Why is it that most of the time my car will easily go into electric drive mode below 40mph, and other times the ICE insists on running, no matter how softly I feather the pedal, or slow the speed? I'm talking after the car has usually warmed up and been driven a while. Today I had just driven about 10 miles. Had a long downhill slope to a stoplight. Battery at 7 bars. Accelerated from the light into a 20mph zone. Backed off to engage electric, and no matter how softly I pedalled, the ICE kicked on. Puzzling! Any thoughts?
Just drive it. Driving on electric only does not necessarily save you gas, as the electric power you took from the battery has to be replaced somehow. 2 ways to do this: brake regen, which never recoups the same energy you put in to get the car to speed, and from ICE through MG1. The benefit of electric is mainly low speed torque where ICE is not as efficient. That, and supplementing ICE power when needed, rather than tuning the ICE for more power, which would cause ICE to be less efficient at low power output.
I often see the same condition, usually after a long drive at 45+MPH, then slowing down to 25MPH or less or. . . If the car has warmed up then I park for less than 10 minutes. It seem like it's either because the engine temperature is higher than normal or the exhaust system temperature is too low.
