You might want to read your manual as I see you are a new owner (as I am too--2015). But yes as far as I know that is correct. At the end of the day just drive your car like a normal car. it's designed to average 50 mpg by just driving normal. You might actually hurt your consumption if you're trying to ride the EV wave too long.
I wanted to check for times like a drive up ATM. It goes to the EV light so I don't turn it off/on like I would have my old fashioned key in the ignition gasoline only car. I wanted to be sure I wasn't burning gasoline like I thought I understood it. I've been reading the manual but it seems very mediocre to me. Maybe it's just me but I don't find it very user friendly or well edited or useful.
If you're stopped, such as an ATM, you should be able to hear the ICE running or not. For times when you're moving in EV mode, you can select the CAR button on the center stack, and see a graphic of the power driving the wheels (ICE, battery or both).
Yeah, sometimes I can hear but sometimes the traffic noise overwhelms anything else. That's when I wanted to be sure it was doing what I thought it was doing.
That's the understatement of the day! It does contain a lot of useful information, if you can stand to plow through all the insignificant trivia, irrelevant sections, and lawyerly warnings to find it.
When the "EV" symbol lights up the engine is not using fuel. This does not mean it's not turning, as at higher speeds it may be turning with no fuel injected (to protect MG1 from over-spin). This is often referred to as "stealth mode". If you are not in a ridiculously noisy place, and stopped, you can hear the engine is not running. It's often easier to hear it stop than to notice it is not running. A change is easier to notice than a constant state condition.
YES. EV means your vehicle is operating in electric-only mode. If the ICE kicks in, the EV symbol turns off.
