I have been driving my 2021 PP XLE for about two months and am very satisfied. I have noticed 2 times now that the ICE has started in EV Mode with between 6 and 14 miles left on the Traction Battery. The outside temperature is around 48 deg F. It has happened after returning from a hike. The last 2 miles of the drive home is a 2 mile mild downgrade so the battery is charging most of the way. The ICE starts near the end of the downgrade. Is this normal?
Mine did the same thing with 20+ miles left on the traction battery. That was 3 days ago. Temp was in the low 40’s. A mystery. EV Eco heat Eco drive mode No defrost It’s as if the car felt it needed to warm up the ICE. Lasted less than 5 minutes.
simple.......if you dont want the ICE to start just unplug the injectors. sure you'll get a christmas tree- lit dash but no gas will be used.
There is a downhill shortly after leaving work. In the summer I never had a problem with the ice kicking in while in B mode. The other day it was around 0 C and the ice kicked in on the hill. Now I avoid B mode and use light brakes. So far been good for no ice. I charge at work so my battery is at 98-100 percent going down the hill.
In other words the state of charge (SOC) of the traction battery drops to 0% when there is still a lot of estimated EV range left. Of course, this is normal. The estimated range is a guess only. You need to keep an eye on the SOC. You can see the SOC if you switch to the eco gauge on the multifunction display (MFD).
I have noticed when it's cool (cool, not cold.. so yeah 50°F is about right), shifting into B for regen instead of using the brake pedal sometimes kicks the engine on. It did that to me once on a short, but steep hill. I thought "oh, I'll just go into B down this hill to maintain speed instead of riding the brake pedal" and it kicked the engine on instead. However, the difference is that mine is a steeper hill and you said yours was a mild or gentle one.
Fwiw in my case no B Mode. The ICE “just started, warmed up and shut down” for no apparent reason. I have been driving less due to COVID so perhaps it thought it was time to exercise the ICE?
That could be likely. A PHEV can't go indefinitely on EV alone; problems will start coming up with an engine that is never exercised. I believe other PHEVs would give a message about that being a case though.
