ICE in EV Mode

[adamtoonarmy]

This surprised me a bit this morning, anyone had a similar experience?  Is it a regular 'thing'?

Was on a short drive this am, about 7 miles. Car was in EV mode and I was slowing down at some traffic lights and the ICE kicked in. According to the mode indicator the car remained in EV mode but the EV light at the top of the dash display went off. Remaining EV range was 42 miles.  Everything stayed the same until I got to my destination car park (about 3 miles) where the ICE switched off and I parked up.  As the car was under the impression that I had been in EV mode the whole way I achieved a staggering 17.8m/KWH!!

[ernieb]

If you braked heavily or were going braking going down steep hill the ICE kicks in to provide some engine braking. However, if you’ve run the car mainly on EV for a few months the car will start the ICE to circulate the oil/petrol through the system.

I have found some random firing of the ICE which if you look on the energy flow screen seems to only provide some Battery top up and then depending on the outside temperature switches off pretty quickly.

[Hayzee]

Agree with Ernie's comments. I run most of the time in EV mode and my ICE has fired up (whilst in EV mode with plenty charge left) a few times, particularly noticeable during cold weather.

[Nick72]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:03 PM, adamtoonarmy said:

This surprised me a bit this morning, anyone had a similar experience?  Is it a regular 'thing'?

Was on a short drive this am, about 7 miles. Car was in EV mode and I was slowing down at some traffic lights and the ICE kicked in. According to the mode indicator the car remained in EV mode but the EV light at the top of the dash display went off. Remaining EV range was 42 miles.  Everything stayed the same until I got to my destination car park (about 3 miles) where the ICE switched off and I parked up.  As the car was under the impression that I had been in EV mode the whole way I achieved a staggering 17.8m/KWH!!

Yeh it can get confusing in terms of what and why but as others have said this is normal and can be triggered for any one of numerous reasons. I just leave it to it now and stopped my second guessing. EV generally means EV unless ...braking very hard or going down a steep hill as Ernie says, it has been a while since the engine last ran, it's very cold so the ICE comes on and helps with conditioning the Battery, you switched on the front defroster (it's more efficient to run the engine for the front defroster so this triggers the ICE), the Battery is too hot.

[Mike2222]

Don't know about anyone else, but I get a little paranoid if the ICE kicks in shortly before I come to the end of my journey. Its reminiscent of my previous car and its DPF regeneration cycles. I was aware that repeatedly turning off during regen could lead to build up of diesel in the sump oil, which could lead to underlubrication & increased wear (or the bogeyman story/worst case scenario of the oil igniting and engine fires etc), so I habitually would extend my journey a bit and keep the revs up where feasible until it had finished. It was relatively frequent (mazda designed it this way to reduce rate of DPF build up) and became very tedious over time. 

 

Anyone any idea if there's a potential downside to stopping the car during one of these fuel/oil circulation cycles? Or do you reckon the car will just try to finish/repeat the cycle sooner when next started up? 

[ernieb]

@Mike2222, same here. If I think it’s going to kick in before the end of my trip I put the car into HEV mode which fires the ICE. This obviously puts the car into the warm up/circulate fluids mode and at the same time usual puts some energy into the traction Battery. I can then decide to either leave it in HEV mode or switch it back to EV mode. Often I switch to EV mode, the car remains in HEV mode for a shorts while as it sorts itself out.

If I think it’s really marginal then I switch to HEV mode let the ICE fire and then immediately switch back to EV mode, when the car thinks it’s done what it needs to do it goes back into EV mode.

It sounds complicated but it’s second nature now and I go through the process somewhat mechanically with no brain pain.

[philip42h]

38 minutes ago, Mike2222 said:

Don't know about anyone else, but I get a little paranoid if the ICE kicks in ...

One of the many benefits of having a HEV rather than a PHEV is the total absence of that particular paranoid fear ... 😉

Just drive and enjoy. How long are you planning keeping the car? The warranty is at least ten years even if Toyota don't know how to build a hybrid yet ... 🙂

[nlee]

Never really thought about it. A couple of times in nearly a year it has run out of EV range with about half a mile to get home. I guess I just think the car is designed knowing that could happen and it's twice in a year so no big deal.