ICE vs charging on depleted battery at low speeds

It will do both. During warmup, it will also charge the battery (after the first minute or so) while running to get the temperature up.

 

which mode were you in when the battery went down to 2 bars and how many bars was it before you got stuck in traffic and how far and how long did it take you to go that far when you hit the jam up?

damn, yesterday, I saw what looked like the ICE charging only the pack. As I purposefully drove extra to use up all ev charge and limped home a couple of 10ths of a mi..
Initially when the ICE came on, the MFD display in the center console that shows the red and green lines between the ICE and the pack, showed the red and green as normal while the ICE was running. Then about 1/10th of a mile from home the display changed to what looked like ev mode regen ( all green flowing from the ICE to the pack ) but the ICE was still running and stayed running for about a minute while sitting in the driveway. The ICE finally shut off when the scangauge showed 25% SOC. At full ev charge the scangauge SOC shows close to 86% and depeleted ev charge shows SOC around 23% and the MDF shows, the second, almost full, battery display. Confused yet? yeah, me too.
It was the first time I noticed that, but my ICE isn't even broken in yet.
But I would think it depends on more things then just keeping the HSI in the eco half of the scale.

 

Don't worry the car will take care of it self.
Just drive it and enjoy!

 

Yup, don't worry about it. Just don't leave it in "N" in traffic, as that will not charge the battery. Remember, when you apply the foot brake "simulated automatic creep" is turned off, so leaving it in "D" doesn't waste energy. It -does- allow the car to keep the battery where it wants it re charge level.

 

^^This^^. Early on, while trying to figure out the green or red lines to and fro movement. Is it going to the wheels? The Battery? To the motor and the wheels at the same time? Does it ebb with the phase of the moon and tides? Is Rube Goldberb alive and working for Toyota? I finally relaxed and started driving it like the car it is.

 

"Warmup"? Is that what it is doing every time i start it, and the ICE comes on--regardless if i pushed the EV button to just pull it into the garage, from the driveway? (It had a full charge too). I thought "EV" mode was just for such a thing, but I have tried it twice, and both times, ICE starts before i move it the 25' into the garage!!!

I guess that is the key, except I keep thinking, ICE on = less MPG! How do i keep ICE off? Whats the sense of an "EV" button, if ICE still starts, even with a fully charged battery? The Toy service dept. told me the same thing,, "just drive it-it will take care of itself".

 

The engine (I refuse to say ICE ) will come on when the battery is low, there's no avoiding that. The battery's capacity will allow you to drive without the engine, at modest speeds, easy acceleration, for moderate distance. Exceed any of those parameters and the engine is needed. It's the way of Prius.

When you realize that, all conflict goes away, lol.

 

Yes but... My 2014 Prius, (op pack 3), sitting outside on the driveway in the sun, battery fully charged per the display, (one bar from top, as usual at fully charged state), outside temp. app. 70 degrees, inside car temp app 80 degrees, (car is "cold" not recently run), push brake, push start to start car, push "EV" button for EV mode to move car 20 feet down driveway, which is also down hill -->to put car in garage, slightly press accelerator insuring to stay in EV mode,,, and BAM, engine (ICE) comes on within moving 5 feet DOWN driveway, and EV mode says it has gone into ECO mode on screen. Finish moving 15 more feet, and i am left with, well, should i shut it off, or wait for the stinking engine (ICE) to shut off first, now that it has started, and is surly wasting my gasoline, UN-necessarily!!! Is this what is called engine warmup, (per drysider)?

(Sorry, did not mean to sound harsh, or mean,, at all. Just wondering why the engine (ICE) keeps coming on. This has happened twice in last week.)

 

Yes - from what you describe, it sounds like the engine and/or catalyst needed to warm up a bit, so it started up. I rarely use EV mode, but typically it tells me EV mode is unavailable when the engine is cold.

 

@ BeachNut,

That's new to me. When I've got the car in EV mode (typically to move it a few feet up/down the driveway) it's never kicked out of EV. A lot of times when I ask for EV, it tells me forget it, but that's another story. Once it's in EV it stays. Maybe due to hot conditions for you? We're typically garage parked, out of the sun.

The behaviour you describe, getting a few feet of EV and then the engine starting up, sounds like typical (non EV) startup, where you get 20 seconds of EV.

When you push the EV button do you get the green icon confirming you're in EV mode?

One wish list item for next gen: bump that 20 sec to 60 sec.

 

The car is half computer. Computers have a boot cycle everytime you turn them on. There is a thread here (I think) that goes so far as to say, if you're running around town doing errands, Leave the car "on" when going to the neighbors house to pick up the kids, or running into the dry cleaners to pick things up, etc. evidently it keeps it from starting the reboot process over and over again.

 

Yes, it confirms "EV" mode. Maybe it is as Stratman states, it is going through a "boot cycle", or,, possibly needed ICE "warmup". I can not leave mine Prius "on" as walking away from it with the "key-less remote" in my pocket, the car screams a long BEEP at me, and i think shuts off.

I have also noticed driving home, down a long slight hill, I will manually go from Eco mode, press the EV mode button thinking i surly do not need the ICE, going down this long hill, and batteries show full (minus the top bar), being ever cautious to keep a light foot, staying in left of power gauge, yet, again, BAM it switches back to Eco mode, and fires up ICE! This is even being careful to stay below 25 MPH, (residential street), and after engine is warm, and has run for at least 5- 10 min's. climbing the hill I wish to "EV" mode down! It truly makes me wonder why there is even a "EV" mode button as I surly can not seem to stay in EV mode! I am actually going to go read the stinking manual, to see what it says about this "EV" mode, and what it is for...

 

It will not shut off by it self, you must turn car off.

 

Let the car do the thinking on when to use Electric, it knows best.
You may try EV for parking car or putting in garage, or moving around parking lot at store. It will only go into EV if there is enough Battery to do so, and the car is warm enough.

 

I gave up on the EV button months ago. All it seems to be good for is, if pressed 6 or 8secs right after power on first thing in the morning, the ICE will stay off. That is until you reach about 5mph. Then it cranks and says you've exceeded speed for EV. When the ICE cranks at the slow speeds that you mentioned simply lift your foot completely off the accelerator and gently depress it again. That usually turns the EV light back on. It will seem a little frustrating for a while but as you begin to become "at one with the car" you won't even think about it.

The Prius is the first car I have ever owned where I have actual refered to the owners manual. I suggest you Google the issues you come across. It usually takes you to PriusChat and you will get a more indepth explanation than trying to figure out from what seems like sometimes an old MS DOS manual you got with your first computer.

 

Hmm, is the AC on? That will cause the engine to run. Otherwise with a moderately charged battery and low throttle use it should stay off if you are just moving the car around the garage.

 

Yes, after I read, n Google, n waste more time figuring out just what this "EV" button is suppose to do, I might try the "lift foot off gas" trick too.


Mmmm, gota remember to make sure the A/C is off, as wife usually has it on. Will try that next!

 

If you lift off the gas and reapply, and it goes to EV, it'll stay there as long as you keep the Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) bar display to the left of the center mark. Be cognisant tho: running close to that center mark will run the charge down fast. When that happens and charge is signif dropping, I'll purposely kick it over to the right side, reactivating the engine.