EV mode not available.

[Cyker]

I tend to agree about the ergonomics getting worse over the models - The placement and size of all the controls in my Mk1 Yaris were great - Nice big chunky functional buttons, with embossing to differentiate them by feel, and were very obvious whether they were on or not.

The Mk2 by comparison was a total poop-show - The buttons were all tiny and the same, so trying to use them without glancing was impossible.

The Mk4 is okay - It at least has detents on the dials, and the important button (AUTO!) to turn the HVAC on is nice and big and obvious, but the actual HVAC controls are awful - I've been using them more and more because I've decided Climate Control sucks and manual HVAC controls are better, but trying to manually adjust the fan speed and blower direction are such a faff compared to the Mk1 and even the Mk2 - The buttons are all tiny and identical, so it's very easy to poke the wrong one. It would have been better if they made the icon part of the button, instead of having the tiny icon with a tiny thin button underneath.

It's still better than stupid touch controls that are, at best, vague, but the controls were definitely more useable in older models. I just hate this trend to form over function - It's a car, not an art piece!

 

[dannyboy413]

6 hours ago, Roy124 said:

Apart from the seats that would not recline I thought my Triumph 1300 was really luxurious.  Door caps were real wood and scratch proof finish.  Plush carpets front and back and the doors were carpeted too.

It was novel at the time with an adjustable steering wheel, a centre warning light cluster of 8 lights, and a huge 11.8 gallon tank.

That tank gave a huge range of 360 miles.   Think back, many cars could only do 240 miles on a full tank.   Today we get worried with 240 miles to go.

I had one of those, in maroon, many, many moons ago.  Brilliant cabin and that centre warning light cluster seemed to tell you everything you needed to know. I bought it on the morning we were setting off for a weeks holiday, to the East coast I think. All I had time to do was make sure all the fluids were correct and the tyres were okay - not a problem the whole week we were away. Lovely car.

[Primus1]

3 hours ago, Cyker said:

I tend to agree about the ergonomics getting worse over the models - The placement and size of all the controls in my Mk1 Yaris were great - Nice big chunky functional buttons, with embossing to differentiate them by feel, and were very obvious whether they were on or not.

The Mk2 by comparison was a total !Removed!-show - The buttons were all tiny and the same, so trying to use them without glancing was impossible.

The Mk4 is okay - It at least has detents on the dials, and the important button (AUTO!) to turn the HVAC on is nice and big and obvious, but the actual HVAC controls are awful - I've been using them more and more because I've decided Climate Control sucks and manual HVAC controls are better, but trying to manually adjust the fan speed and blower direction are such a faff compared to the Mk1 and even the Mk2 - The buttons are all tiny and identical, so it's very easy to poke the wrong one. It would have been better if they made the icon part of the button, instead of having the tiny icon with a tiny thin button underneath.

It's still better than stupid touch controls that are, at best, vague, but the controls were definitely more useable in older models. I just hate this trend to form over function - It's a car, not an art piece!

 

What you don’t want to see are cars that have their controls in braille….

[Derek.w]

Yes I agree with Cyker & Alan and others, Mk1 and 2 you can just put your hand out to adjust temperature or flap position for the cabin Now you have to take your eyes off the road just for a second or two to see what you are going to press.

[TopGeek]

On 11/15/2023 at 12:08 AM, Cyker said:

The conditions for the EV mode button are the battery has to have MORE than 50% charge (i.e. 4+ blocks on the battery gauge) and you have to be doing less than 30mph, and not be pressing the accelerator too hard (Where 'too hard' seems to equate to 'at all' from my testing).

Where is the Battery gauge? I've searched the manual and can't find it. Maybe my version of the car is different to yours.

[Roy124]

33 minutes ago, TopGeek said:

Where is the battery gauge? I've searched the manual and can't find it. Maybe my version of the car is different to yours.

What media system do you have?

In Smart Connect, go to Home, Vehicle, select Battery.  You also have options for fuel consumption and tyre pressures.

As you sat, your model may be different. 

[Stobie]

On 11/16/2023 at 8:14 PM, dannyboy413 said:

I had one of those, in maroon, many, many moons ago.  Brilliant cabin and that centre warning light cluster seemed to tell you everything you needed to know. I bought it on the morning we were setting off for a weeks holiday, to the East coast I think. All I had time to do was make sure all the fluids were correct and the tyres were okay - not a problem the whole week we were away. Lovely car.

 

[Roy124]

33 minutes ago, Stobie said:

 

Sold mine to a friend.  His Mini was a wreck.

Round Marble Arch a wheel fell off.

We are still friends and I married his passenger,  a friend of his wife's.

[Cyker]

3 hours ago, TopGeek said:

Where is the battery gauge? I've searched the manual and can't find it. Maybe my version of the car is different to yours.

I think you have the newer dash and infotainment to mine and they moved everything around, but you should be able to cycle through the dash displays and one of them will show the energy flow between the engine, the wheels and the Battery, and that shows the state of charge of the Battery. You can also find it in the infotainment screen as Roy says.

[Paul john]

On 11/14/2023 at 8:12 AM, Roy124 said:

With respect, the AC On will generate an instant ICE start as the ICE is what is used to generate heat.

Are you confusing the ac ( conditioning ) element with the temperature setting? At around 20 degrees on a normal summer day with ac on there is no ice startup unless its during the engine “warm up phase”  which in my experience takes about 5 minutes of normal driving. During this phase there is a bi-product of charging the Battery. Go figure. 
During the “warm up phase” in all weathers / temp there is always an ice startup. 
As you would expect for any car requiring warm oil and components running at optimum temp.

[Roy124]

Moving my car out of the garage I go to Ready mode and immediately switch AC off.  If sufficient charge I can use EV to reverse out.

