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Would there be anyone who could give me any explanation concerning the 3 minute long delay where the electric propulsion is not available at start up even if the gas engine is warm and was running a few minutes ago?

Thank you for viewing

 

It looks like you are having normal operation of the system. Once the engine is shutoff, a restart will not set the conditions for full electric mode (us old timers call it stage 4). If you come to a full stop after driving for a few minutes, the engine should ide for +/- 7 seconds and then shut off. Once that happens, you should be back into full hybrid mode. Never could understand why it was programed that way,

Give that a try and let us know if the same system parameters are there for a 2012 model.

 

Could be your using the accelerator so much putting a load then no load or a moderate load so quickly may be confusing the ECU.

Try driving using your cruse control from 25 mph on up. To force EV, pull the cruise lever down once, if it don't go EV, pull it down once more. If it won't go this time, it has a reason, traction battery may be too low, or your on a slight upgrade which may require the engine.

One night driving on a city street at 25 mph with cruise. Mine showed to be in EV, but the engine just would not stop. Funny thing it showed 60 mpg till I had to stop at a red light after traveling 3/4 mile. I have learned not to worry about it as long as it shows high like 60 mpg.

I have found if your in EV with the battery about 60% charged you can climb a short rather steep grade if you keep the speed vs ECO needle below the ECO text line. I find up to 30 mph, but have done it up to 35 a few times. That may depend how steep the grade. I noticed the '12 climbs in EV easier than the '07. This may be due to the larger MG2 and slightly more amps from the traction battery.

Normal operation: With the traction battery is normally charged when taking off from a red light, the EV will operate till you reach about 20 mph then the engine will assist or take over completely. The high torque EV motor is used at takeoff due to the lower torque of the atkinson type engine. One good thing about the atkinson engine running alone, is that is can get near 50 mpg highway at 50 to 60 mph with a fully charged traction battery on a level highway.

 

On a hot sunny day, after reasonable driving, I can pull into gas station, shut down TCH, refuel (10 or so minutes) press Start button, and drive out of a sizable mall, in EV mode. No engine restarts.
But I am very much in control of my right foot and know how to feather pedal. But it has to be hot and engine has to be real warmed up, maybe 20 minutes HWY drive.

You'll get it, brother or sister, no worries. It's addictive art.

 

I can't follow your video. In words what is your basic concern?

Keep in mind that running in EV mode is not necessarily the most efficient mode. Energy is lost converting to electricity, then from AC to DC, and in the battery, and again from DC to AC, and in the motor. Energy going direct from the internal combustion engine, direct to the wheels does not suffer any of those losses.

 

Oh, Ron c'mon. NO GAS USED IN EV MODE. what else are you talking about? who gives about physics of it. By combining EV mode accelerations with recharging glides, one can go lengths with no gas used, AND THIS IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. the rest doesn't really matter. ask rburto. he knows.

 

Gee, they sure fancied up the dash indicators compared with my 2007, but its not totally different. After over 6 yrs of experience with the 2007, I'd have to say that what you experience doesn't look much different then what I experience. I notice much of the time your "trouble" is when you are cruising around 40 to 50kph. For some reason, this is kind of an electrical dead zone. While it certainly does allow electric mode in this speed range (as showed late in your video), it is much easier to achieve it slower OR faster in the 60 to 65kph range. On a nice warm day with the car warmed up, accel to 60kph then coast will put the car into EV 9 out of 10 times. Accel to 50kph then coast under same conditions will put the car into EV 4 out of 10 times.

Another thing I notice, your outside temp shows 17C, while that is certainly pleasant for humans, I think the sweet spot for EV in this car is 23C and higher (minus A/C needed temps). While car engine, climate control settings, and battery temps obviously have impact on EV availability, even in a warmed up vehicle with heater or A/C off I have noticed that outside temp has impact on the availability of EV even on mild days in the high teens.

So many variables being considered by the computer that after more than 6 yrs, it almost seems more "personality" than "logic" that decides whats going on. From one day to the next even with similiar weather I can feel what mood the car is in. Some days it loves EV, it will take a lot of gas pedal pressure to fire up the engine, other days I can sense its just not interested in running EV.

My best advice, abandon your linear expectations...

 

Yea, it's like ukrkoz says. I thought that was the idea of buying a hybrid so to use the EV to increase the mpg big time over the gas only models.

My current tank..

Engine__________48 mpg (40 mph with cruise)
EV mode________13 mpg (34 - 40 mph cruise)

mid reads 61 mpg with 35% tank still to go.

.

 

Sorry, but I can't agree. If you are using battery power inefficiently, that is just as bad as using gasoline power inefficiently. The trick in a hybrid is keeping the ICE running efficiently, not trying to run in EV all the time. If you want to run in EV then buy a plug in like the Volt.

 

EV operation is an outcome, not an input. If you have lots of energy in the battery from regenerative braking, then that indicates you are driving too fast and braking too much. Otherwise all the other energy that is in your battery comes directly from ICE generation. That involves conversion losses, that if you can avoid them, will save you energy.

What is your average speed when you update your trip to History? And what is your average distance between starting and stopping. I'm thinking your average speed may be very low, and the distance long enough to make warm up cost insignificant. And that is the real reason you are getting high mpg.