Got a 2007 (Australia) recently, it has an EV Button next to the start button, haven't used it much, but seems to work as advertised, EV indicator comes up on the dash and it runs on battery. My understanding is that it must be an aftermarket addon because the 2007 doesn't have it as std? Would there be any potential issues with it?
It was standard in all markets except North America. There would be no issues if used correctly. The common uses are moving the car in or out of the garage without starting the engine. repositioning on your property again without starting the engine. drive a small distance in a covered car parking building. sneaking up on unsuspecting pedestrians (not that I have ever done that ) in a parking lot. Things like that. What will cause issues in the long term is trying to use it for driving on the road. You will shorten the life of the HV battery doing this and will not improve (lower) the average L/100 km. In fact, it could make it worse.
Ah, thanks, makes sense now. TBH, not seeing much use for me - no real need to move the car without turning the engine on (is it a noise thing?) Startling pedestrians does sound fun, but I would never do that! /s
No, it is not a noise thing. It just prevents the engine from starting and doing the first stage (S1) of warm-up which takes 50 or so seconds. It is not advisable to turn the car off while it is doing the S1 warm-up.
Wish I had an EV mode. Could you explain the S1 warm-up please? I was going to post questions on warm up in cold weather. You sound like just the person.
The second link in my signature explains the 5 stages of Prius warm-up. Hybrid Warm-up: 5 modes of Prius Operation.
There are no official “stages” of warmup. This conjecture is simply an idea and has limited real world use.