I was driving on the freeway on my way home from work yesterday in HV mode with about 11 miles of EV range left, which I was going to use on the streets. I hit some very heavy traffic where we would be stopped for a few seconds and then move a couple of feet slowly enough that I didn't need to press the gas. After about 5 minutes of this the ICE came on and stayed on for about 4 minutes before I manually switched to EV mode and it shut off. The climate controls were off and I still had 11 miles of EV charge. The outside temperature was about 82°F. I can't figure why the ICE would come on while stopped and stay on for several minutes.
Doesn't the engine come on when the hybrid battery is low? It's all controlled by an ECU, if it needs to charge, it'll charge
Since you were in HV mode, the computer was preserving your 11 miles of EV for you. When you switched to EV the computer will now use up the mileage left in the battery as EV mode. I have had this happen a couple of times. You are still using some battery even sitting still when you are in Ready.
HV mode means charge sustain. EV mode = charge depletion. There is some room (about 500 Wh) to play with in HV mode, just like how a normal Prius would work.
Strange. That hasn't been my experience with HV mode at all. I can sit in my car for an hour running the A/C compressor without the ICE ever turning on, even in HV mode. I do it all the time. Also, if I have 2.0 miles EV range left and switch to HV mode, the PiP continues to draw down the traction battery while the ICE warms up. If I manage to use up those 2.0 miles of EV range before the warmup cycle is completed the PiP will NOT restore that EV charge. The ICE will happily shut off without restoring even 0.1 miles of EV range.
Same experience here. If I'm light on the accelerator in HV mode (enough to keep it in the EV range on the HSI), I can use 10 miles of EV charge without getting the ICE to come on.
I used to encounter this all the time. The following is pure speculation on my part. I think there are two issues, either the engine gets cold and needs to warm up or there is a set HV range that you can travel without the ICE cycling similar to how the ICE must cycle after 124 continuous EV miles. The reason I don't encounter this issue anymore is that I switch in and out of EV mode. I thus reset the HV range limit if there is one. To avoid the cold ICE issue if there is one, I take opportunity when I am moving to cycle the ICE by pressing harder on the gas pedal. Again, I don't know if my speculation is correct but my fix works for me.
