EV mode

[daninplymouth]

Hi, is there any way to update the system or bypass the 20mph limit once you push the EV button? Would be nice if it would allow you to get up to at least 30mph.

I don’t make a habit of pushing the button as I know the car usually knows best, however with the cold weather and my driving lately the Battery often gets almost full and have seen it maxed a couple of times, as I have just under a mile before I get on the dual carriageway so normally the car is cold so the engine is warming up and adding charge to the Battery then once I get onto the dual carriageway that’s almost all petrol power too. So it’d be nice if I could force it into electric for the first bit each journey 

[trashman1965]

Simply, no. But I noticed the operation is sightly different to my previous 2 auris. In both, regardless of heating on/off I could engage EV Mode and it would happily sit there up to 20 mph as long as it was gentle acceleration and enough charge.

The corolla won't go into EV Mode manually unless it is warmed up. BUT if I turn the heating off then it stays jn EV (NOT EV Mode) but that is even when I get the message EV Mode unavailable. Thereafter its same as manual EV mode...it works OK for me in that I can drive the same distance and hit 20 MPH and continue on.

It's odd as "EV Mode unavailable" message suggests it shouldn't do that...note this is jot the message "EV Mode unavailable,  Hybrid Battery low"

[RabButler]

My understanding is that the car's electronic control unit is prioritised to get the engine up to working temperature as fast as possible. The engine runs in a special, less fuel-efficient mode to achieve this. If you want to get to work on Battery power alone, then you will have to buy an EV or PHEV.

[RzrAzr]

54 minutes ago, daninplymouth said:

Hi, is there any way to update the system or bypass the 20mph limit once you push the EV button? Would be nice if it would allow you to get up to at least 30mph.

I don’t make a habit of pushing the button as I know the car usually knows best, however with the cold weather and my driving lately the battery often gets almost full and have seen it maxed a couple of times, as I have just under a mile before I get on the dual carriageway so normally the car is cold so the engine is warming up and adding charge to the battery then once I get onto the dual carriageway that’s almost all petrol power too. So it’d be nice if I could force it into electric for the first bit each journey 

You don’t want to be driving on dual carriage way with a cold engine. 

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, RzrAzr said:

You don’t want to be driving on dual carriage way with a cold engine. 

Exactly, and drained Battery, it would be noisy and not very pleasant experience. In cold weather best to wait at least  2min after you  started the car and then drive off., it’s more efficient and healthier for the car. 

[Popama]

After seeing the limitations of the EV Mode button I always wondered why Toyota did not design it the same way they designed the Eco mode which automatically switches the AC to Eco as well. There is no use for an EV button which is 90% of the time unavailable. Meanwhile when I want to leave the parking lot in EV all I have to do is leave the AC off, reverse and pull away. This always gets me moving in EV and then the engine turns on. The EV mode should have worked the same way as Eco mode and disable electricity usage ( maybe except for lights and defogger ). 

[Catlover]

90% unavailable….. what about the other 10%.  That maybe the time you just want to move the car up/down you drive for some reason, or on a large shopping car park moving from one area to another, I don’t just want to get going then the engine kicks in if EV mode allows me to do it. Saves a firing up the engine most of the time, but not all the time, but I will take it when available.

[Stopeter44]

7 minutes ago, Catlover said:

90% unavailable….. what about the other 10%.

That really depends on how you look at things, My T shows I am in EV mode more than 50% of the time in my Yaris IV. OTOH, if I want to come out of the garage in EV, that, so far, has never happened.

[frizzbee30]

Perhaps it's just me, but in warmer weather,  or after it's done a few runs, if I hop in and move the car from road to drive etc, or even down the lane, it us sometimes pure EV, no engine whatsoever. 

Same on car parks on returning from shopping. 

That's what I love, it's already done some distance from starting, without the engine running. 

[Catlover]

Hi Ian, the computer is always going to protect the engine. So, as you explained, when the car has already been run and warm, and assuming you have a healthy amount in the hybrid Battery, you should be able to run in EV mode, but you got to be quick to select EV mode as soon as the car is in Ready mode.

