."
The owner's manual says the break-in period is 1,000 miles, where you drive under 85 miles per hour in EL, H, or B modes, etc.
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I don't know if this is the percentage of miles driven, or the percentage of time that the car is running on battery power
It's percentage miles driven.
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Fair question. I was guessing. If I was an engineer (and I am) given that we give miles and we give a percentage value, it would only make sense to give percentage of miles not percentage of time. But in this case we also get time on the same display so it could equally be time, however generally speaking with cars we measure energy use per mile therefore it only makes sense to express the percentage of the same.
Although it could also be a measure of energy used, but that would be kind of dubious and hard to measure given that energy density of fuel is not constant depending on whether you fill up with 91 or 93 octane and whether you do 10% or 15% ethanol.
So based on these factors, my educated guess is that it's a percentage of miles driven and not time driven.
Having said that, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme of things. As we generally say in engineering, is this number "actionable" to the end user? And if it is not, which in this case is not, then what does it matter?
Although it could also be a measure of energy used, but that would be kind of dubious and hard to measure given that energy density of fuel is not constant depending on whether you fill up with 91 or 93 octane and whether you do 10% or 15% ethanol.
So based on these factors, my educated guess is that it's a percentage of miles driven and not time driven.
Having said that, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme of things. As we generally say in engineering, is this number "actionable" to the end user? And if it is not, which in this case is not, then what does it matter?
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It seems that any time while the car is turned on, but, not in motion is ignored for the EDR calculation. However, the average speed is calculated by dividing the distance traveled by the length of time that the "ignition" is on. There is no easy way to determine the actual mileage driven in EV mode compared to ICE mode with the Trip Data info.
