Granted it doesn't help it's been over 95 degrees here in Columbus, Ohio the past 3 weeks but I can't get my EV to engage. This has happened quite a few times in the heat. For instance, I drove home from work today (about a 20 minute drive - mostly highway) and parked the car in the garage. About 4 hours later I went to run an errand. I powered up the car, and immediately tried to engage EV mode. I was one bar away on my battery from having green bars and it did not engage. I heard the short 3 beeps and that was it. A few seconds later the engine started. I then powered off the car and tried again...NOTHING. Has anyone else experienced problems engaging EV mode after a few hours rest on a hot day? I know the EV Mode I installed from Costaletech enables the factory software so I'm assuming this is normal. I took a battery temperature reading by using my CAN232 connector and the program a friend and I wrote and it looks like the HV battery stays relatively cool (unless I'm interpreting the data incorrectly ). Any ideas? Regards, BitShifter (Ryan Bailey)
Yea, definately. I'm not sure exactly what combination of factors are coming into play, but heat is definately one of them.
I have also observed that all other factors being normal, the car seems unwilling to go into EV mode when the SOC is very high. I don't know what the threshold is. . _H*
If I don't keep my car covered at work I usually can't get it to go into EV mode at the end of the day. It's been warm here and sitting in the sun all day just heats the interior up and battery compartment as well. If it doesn't go into EV with all green bars it's a possibility that all the charging it took to get it to all green caused a bit too much heat also. Once it fails EV it usually will not go into EV for me until the car has sat in the shade and cooled down. A few times cooling the car with the AC is enough to restore EV, but that's usually not the case for me. I try to cover it all the time it's left out. It's red so I don't want it to fade prematurely so the cover is a must in the sun.
I'm glad to see that I'm not imagining things. Since it's gotten hotter it has been more difficult to go into EV mode. However, I haven't noticed any correlation between SOC and the ability to switch into EV. One thing I have noticed (and it doesn't make any sense) is that if I have passengers in the car, it won't go into EV as easily. Another thing is that if I try to go into EV mode at startup and fail, the car doesn't seem to want to go into EV mode if I try again later during the same trip (after warmup of course). Anyway, I'm not as keen on EV as I used to be. Pulse and Glide, baby! Pulse and Glide. DGStan
Yes the EV button is cool but too much use can even hurt your mileage. I use it mostly when backing out to wash the car or to get downhill from my house to the light below without the car starting.
I have the same situation. There's a one mile run from my driveway to the main drag that a gradual slope down. I'll EV my way out every morning until I know I'll hit smooth sailing on the main streets. I'll also use my switch during short stretches of stop-n-go or in large parking lots (provided my SOC is at 6 or more bars).
The existing software in the Hybrid controls does not allow the EV mode when the HV Batt is above a certain temp. The increased charging and discharge duty in EV mode would tend to heat the HV Batt all on it's own. If the batt is already warm (ambient temp), the EV mode is locked out, and you get the three beeps. When pax are in the car, they typically block the batt cooling inlet (right rear corner of right rear seat), and the batt temp rises. Once the ambient temps cool (winter), you'll see it be useable again.
The manual specifically warns against blocking the battery air inlet at the right of the back seat. If your "pax" are covering it, you're doing something *very* wrong. Don't depend on winter fixing this for you, shift your load. . _H*
Hi all, Please understand how the EV switch behaves. Following list is derived from Japanese Owner's Manual. ----- You can't enter EV-mode even if you pressed the EV-button on following situations. - during the Hybrid System is HOT. (ie; Parked under the sunshine, after driving uphill or after driving highway,) - during the Hybrid System is COLD. (ie; after long period of storage under 0-C degree.) - during the ICE warming up. - when SOC of HV battery is Level-3 or lower. - when SOC of HV battery is at top of Level-8. - when vehicle is higher than 55 km/h - when you push accelerator hard or drive uphill - during defroster is ON The EV-mode will be canceled when... - SOC of HV battery becomes Level-2 - vehicle is exceeding 55 km/h - you push accelerator hard or drive uphill Note: excess use of EV-mode may cause lower mileage. ----- Ken@Japan
"- when SOC of HV battery is at top of Level-8." You would think this would be allowed, as EV would bring the SOC down.
