Change in hybrid behaviour confirmed.

[AndrueC]

Today I had to drive to Oxford and rather to my surprise the traction Battery ended up almost full as I pulled off at Botley. What I can now confirm is that if you have all bars lit (or even all but the last one) the car will remain on EV even if your power demands push the ECO gauge past the 'EV' section. Clearly the car is very eager to get back to having two bars unlit.

[TonyHSD]

Did the engine started to spin at higher rpm? I do experience this behaviour almost every day when going home via long downhill. This where also if you try to switch to ev mode the car may refuse and display  “ev mode currently not available “, but if you don’t turn the button the car yes indeed will try to stay on ev as long as possible . 

[AndrueC]

4 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Did the engine started to spin at higher rpm? I do experience this behaviour almost every day when going home via long downhill. 

Can't say I noticed that. What I noticed was that as I pulled away from the traffic lights the car hadn't switched the ICE on but the power gauge was showing me well beyond the EV area. I was able to accelerate up to 30 at a normal rate (Botley at quarter to nine in the morning is not a place that tolerates dawdlers, lol) all without the ICE coming on.

Quite how I got the Battery that well charged I don't know. I did a steady 60/70 for most of the 24 mile journey. I didn't do my normal 60 because I was leery of traffic making me late for an appointment.

By the end of it all the car dash was showing 68 mpg whereas it has been showing 66 when I left home.

[Cyker]

It's probably the steady speed - I've found that holding a steady speed at higher speeds forces the engine to keep running and charging the traction Battery, and it won't shut off until the traction Battery gets nearly full.

This is why I tend to use the cruise control for 50-60 but anything over I drive manually as I can match the 50-60 cruise control mpg at a manual 70-ish mph, because I can pulse and glide with the ebb and flow of the traffic and give the system a chance to shut off the ICE and deploy Battery power more often.

That said it can be advantageous, if I know I'm going to hit traffic or enter town, to try and force it to charge the battery up a bit more. I do wish I could reprogram the utterly pointless EV-mode button into a Force-Charge button on my Mk4, as it would be far more useful for such situations!

 

[Kental]

In both our cars, I find the EV button useful as it allows much more power to be delivered from the motor before the engine kicks in.

Especially in winter this has an advantage as it allows the Battery to be depleted meaning the next morning when the engine kicks in to warm the car, the excess energy is not wasted.

[TonyHSD]

37 minutes ago, Kental said:

In both our cars, I find the EV button useful as it allows much more power to be delivered from the motor before the engine kicks in.

Especially in winter this has an advantage as it allows the battery to be depleted meaning the next morning when the engine kicks in to warm the car, the excess energy is not wasted.

I believe when engine is running to warm up itself only uses  less petrol than when is running to warm up and charge the Battery at the same time. In each scenario the engine sounds different, the rpm’s are different and likely the consumption is different. Perhaps not a big deal but it’s noticeable when engine is running to do different things and could be also strange to people new to the hybrids. 👍

[Cyker]

6 hours ago, Kental said:

In both our cars, I find the EV button useful as it allows much more power to be delivered from the motor before the engine kicks in.

Especially in winter this has an advantage as it allows the battery to be depleted meaning the next morning when the engine kicks in to warm the car, the excess energy is not wasted.

Yeah it seems to be more useful on the previous-gen hybrids, which don't seem as obsessed with keeping the SoC at around 50%, but I've gotten the EV-mode button to work maybe 2-3 times in the Mk4? 99.9% of my tries just result in a beep and a message saying there isn't enough charge, I'm going too fast, the planets aren't aligned correctly, or just isn't available with no reason given!

Maybe having a rocker switch that selects between Charge Battery, Auto, and EV-mode would be more useful?? 

[AndrueC]

I've hardly ever used the EV button. Doesn't seem worth the bother. If the ECU is willing you can put the car into EV mode using the accelerator. Keep the power gauge within the 'EV' section and the ICE will stay off. I keep my car in the garage so that gives me the best opportunity to leave on electric. The handful of times I tried pressing the button I got told the hybrid Battery didn't have enough charge.

[Chuffmonkey]

Iv had my car a month now and I have done around 1200 miles with a mixture of A roads, Motorway and twisty country lanes. I am not driving it hard in fact I am being cautious trying to get the EV to do its job. I don't think I have ever seen the last 3 bars lit on the Battery indicator is that normal? Averaging around 55Mpg so maybe I am driving it a bit harsh. 

2.0L TS 

[Cyker]

It's pretty normal.

The new hybrids are really obsessive about keeping the Battery charge around 50%, so during normal use it's rare to see them move far away from that point for long.

I find it will get to higher SoC's (State of Charge) if I use the radar cruise control at higher speeds (Because it runs the engine much longer so the electric motor never gets a chance to cut in), or if I'm coasting down a long hill (regen), but as soon as it gets a chance the car then starts to use the electric motor more than usual and quickly drains off the excess energy and it's back to ~50%.

 

[TonyHSD]

Battery state of charge on Toyota hybrids depends on how you drive the car and where. If you do a lots of downhill drive before you park your car the Battery will always be at high level (80% max) when checking with app. This EV button is more like for parking (valeting) purpose more than for driving. 👍

[Kental]

17 hours ago, AndrueC said:

I've hardly ever used the EV button. Doesn't seem worth the bother. If the ECU is willing you can put the car into EV mode using the accelerator. Keep the power gauge within the 'EV' section and the ICE will stay off. I keep my car in the garage so that gives me the best opportunity to leave on electric. The handful of times I tried pressing the button I got told the hybrid battery didn't have enough charge.

When you can get the car into EV mode you can use the EV & the Eco part of the power gauge and keep the engine off.  It is hilly near our house so it gives me extra EV grunt.