Engine On During EV Mode

[minical]

Noticed today while I was accelerating from a light that the ICE was on. Was not accelerating harder than normal or anything.

Is this normal or what caused it to turn on?

I had just gotten off the highway and I drive under 120km/h. There was one point I may have been over while going downhill but the power meter was on the low end of Eco.

I tried searching old threads but only found threads on older models. I have a 2018 model.

 

[Kesto]

Yes normal mine is 18 as well. A slight jab at the accelerator will cause it whether you are on Save or not. I think it comes in to supplement.

 

[richr]

There are dozens of reasons for it to start the engine, not all are related to power demand. You're in the parallel mode speed region at 120kmh, and often it decides that powering the front wheels with the engine is more economic than using the electric motor at that sort of speed, especially if the battery is low.

However remember is a PHEV not a BEV so you should expect the engine to be running some of the time anyway. Personally I tend not to worry about micromanaging the car and just let the computer get on with it.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

I've recently noticed that it measures how fast you push the accelerator down. So pushing it down slowly till the needle is up to the top of "Eco" and the ICE will stay off: but pushing it down quickly to nowhere near the top of "Eco" starts the ICE.

 

[minical]

There are dozens of reasons for it to start the engine, not all are related to power demand. You're in the parallel mode speed region at 120kmh, and often it decides that powering the front wheels with the engine is more economic than using the electric motor at that sort of speed, especially if the battery is low.

However remember is a PHEV not a BEV so you should expect the engine to be running some of the time anyway. Personally I tend not to worry about micromanaging the car and just let the computer get on with it.

Yes I've read exceeding 120km/h will kick on the ICE but during my highway section of the drive the engine was not on. Rather it was at a red light after getting off the highway. Battery was not that low either as you can see in the photo

I've recently noticed that it measures how fast you push the accelerator down. So pushing it down slowly till the needle is up to the top of "Eco" and the ICE will stay off: but pushing it down quickly to nowhere near the top of "Eco" starts the ICE.

That might have done it. I think I accelerated a bit quicker when the light went green. Although I have played around a bit in EV mode before with flooring the pedal to "experience the speed" of the outlander and my ICE did not kick on.

 

[MartinPHEV]

Have you added at least 15 Litres of fuel in the last 90 days?
If not, the ICE will start up to try and use it.