When should electric engine power up?

Did you have accessories on like heating or a/c?
Was the battery low at the time after a period of coasting prior to this?
Is the pope catholic?

 

Motor/Generator2 does generate electricity wile coasting to simulate engine braking that most drivers would be used to from any other car.

 

I believe this was an intentional part of the design, to simulate what happens in a regular car when you take your foot off the brake.

 

Edit: nevermind, I'm describing below what happens at speed... Obviously any automatic car will creep forward when releasing the brake, so why should this one be different...

No. In mine the difference between powering the car, coasting or generating electricity is very, very fine. Just 2-3mm of pedal movement (1/10th of an inch). If somehow the pedal is hampered/obstructed, I could imagine it malfunctioning in the way you describe. Have you tried pulling the pedal towards you with your toes when this happens?

 

Hi Dan, by "electric engine turns on" I take it you mean that you see the yellow arrows showing power going from the battery to the wheels.

No this isn't normal. You would normally green arrows going in the other direction to indicate that it's regenerating.

 

Uart, that was my first response too, but I think the OP is speaking from standstill. And then mine will also creep forward when I take my foot of the brake. As any car with automatic gearbox I ever drove will do.

 

Ok I see what you mean, the opening post was definitely a bit vague.

 

I think the traction battery must have been at 40% already and the OP left it in D. So with the demand to move forward even without touching the accelerator, the car had to power up the engine and recharge at the same time.

 

the only question remaining is: is the electric engine the electric motor or the gas engine?

 

Yes it's very unclear what OP is asking. When he said " Should the electric engine be powering the car's coasting" I assumed he was coasting rather than at standstill. But now I'm not even sure about that.

 

Calling OP, calling OP to the OR...



He's out coasting with his Prius while were racking our brain what he may have ment...

 

Yes, but also that depends on battery level. With all green bars those three states spread out with peddle movement quite a bit, and get much easier to find. They are compressed as the battery goes down, and much more touchy to select. At two bars, I find coasting is all but unavailable. How often do you see all green bars in the Netherlands? I'm guessing it is quite flat.

I try to coast as often as I can, as that is the efficient way to give and take inertia.

 

All green is rare, but it happens.
My typical drive home: highwayspeed of 65mph then coast (if traffic allows) to two junctions (hard left, then hard right) which I take at 25+mph (again, when traffic allows). Then I drive down a dyke while coasting and the speed picks up to 35, after which I am greeted by a STOP sign which I stricktly obey (since getting a ticket of $100...). At this time, I always have 7 bars and on very rare occasions 8.

I'll try if my pedal sensitivity changes with battery status, I hadn't noticed and am therefor not convinced it does.
I often have a hard time finding the free coasting-zone-pedal-position (no arrows) during the above mentioned 65-25mph glide.