Today, temp around 10, I did that and also, unusually, hit EV.  The ICE started and said EV not available. 

Car knows best.

[TopGeek]

Well,that's interesting. I checked the multimedia screen and the 'energy flow' screen showsthe hybrid Battery shaded about 3/4 in blue. I then scrolled through the instrument panel and found an item saying 'Battery' and showing 6/8 bars in blue. So I pressed the EV Mode switch and, voila, the EV indicator lit up on the instrument panel and the ICE didn't start up at all. . Amazing!  Now how the HV Battery came to be 75% charged when I had only been down to the local shops in the dark with headlights and A/C powered up, I can't imagine.

Anyway, thanks again; I've learnt something new.

[MikeSh]

3 hours ago, TopGeek said:

Now how the HV battery came to be 75% charged when I had only been down to the local shops in the dark with headlights and A/C powered up, I can't imagine.

Running the ICE for heat and thus putting 'excess' into the HV Battery.

Ours often does this. On a longer run it often arrives home with only 30-50% charge.

[TonyHSD]

That’s all correct above.
Engine is working to warm up itself and to provide heat to the cabin while charging the Battery at the same time. 

[TopGeek]

Interesting. I've left the energy flow display on the instrument panel for the last couple of days of short trips in cold miserable weather and the HV Battery charge has risen progressively, now showing full. Even so, the ICE starts up while backing out of the garage so it's operation is evidently not only triggered by HV Battery voltage.

However, I have noticed an increase in fuel consumption which now stands at 6.9l/100km (40.94 mpg).

[Graham47]

6 minutes ago, TopGeek said:

Even so, the ICE starts up while backing out of the garage so it's operation is evidently not only triggered by HV battery voltage.

That’s perfectly normal.  Even in summer I see that for a few minutes first start of the day.  The car is putting heat into the engine.  Mine switches to EV by the time I’m halfway up the driveway.

[Cyker]

59 minutes ago, TopGeek said:

Interesting. I've left the energy flow display on the instrument panel for the last couple of days of short trips in cold miserable weather and the HV battery charge has risen progressively, now showing full. Even so, the ICE starts up while backing out of the garage so it's operation is evidently not only triggered by HV battery voltage.

However, I have noticed an increase in fuel consumption which now stands at 6.9l/100km (40.94 mpg).

Yeah, it's because the car is trying to heat up the cabin, and it can only do this by running the engine. It tries to capture some of that wasted energy in the Battery, but ultimately it's wasting a lot of fuel trying to do so and it's quite easy for the mpg to drop to that of a regular ICE car if you're stuck in slow traffic or only do short trips.

Essentially you have the same dilemma I always get in winter - Do I stay warm but get an eye-watering drop in mpg, or freeze to death but keep high mpg  

I have to keep reminding myself it'll go back up in spring to get me through it!! It's why I'm still annoyed at Toyota UK for removing the heated seat and steering wheel options when they homologated the car. It's like they forgot the UK gets cold! Heck, if it had had a heat pump option I'd have paid for it!!  

[MikeSh]

This is the mpg for our mk3 over the last 2½ years or so:

 

I use heating and aircon for comfort with no real attempt at freezing or sweating to save fuel.

[TopGeek]

19 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's why I'm still annoyed at Toyota UK for removing the heated seat and steering wheel options when they homologated the car. It's like they forgot the UK gets cold!

That's shocking. I do have the heated steering wheel (which seems OTT to me) and both front seats have heat when needed. I had the heated front leather seats in the Qashqai but rarely switched them on.

[Cyker]

Yeah, I was very jealous that they later saw sense and put them back in the Cross!!  

I'm hoping they put them back in the facelift model, as it is definitely something the Mk4 Yaris can have - Most of the ones sold in Europe, which are from the same factory, can have heated seats!

[TonyHSD]

It seems Toyota constantly switching additional extras between the different markets , add or remove particular colours, accessories or options.
I would prefer all Toyota cars been made equal around the world, but I am not in charge., there are probably hundreds if not even more employees that get paid to think how to make cars and everything so much more complicated where actually it doesn’t need to be.
Coca-Cola taste the same in America and in Japan , so it’s not a problem to have the same specs everywhere. 👌

[hind]

13 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Coca-Cola taste the same in America and in Japan , so it’s not a problem to have the same specs everywhere. 👌

Well, not really 😉 https://www.ohmymag.co.uk/lifestyle/food-drinks/coca-cola-tastes-different-around-the-globe-heres-why_art12857.html

[TopGeek]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

I would prefer all Toyota cars been made equal around the world,

It always amazes me when I visit the US and see the same models we have in Europe but with better suspension and more luxurious interiors and usually cheaper than the European versions. It's all to do with market forces. They provide what each market expects.

[Stopeter44]

3 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

I would prefer all Toyota cars been made equal around the world, but I am not in charge., there are probably hundreds if not even more employees that get paid to think how to make cars and everything so much more complicated where actually it doesn’t need to be.
Coca-Cola taste the same in America and in Japan , so it’s not a problem to have the same specs everywhere. 👌

It's a bigger problem than you could possibly imagine. What is important for one market is not going to be important for another. Sunroofs for example, very popular in the UK, but not som much so in the south of France. Heated seats, very useful in cold climates, and virtually a necessity with EV's, but once again it will depend on the market. Colour choices, very much an individual market thing.

[Stopeter44]

1 hour ago, TopGeek said:

It always amazes me when I visit the US and see the same models we have in Europe but with better suspension and more luxurious interiors and usually cheaper than the European versions. It's all to do with market forces. They provide what each market expects.

They are not necessarily intrinsically cheaper, the sales tax is not paid at the point of sale for one thing, although the level of tax is probably lower.