Never Ev mode even with full battery

[Yugguy1970]

Hello all.

There's not much parking at the house so I'm often having to do the 2 car shuffle.  In the hev Rav if the Battery is at least 4 bars I can put in Ready, switch off the aircon fully, put it in ev mode and I can shuffle around for a little while without the engine starting.

In the Yaris I never can, even with a nearly full Battery.  It always starts the ice.  

Is this just because the Yaris Battery and motor are smaller?

[Catlover]

I don’t know the answer but will agree on your line of reasoning.

[Mojo1010]

I tried EV mode with my MK3 Yaris, it never worked, I think it's pointless on it. 

I would say so on the small Yaris Battery. 

[HughA]

Works OK on my Mk 3 hybrid most of the time.  I always switch off the A/C and can move the car about on my driveway. Only if it's very cold will the ICE come on.

[Cyker]

It does seem the bigger cars get more use of it. The conditions it requires are just too specific - You have to be going fairly slowly, the engine has to be at operating temperature, you can't push the pedal very hard, and the Battery must be above 50%.

I've gotten the EV mode button to work on my Mk4 so few times I can count it on one hand  

Because the batteries in the Mk3 and Mk4 Yaris are so small (1.3kWh and 0.7kWh respectively!) it will drop below 50% very quickly when in use unless you are going down a hill or something so it's not even worth trying to make it work. Personally I wish it was replaced with a 'Charge' button, so I could force the car to charge the Battery up in advance for when I know I'm approaching a slow traffic area. I always seem to hit them just as the Battery is drained, so I end up losing a load of mpg wasting fuel charging the battery while stationary in traffic.

 

As for the engine turning on, if the HVAC is on and set above ambient temperature when the car is turned on, the engine will turn on no matter how much charge the battery has.

If you're quick and can turn it off fast enough, then sometimes the engine will stay off. However, it seems if it's below a certain temperature outside, regardless of whether the HVAC is on or not, the engine will start - In winter it *always* starts when I turn it on in the morning.

The only times I've been able to reliably start my Mk4 without the engine turning on is in summer and when I've only recently turned it off.

 

[MikeSh]

24 minutes ago, Cyker said:

If you're quick and can turn it off fast enough, then sometimes the engine will stay off.

Or get in the habit of turning it off before shutting the car down. (Mine lives in the garage, so I nearly always want it not to run when first starting.)

[anchorman]

It will start in low temperature to speed up the heating of the cat and particulate filter.  As cyker says it will start in many other conditions to warm the interior.   It doesn’t need the engine in summer to cool it down but it does to warm it up.   

[MikeSh]

There was a thread about this or similar a couple of months ago. Might be worth looking through that, though I don't remember if there was a resolution.

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/209840-yaris-hybrid-ice-running-most-of-the-time/#comments

[TonyHSD]

I think it’s because of the smaller size hybrid Battery used in Yaris. 👍
On my Auris and Priuses including plus which has different li-ion Battery always been possible to select ev mode from cold start even during the freezing temperatures. What I do is start the car, switch off hvac fan with the off button and select immediately ev mode with the button and the car stays in ev mode for over 10 min, I do check and adjust pressures on all 4 tyres, hybrid Battery charge remains high, then I can move the car around, change parking slot with other cars. Sometimes even I drive up the road for few hundred meters at low speeds like below 20mph and the car remains silent., few times I did drained the battery completely and the ice kicked in so I needed to wait 5 min to recharge the battery before turning off the car but that was me, forgetting I am in hybrid and not in ev. As far as I know my battery size is 1.3kw/h. 

[flash22]

Don't put it in EV mode as soon as you touch/tap the throttle, it will just disengage EV mode

stick it in D or R and be light with the throttle 1/8-1/4 pedal is enough to fire the engine

not being funny but try driving in different shoes, thick and heavy soles reduces feel by a lot, also put it in eco mode as it changes the throttle response

[Yugguy1970]

Howdo, I'm not talking about driving at any speed, I'm just talking about 5mph moving a few yards.

I press Ready, aircon off, ev mode on, within a couple of seconds.  As long as I keep the power needle in Eco range the Rav doesn't start the ice at all but the Yaris will start it immediately before I've even put it in D.

[flash22]

Dont use EV Mode, it may have learnt some bad habits, disconnect the Battery for 10-15 mins and let the ecu's reset

[Cyker]

17 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

Howdo, I'm not talking about driving at any speed, I'm just talking about 5mph moving a few yards.

I press Ready, aircon off, ev mode on, within a couple of seconds.  As long as I keep the power needle in Eco range the Rav doesn't start the ice at all but the Yaris will start it immediately before I've even put it in D.

Same here; That just seems to be how it is with the Yaris!

You might have more luck in summer, but this time of year, esp. in the morning, no chance!

 

[TonyHSD]

HVAC settings there should be a “fan off “ button, this needs to be selected to work ev mode for valet purposes. Start the car and quickly select these two fan off and ev mode within 3 seconds as per the picture, step 2 and 3 can be switched in opposite order, that doesn’t matter as long as you do it within the 3 seconds time. But again, it seems Yarises are different. 
You can try something else, start the car and immediately select  N , wait few seconds and see if the engine kicks in. I did few times even let the car roll backwards and engine didn’t start, then in turned off and the car selected P by herself, again it’s a different gear by wire set up. , not sure how will work on Yaris and other gen 4 hybrids. 

[flash22]

The Yaris gear selector is mechanical, not electrical like the Auris,

the engine starting can also be a sign of a weak 12v Battery - ice cuts in to charge the 12v via the DC to DC convertor

[Derek.w]

I can manage this in EV mode note car is already up to operating tempriture.

Its 249 yards.

[MikeSh]

I can't believe this is due to cold weather - we're having a second spring in England at least.

Providing I don't turn the ac on and don't exceed the eco point on the power meter, my MK3 will, from cold, usually get out the garage and go a couple of hundred yards without the engine starting. And I never touch the EV button or have it in eco mode ... it's just its normal operation.

[flash22]

IMO it's purely down to old habits and driving style. You only need very light throttle to make the car move, as the torque is more or less instant, unlike a traditional auto where you need the rpm to build oil pressure in the box