Torque reserve

it isn't designed to give you more of anything but range, even if you could dip in.

 

Sounds like a case for some Nitrous Oxide.

 

Actually, if you have EV range left, there's a button for that.
Press the EV Auto button and mash the gas pedal all the way to the floor. It's actually quite exhilarating.

If just HV, enable charge mode. It spins up and holds the engine at a higher RPMs so your CVT can grab it at a higher RPM. Doesn't help as much as the EV Auto and it's not nearly as dramatic but it does help a touch.

 

nitrous steering is done with the sensors in the seat of the pants after the button is pressed.

 

I think the traction battery contributes power if you floor the accelerator pedal.


iPhone ? Pro

 

the traction battery always contributes power unless it has reached the bottom limit.

but it cannot contribute more power than it already contributes.

 

Watch the Fast & Furious series/Vin Diesel


iPhone ? Pro

 

My son's CRZ has exactly what you want. Honda called it S+ boost. With sufficient battery charge in the hybrid battery, the push of this button gives a ~20hp boost for 5-10sec. Never seen it on any other car, but there may be some other cars with a similar feature?

 

this is a utilization of the battery power beyond normal discharge rate. knowing honda, it will not be good.

 

The Volvo plug-in hybrid works this way all the time. It would not surprise me if there were other AWD systems that work similarly.

This is because the electric motor only drives the rear wheels while the ICE only drives the front. Therefore, it's part of the design to have the 2 motors work together to increase power when needed. The downside is that the ICE has to run to do AWD as the front wheels have no power otherwise.

 

I don't think there has been any battery issue on CRZ. Have not read a single case of the traction battery failure on CRZ on the various forums yet. In fact, Honda cleaned up the act and got better battery management on the IMA hybrid on later productions of Civic Hybrid with different chemistry (Li-ion). I would not worry about the longevity of the battery on those cars.

 

It kind of works the opposite. If you feather the throttle in HV mode, it will accelerate using purely the 20% traction battery. If you need a torque boost, and press the throttle further, it will kick on the ICE to give you that boost (battery + ICE = boost mode). Then it will switch back to battery only as soon as it can. The "boost" is the ICE. The "normal" acceleration is the battery. It's counter-intuitive because the Prius philosophy is the "normal" is really really slow/light throttle application.

Another thought, in EV mode, the Prime is able to use dual motor mode, but if the ICE is on, it only uses 1 electric motor.

 

That's probably really hard for most drivers to understand by itself. And it gets even more complicated as the Prime reaches one of its programmed limits that switches the ICE on automatically. And that is even harder to explain to anyone that has not tried to keep the Prime using only EV while in HV mode. I'll try explaining it, but no guaranty of complete accuracy intended.
There is a low level of EV range in HV mode.
I think the first thing to understand about it is that it's not like EV mode at all.
With the EV part of HV mode the Prime will not use All 100% of the Primes EV range without starting the ICE - at pre programmed intervals.
It will work it's way through all 100% of EV range eventually, but the ICE will have switched on many times by the time all 100% of EV range is used up
How many times the ICE will turn on is always dependent on it's own pre programmed set of variable.

It's max Amps according to DrPrius is 25 Amps which will max out at almost 40 mph (in ideal conditions) without the ICE switching on.
Acceleration using only the available 25 Amps will be very very slow from slower speeds and even slower from a full stop.
Using more than the max 25 Amps while accelerating will switch on the ICE.

Even more confusing is when one of the pre programmed limits is getting close because the max amps changes from 25 amps to about 10 amps. And if you think 25 amps is hard to stay under, just try to drive the Prime using only 10 amps.

And please don't ever try to drive the Prime staying within the EV range of HV mode in any kind of traffic situation. It will be a nearly IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with traffic flow. God help you if there is anyone behind you in a flaming hurry and as hell.

 

Many turbo cars have a boost ability in which the engine can supply more power than specification for a short period. Doesn't use a manual switch. If the power demand from the driver is high enough, and it is safe to do so, the car just uses that boost mode.

Hybrids pretty much work the same way. Mash the pedal, and the system will supply all the power it can within the limits of protecting the components.

 

i would prefer the ability to use some of the bottom 20% to get me that extra quarter mile home without the engine starting.

 

Honda hybrids use to do that.

 

i think ford too, iirc. idk why toyota doesn't allow at least a maximum amount of times or some way to prevent battery damage.
for that matter, why not allow a minute without the engine starting.