Charging from engine when battery depleted

[davidh]

Hello, I am looking at getting an Outlander PHEV and want to know how the charging from engine compares to my current Toyota hybrid. I've seen a site say that once the high voltage battery is drained that the engine will not charge it, and I've seen a video where somebody says when the battery is drained they back the Outlander out of the garage and run it for 20 minutes to charge the battery. I wouldn't expect 20 minutes to completely charge the battery, but if the Outlander is being used for the AC inverter can the engine automatically start and stop to charge the battery when it gets low?

 

[AndyInOz]

If you are driving the car, the engine starts automatically when the battery is depleted.

If you are using the car as a stationary battery/inverter this probably will not happen.

I believe the car has to be in 'Ready' mode to make that happen, and if the car is stationary it only stays in 'Ready' mode for a short period of time. (30 minutes perhaps?)

Charge mode does not charge the battery to 100 %.

It only charges the battery to 80% (if I recall correctly).

This is to prevent damage to the battery from fast charging.

 

[davidh]

If you are using the car as a stationary battery/inverter this probably will not happen.

I believe the car has to be in 'Ready' mode to make that happen, and if the car is stationary it only stays in 'Ready' mode for a short period of time. (30 minutes perhaps?)

Thank you. This is the part I'm interested in, using the 1500w inverter while stationary in the driveway.

On page 25 in the owner's manual it says:

Alternatively, start the Plug-in Hybrid EV System and turn on the ready indicator. The engine will then automatically start to
charge the main drive lithium-ion battery.

This, and the video I mention earlier, lead me to believe that the engine would start and stop as needed to keep the battery charged like the Toyota hybrid system does.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

But sitting stationary and charging the battery from the ICE is very wasteful and usually unnecessary. If the battery's empty it's far better to simply drive it (if you can't charge from the mains ) when the PHEV will behave like a "self-charging" hybrid. Or you could switch on Charge mode, and the PHEV will charge the battery as it drives, though as AndyInOz says, it will only reach to ~80%. There is also the Save mode, which preserves the battery charge level while driving.

But far better is to charge it from the mains, which is after all the whole point of a PHEV

 

[davidh]

But far better is to charge it from the mains, which is after all the whole point of a PHEV

Sorry, I could have been more specific. This is not for normal charging. This is for using the inverter to get power during power outages.

 

[AndyInOz]

If you are using the car as a stationary battery/inverter this probably will not happen.

I believe the car has to be in 'Ready' mode to make that happen, and if the car is stationary it only stays in 'Ready' mode for a short period of time. (30 minutes perhaps?)

Thank you. This is the part I'm interested in, using the 1500w inverter while stationary in the driveway.

On page 25 in the owner's manual it says:

Alternatively, start the Plug-in Hybrid EV System and turn on the ready indicator. The engine will then automatically start to
charge the main drive lithium-ion battery.

This, and the video I mention earlier, lead me to believe that the engine would start and stop as needed to keep the battery charged like the Toyota hybrid system does.

I've highlighted above.

I think this won't happen automatically because your car won't remain in Ready mode.
(As I said above)

You may be able to make it happen by closely monitoring the car, and putting it into Ready mode when required.

I will be very surprised if the car starts automatically when it is not being driven, or hasn't just been put into Ready mode because many homes have attached garages under the main roof.

The car automatically filling the house (or garage) with carbon monoxide would be an extremely dangerous situation.

Normally the drive battery is depleted by driving and this problem doesn't occur then.

 

[davidh]

I will be very surprised if the car starts automatically when it is not being driven, or hasn't just been put into Ready mode because many homes have attached garages under the main roof.

It is surprising I guess, all Toyota hybrids do that.

 

[AndyInOz]

Toyota hybrids start the engine when the car is parked in a garage?

Sounds like a good reason to never buy a Toyota.

 

[davidh]

Toyota hybrids start the engine when the car is parked in a garage?

Sounds like a good reason to never buy a Toyota.

Garage or not, if the car is in Ready mode and the key fob is inside. Popular use is for camping and sleeping in the car, it will start/stop as needed to keep traction battery charged.

 

[user 3575]

But far better is to charge it from the mains, which is after all the whole point of a PHEV

Sorry, I could have been more specific. This is not for normal charging. This is for using the inverter to get power during power outages.

It is a shame the Outlander PHEV is designed for V2g/V2H, at home we have a AC invertor and 5.8 kWh battery bank, you may consider a Pylontech battery bank which you could charge of the mains

 

[BobK]

Sorry, I could have been more specific. This is not for normal charging. This is for using the inverter to get power during power outages.

The new Outlander has an option to connect the car to your house to act as a backup generator. I think it use the bidirectional Chademo port, but not sure. I can't see the logic in this, since I don't want to run down the car and be trapped when I don't know how long I will be without power (fairly common around here) - so I own a separate backup generator.
We use the invertor sometimes at outdoor farmer's markets to run a hot plate and popcorn machine. I drive to the market in charge mode (with a trailer) to keep the battery charged up. At the market, the battery depletes by about 60% over 5 hours. I have to have the car running in idle (acc mode won't turn on the invertor). The ICE usually stays off, although I believe once the ICE automatically turned on as the battery got depleted, but I'm not 100% sure if this means it automatically switches to ICE to keep the invertor running. It may have been something else triggering it.
The invertor has gotten a lot of envious attention from the other vendors.
I am a bit nervous about leaving the car in a ready to drive mode while working the market (can't lock the doors while its running), so I try to box it with our trailer first.

 

[roussir]

The car has to be in Ready in order to have the 1.5kW power available (has to be connected to the traction battery.) This means the ICE will start automatically when battery is depleted, as in regular driving mode (manual pg. 4-84, followed by four warnings about parking brake, ventilation, CO, dry grass, rain, etc.)

The 1.5kW power shuts down in 30 minutes, unless a door is open or the car is in neutral (@BobK, and can be locked).

At idle, the ICE charges at 4-5 kW, IIRC, so about 4 hrs to full.