[TonyHSD]

Yes! be quick as soon as you start the car press ev and then press heater fan off button, this should happen within two seconds seconds time like or it will be too late and the engine will fire up. I found it useful as per the examples given and I love it when I need to swap the cars at my drive., or quiet and no fuel smells under my window. For me works every time but my hybrid Battery is always almost full when at home, to work that for you your Battery needs to be in similar state of charge which actually is around 60-70%👍

[Catlover]

Good example of using EV today. I had gone shopping, not far but enough for engine to be war. Drove onto Tesco superstore, just wanted cash machine which is on outside of the store. Took a few minutes, back to car, drove away and it stayed on EV, negotiated couple small roundabouts on edge of housing estate, got to set of traffic lights at main road and had to stop. That was .2 of a mile and engine not started thus no petrol used. When I started off on the main road the engine quickly came in, that’s fine.

[AndrueC]

4 hours ago, frizzbee30 said:

Perhaps it's just me, but in warmer weather,  or after it's done a few runs, if I hop in and move the car from road to drive etc, or even down the lane, it us sometimes pure EV, no engine whatsoever. 

Same on car parks on returning from shopping. 

That's what I love, it's already done some distance from starting, without the engine running. 

Same here. No need to engage EV mode or turn off a fan or anything. Just be very, very gentle with the accelerator pedal and ideally use the ECO gauge. Anyone trying to keep the car on electric running should have that gauge visible. All you need to do is keep the green bar inside the first area and the ICE will stay off as long as the AC isn't needed.

In summer I can reverse out of my garage and get all the way out to the main road on electric - that might be nearly half a mile. I don't get a chance to do it often though because it's not something you should do when there are vehicles behind and frankly it's a bit tedious anyway.

I also remember the time when I got an eco score of 99. I was driving my Dad and his partner back from a meal we'd all had and the first half of the journey was downhill, the rest was flat or barely inclined. I all of it without the ICE. That as a lovely summer's evening so the ICE would be cool but not cold.

https://goo.gl/maps/XwAXrBivgUUP8AQ4A

But it's always worth remembering that it's not free energy. The Battery only has a charge because you have previously burnt petrol. Under the wrong conditions forcing the car to stay on the Battery could be counter-productive. It depends what the vehicle will be trying to do when it finally throws in the towel and starts to the charge the Battery. The ECU might have no choice but to run the engine inefficiently in order to get the battery back to a sensible level.

[daninplymouth]

19 hours ago, RzrAzr said:

You don’t want to be driving on dual carriage way with a cold engine. 

I’d have thought it’s probably better on the engine to warm up on a slow constant throttle rather than stop start around streets. Although my point is I have a straight bit of 40mph road about 1mile before I join the dual carriageway which is all up hill. So on the way home I get a decent charge on my Battery just wish in the morning I could use a bit of this charge up rather have the engine running adding more charge to an almost full system which doesn’t get much use. Same as on the way home I have about a mile of slow traffic before I get back on the dual carriageway so it’s almost pointless having the engine running adding charge as I can generate enough enroute. Just wish the system could do 30-40mph then I could keep up with traffic 

[AndrueC]

I would have thought that because of the eCVT a Corolla can be driven off immediately and the ECU will pick whatever RPM is best for it. Hybrids have a further advantage in that they can choose what load they want to put on the ICE. Either use the Battery to reduce ICE load while it warms up or run the ICE harder to warm it up faster and use the surplus energy to charge the Battery.

[TonyHSD]

If you start the car on cold it’s alway best to wait 1-2 minutes before you are driving off to let the engine warms up a bit, you can do exactly opposite and start driving immediately but in this case the car will behave like full ev with range extender, the e motor (mg2)  will propel the car while ice will be running at steady rpm to heat up itself and charge the Battery if the Battery has needed to be charged, however here is the difference in self charging hybrids,.  since the sc hybrids has very small traction Battery it will only go on ev power short distance and it will drain the battery rapidly and then the engine will take over to propel the car + charge the battery and you won’t have any help from the e motors at all even they will stopping you accelerate easily, you gonna feel the extra drag from mg1 trying to top up your empty battery., the car will whine at high rpm but not much speed will be reached, basically it will burn more fuel then if you had waited 2 min before initial start driving it. 

