Engine kicking in when stationary

[DavidinDerbyshire]

Apologies if this is raised elsewhere but I am curious as to why my 2019 Hybrid appears on hot days to be reluctant to stop the engine when I am stationary in traffic and keeps running.  I really would like to see a "state of charge" meter on the hybrid batteries but without one I have no way of knowing whether this is normal or abnormal.  It is not something I have experienced with any of my previous hybrids (Yaris, Auris, CH-R). 

[ernieb]

I don’t know but maybe if you have the A/C running flat out the ECU decides it needs to run the engine to maintain the HEV Battery?

[Derek.w]

If its a case of engine running you can turn off a/c when you standing but engine may still run just to bring the High Voltage Battery back up or the temperature of cool fluids to there operating point.

[DavidinDerbyshire]

1 hour ago, ernieb said:

I don’t know but maybe if you have the A/C running flat out the ECU decides it needs to run the engine to maintain the HEV battery?

Nope. A/C not used for medical reasons and no other power drain in use either.  Does seem to be on warm days. We both drive the car with energy recuperation in mind and achieve high stats on the app. Car had service a month ago. But thanks for your assistance. 

 

[Mixstreme]

I would at least check the hybrid Battery cooling fan filter, it is not part of any service. At least you can clean it whilst checking and tick it off the list .......  found this was very helpful with my Auris doing similar....

[Gerg]

Over time you have become very familiar with the Toyota hybrids quirks, but does your latest one have a GPF (Gasoline Particulate Filter), which the others didn't?

If so, then that might be another set of 'priorities' that the engine is attempting to meet - specifically, purging the GPF via exhaust heat, when required.

Not sure how this fits in with the 'warm days' pattern, though.  But if you are an economical driver there will be less ICE heat to keep the GPF clean (if fitted) with just 'normal' driving, so the engine may have to create extra heat to do the job itself, when necessary.

Is the tickover speed elevated when the engine might otherwise be expected to have stopped?  If yes, then the GPF theory would fit with that.

Never had a GPF-equiped car myself, so speculation on my part.

 

[SO8]

I have only had my 2023 Phev a month or so but have also noticed this. Fully charged Battery …. In traffic and engine on sometimes !   I put it down to some parameter somewhere or other telling the car to switch it on for whatever spurious reason.  Hasn’t happened much but def does it every now and then.  Weird, 

[DavidinDerbyshire]

7 hours ago, Gerg said:

Never had a GPF-equiped car myself, so speculation on my part.

 

Valid speculation, nonetheless so I will spend part of my Sunday trying to discover if we have GPF. many thanks.

 

18 hours ago, ernieb said:

I don’t know but maybe if you have the A/C running flat out the ECU decides it needs to run the engine to maintain the HEV Battery?

I was rather hoping others might come up with similar experiences so that I could put it down to "normal" ....except, as I said, it didn't happen with our other hybrids. Perhaps I should adapt my driving style ands take less notice of "Hybrid Coaching"!   But I do like seeing mpg figures over 70.......And, by the way, the Battery vent filter WAS cleaned at the last service a month ago. Still haven't discovered whether I have GPF. 

[philip42h]

I pretty sure that our cars do have a GPF - modern petrol engined cars do. But that is unlikely to be the explanation for your observation since, like DPFs before, regeneration is going to be performed when the  engine is up to temperature and the car is running at speed for an extended period. (E.g. when cruising down the motorway).

I strongly recommend driving your car the way you want to drive your car without paying too much attention to "Hybrid Coaching" ... 😉

And, yes, having the ICE run when you can't really work out why it should be is perfectly normal ... 🙂

[DavidinDerbyshire]

Thank you Philip42H  (thinks, maybe you are as old as me!) I am comforted by your advice.  I have come a long way, in every sense, since my first Beetle in 1962. Suffice to say I remain delighted with our hybrid RAV. Hope I live long enough to justify a PHEV !

 

[ernieb]

David, maybe the car just needs a rundown the motorway.

I’m very much like you a defensive driver and try to control the acceleration and braking but do take the opportunity to give the car a ‘blow’ out on a regular basis.

[DavidinDerbyshire]

4 minutes ago, ernieb said:

David, maybe the car just needs a rundown the motorway.

I’m very much like you a defensive driver and try to control the acceleration and braking but do take the opportunity to give the car a ‘blow’ out on a regular basis.

Aha, that was the regular way to service a Beetle in the early 60s. That and half a gallon of Duckhams 20/15. (Or something like that).  I do a fairly regular motorway trip but much of our motoring is my wife tripping across Chesterfield to care for a relative which is mostly a stop start journey for roundabouts and traffic lights. Trouble is that when we're out together and I put my foot down the car goes so fast she get's all jumpy. (The wife, that is). 

😭

 

[ernieb]

Give it a burst from Junction 29 to 28 come off and return to 29.

[DavidinDerbyshire]

1 minute ago, ernieb said:

Give it a burst from Junction 29 to 28 come off and return to 29.

Oooh...I daren't do that. Haven't you heard how dangerous these smart motorways are???   (Actually you are in just as much danger shooting down the no-hard-shoulder-un-smart-unlit A617....not to mention the A34; A38; A50 and dozens of other dual carriageways. The dreadful RTC on the A303 at Andover a couple of years ago when a Samaritan trucker helping a broken down female driver was hit by someone on their phone was typical. But the media don't want reality, they prefer sensationalism and dubious "campaigns for justice". 

(Speaking as a retired media  person....) 

[ernieb]

Don’t worry they will soon be along and start digging it all up again. I regularly do a run from junction 11 to 28 and the last 14 years it’s never been clear of road works.

In my youth when I first met my wife he sister had a boyfriend who was a garage mechanic and one evening he stopped to help someone change a tyre and was killed by car driver who was suspected was adjusting his radio.

off topic….