EV mode on 2015 Prius Two

Make that 20 Celsius in North America, probably 0 C in Rest-of-World.

In my climate zone -- the same as Mendel's -- pressing the EV immediately upon startup produces the message 'EV not available' about 350 mornings per year.

 

I was just at the mall and I tried to put it in EV when pulling out of my parking spot. I got the EV not available message, as Mendel and others have experienced.

 

Today I use EV and it kicked out at 20 MPH and the engine started its warm-up cycle. If the temperature is too cold, EV Mode will not be available.
From the 2014 manual:

 

I’ve been able to put mine in EV mode before I leave (6:45am ish) and it’s good until I get on it. Completely cold engine. At least this summer in SoCal, winter might be a different story.

 

For me, the only reasons why I can't put the car in EV mode immediately after starting is low HV charge or low temperature. What Prodigyplace says is about how I experience it, but that list is not for "immediately after startup" but when the ICE as already run (S1a). What I mean is S0 can be extended indefinitely if the HV charge or coolant temperature is not too low (and that is 0 celcius or so) and can be extended up to the point that the HV charge will get too low or if you go faster than 20 mph.
My initial 25 mph was indeed incorrect, for me the car will start the ICE when I reach 34 km/h.

Our first frost period is predicted next week, so the past few months I had no issue putting the car in EV after starting.

 

Anddddd it’s winter in Huntington Beach, couldn’t us EV mode to get out of the driveway this morning. About 64 degrees out was the low

 

Winter at 64F?

Clearly a different climate zone, half my summer mornings are not that warm.

 

Somebody from the prairies will weigh in, kick all our butts.

Pretty chilly for this time of year in Vancouver: first dusting of snow this morning. Normally a lot later, sometimes never.

 

Come to think of it, the Summer months are warm enough in New England to allow EV usage while the ICE is cold (no pun ) providing the traction battery is sufficiently charged.

 

This morning saw 4 degrees celcius, 39 Farenheit. No problem entering EV mode and driving away. Are there such large differences between US and European spec Prii?

 

I believe EV mode varies by generation. On Gen 4 EV mode cannot be turned on if it has been left in temperatures lower than 20C 68F. I remember seeing a Generation 2 leave the parking lot in EV when I could not.

 

Yes, there are. I tested this many many times on my 2010, eventually catching many instances if it going into EV at 69F, and refusing EV at 67F. The temperature gauge never showed 68F. And once, following a partial warmup and quickly cooling, I even got it into EV at 69F, then a few seconds later dropped to 67F, skipping 68, and promptly kicking out of EV.

For units-impaired readers, 68 F equals 20 C.

North American Gen2s didn't even have factory EV switches. Owners had to put them in as a hack, connecting to the same wires where other-market models were connected. Toyota had not yet programmed in the different temperatures for the different markets.

 

I suspect this has something to do with emissions tests.

With my Euro spec gen2 with factory EV mode switch, EV mode is denied for temperatures below freezing.

 

This site auto-corrects certain words, "do not know" becomes "do not know", for example. Maaaaybe, it could be programed to replace "ICE" with "engine"?

 

Huh??

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Just my pet peeve: I dislike the term "ICE", which sometimes is expanded to "ICE engine" (kind of like "PIN number"), think it sounds odd, amounts to cargo cult: constantly needing to confirm it's an Internal Combustion Engine we're talking about, has the uninitiated scratching their heads.

 

I think BigDog was wondering about the part quoted here.

 

I guess we'll never know.

 

I would also suspect California-rule battery warranty requirements.