[Popama]

59 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

I would have thought that because of the eCVT a Corolla can be driven off immediately and the ECU will pick whatever RPM is best for it. Hybrids have a further advantage in that they can choose what load they want to put on the ICE. Either use the battery to reduce ICE load while it warms up or run the ICE harder to warm it up faster and use the surplus energy to charge the battery.

I would say your assessment is correct. Whenever the engine starts while the car is sitting ( at a stop or right after the ignition is turned on the first time during the day ) it runs in a very specific manner in terms of RPM and noise. Very different from when it is moving at driving speeds. Sometimes it will keep this efficient burning mode for a couple of blocks if the speed is slow and does not require more torque.

I have not timed it or anything but I would guess it heats the engine faster during the winter compared to my previous naturally aspirated Renault.

[Roy124]

The last two posts were interesting.  I have a choice leaving home: 50 yards flat then right up a rise followed by a quarter mile descent or left, a 300 yard descent followed by a 200 yard climb to the other road. 

I think the latter, descending first, would allow the ICE to do its own thing while the Battery powers the car. 

[Catlover]

Which way, Roy, would you take if your car just had a combustion engine?

[daninplymouth]

I think the above posts are wrong, letting a car idle can cause more damage as I thought idling with no load can create issues with piston rings and sealing with modern tolerances the best practice is to drive as soon as possible but take it easy till the oil warms up 

[TonyHSD]

10 minutes ago, daninplymouth said:

I think the above posts are wrong, letting a car idle can cause more damage as I thought idling with no load can create issues with piston rings and sealing with modern tolerances the best practice is to drive as soon as possible but take it easy till the oil warms up 

Waiting a minute or two especially in the freezing cold weather is definitely better for the engine and transmission than if you start and drive off immediately. You can do either way and it’s not going to be a problem for oil rings or anything but waiting a bit before driving off will prolong the life of the drive train and in a hybrid will save you one unnecessary Battery drain. 👍

[Cyker]

It may depend on the car, but I was always told it's better to just get moving than idle for extended periods. It certainly warms the engine up faster! I think as long as you don't start ragging it until the engine gets up to temp then you're okay.

I think it's less important in a hybrid as the car will take care of the engine (Still don't rag it tho'  ), although in newer models with electric pumps for everything, waiting a sec to let the fluids circulate and pressurize before moving will certainly not do any harm.

My Mk4 always fires the ICE up when the car is switched on; I don't think it's ever moved off in 'EV mode' only, not even in summer, except where I've stopped, turned off the car, and immediately turned it back on again to move it again. And I think I've already mentioned how I've never gotten the EV button to do anything other than say something along the lines of EV mode not available...  

 

[Roy124]

10 hours ago, Catlover said:

Which way, Roy, would you take if your car just had a combustion engine?

Habit really, the route with least bends, up hill is 2.  Down hill is 5.  Convenience over efficiency rather than thinking which is more efficient. Just curious really and I probably won't change. 

[Roy124]

According to The Car Nut the electronics control the water flow to maximise circulation through critical components and avoid wasting heat for conditioning etc. 

If you drive off immediately you risk the inside misting up before the system is able to demist it.  

Warming up while static will also mean there is no cooling air flow through the engine. 

[RzrAzr]

the topic of warming up or not is as old as I can remember being part of online forums 🙂 The way I do it, is start it and in about 10-20 second roll off and start my morning ritual of taking the beast out of the tiny spanish city garage. I'm on the second floor so that is at least 2-3 times of me backing up to make the next turn without leaving my paint on the walls. Hopefully next week I'll be dailying corolla and this ritual will change