Hybrid mot question

[ROCKETRON]

Hi I have a 2019 RAV4 so mot not imminent but I was wondering how they test the emissions on a hybrid as you can’t control when the engine comes on and if it was on it would soon go off again if car wasn’t moving. Is there a menu option to run the engine?

[duncerduncs]

To quote gov.uk....

"The only vehicles that do not have an emissions test as part of the MOT are:

• vehicles with fewer than 4 wheels
• vehicles with 2-stroke engines
• hybrid vehicles
• quadricycles
• hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
• electric vehicles"

I would imagine that if testing hybrid vehicles becomes part of the MOT in the future, VW will be the ones to find the 'software solution'!!

[flash22]

I can confirm there are no emissions test on hybrids for the MOT - i have a chat with my MOT guy why he does mine

[ROCKETRON]

Thanks for your replies. I had never heard before that hybrids don’t have emissions testing , I wonder if that’s also for the mild hybrids that are on the market nowadays as they can’t run on electric alone, the motor just helps out the engine

[Catlover]

If the engine is running all the time in a mild hybrid I suspect it will be tested for emissions.

[roadster-rav]

In several areas MOT standards cannot keep up with the reality of technical innovation which after being stalled for several decades is now developing month by month. At present the answer is  to use on-board diagnostics. I.E. if your engine management light is on its an MOT fail. But we already know that its quite easy to cheat emissions tests and to ( at least temporarily ) cancel OBD errors. Then of course there are semi-automatic driving aids, nothing in the MOT is going to prevent a faulty system steering you straight into an oncoming car, likewise fix a drivers over-reliance on a radar system which chooses to fail in heavy rain. A similar situation exists with construction and use laws which , in the UK at least, were very explicit. There are now cars being produced whose fancy LED indicators are practically invisible in bright sunlight and conversely those with stylized brake lights that dazzle at night or are stupidly small in bright sunlight.

[SvenskaAeroplan72]

While on the subject of MOT's, what about brake testing?

I read in the long driver's handbook that an axle connected to an electric motor, i.e. both when AWD, must have the wheels clear of the road should it be necessary to tow. This would be the same during the brake test as the brakes being tested are driven by the rollers. Is it that the short running time of the test that means there it is not a problem?

[Devon Aygo]

2 hours ago, SvenskaAeroplan72 said:

While on the subject of MOT's, what about brake testing?

I read in the long driver's handbook that an axle connected to an electric motor, i.e. both when AWD, must have the wheels clear of the road should it be necessary to tow. This would be the same during the brake test as the brakes being tested are driven by the rollers. Is it that the short running time of the test that means there it is not a problem?

A Hybrid can be moved / towed at a slow pace to clear the car from danger etc but it cannot be towed at road speeds.

They can also be brake tested as the car will be powered on but in neutral and the rollers rotate slowly enough to avoid upsetting the ABS/VSC systems

[Rav Rob]

When I used to take in my Outlander PHEV they are not allowed to use the rolling road for brake test on electric motor drives. They have to use option B, an on-road brake test with a portable accelerometer instrument onboard. The requirement is very easy so a couple of sharpish stops easily passed.

Might still be possible in neutral on the 2WD RAV but not the 4WD as the rear motor cannot be physically uncoupled.

[flash22]

A brake test can be performed as the abs and ecu allow for such an instance in ways it no different that emergency braking with exception of direct drive and belt drive (dry) transmissions

The main issue is testing all different makes and models on the market and the test stations having all the equipment and data (usually oem data is behind a paywall) to perform the tests - then it gets to a point that dealership will be the only place to get an MOT, and that leads to its own issues

 

its the same as VW dieselgate emissions, the ecu detects that its on a rolling road (via abs sensor data) or in neutral being rev'd and changes its mapping