Fully charged car and then it starts the engine!

[dashnine]

I'm getting a tad frustrated that when I have charged the car up overnight, and with a fully charged battery I start the car only to see the engine start up!

The cars been running around all weekend in hybrid mode, it's not like the engines not run for weeks., it's 9.0 °C out there, hardly cold. After about 30 seconds I can switch to electric, but after a couple of minutes it goes back to hybrid mode and again fires up the engine! Only when the engine is fully armed up will it let me select EV mode again.

Anything I can do to encourage the car to stay in EV mode after a full charge?

 

[Richiepoos]

I'm getting a tad frustrated that when I have charged the car up overnight, and with a fully charged battery I start the car only to see the engine start up!

The cars been running around all weekend in hybrid mode, it's not like the engines not run for weeks., it's 9.0 °C out there, hardly cold. After about 30 seconds I can switch to electric, but after a couple of minutes it goes back to hybrid mode and again fires up the engine! Only when the engine is fully armed up will it let me select EV mode again.

Anything I can do to encourage the car to stay in EV mode after a full charge?

My Leon did exactly the same to me - after starting in e mode every time since I got it it decided to start the engine when the battery was fully charged - very strange! Still haven't got the hang of the different modes of driving but try to remember to put it in hybrid when I start my journey as apparently that's the most economical.

 

[CupForm]

Could it be something related to the 12V battery status on your cars? Mine always stays in EV after a full charge (also when battery isn't full).
I'm assuming you don't pull twice on the gear selector, which puts the car in S, which I discovered it's Hybrid-only, not EV...
On mine I haven't noticed anything similar to what you describe. My daily urban commute is entirely covered in EV mode, I charge to 100% every weekday evening and often during weekends, and the car always starts in EV mode, even on colder mornings. Today for instance there were 4 deg Celsius at start and 0 deg. at destination - EV mode only... without any intervention from my side. It started in EV as expected and remained in EV mode for the duration of the trip.

Sometimes I wonder if I should force the ICE to start from time to time.
I now have about 3 weeks of continuous daily usage of EV mode exclusively, since I had no long trips over the past few weekends - they were all in EV range. But since the car doesn't throw any warnings, I'm assuming everything is fine. I suppose it is coded from the factory to start the ICE when/if needed.

 

[dashnine]

Could it be something related to the 12V battery status on your cars? Mine always stays in EV after a full charge (also when battery isn't full).
I'm assuming you don't pull twice on the gear selector, which puts the car in S, which I discovered it's Hybrid-only, not EV...
On mine I haven't noticed anything similar to what you describe. My daily urban commute is entirely covered in EV mode, I charge to 100% every weekday evening and often during weekends, and the car always starts in EV mode, even on colder mornings. Today for instance there were 4 deg Celsius at start and 0 deg. at destination - EV mode only... without any intervention from my side. It started in EV as expected and remained in EV mode for the duration of the trip.

Sometimes I wonder if I should force the ICE to start from time to time.
I now have about 3 weeks of continuous daily usage of EV mode exclusively, since I had no long trips over the past few weekends - they were all in EV range. But since the car doesn't throw any warnings, I'm assuming everything is fine. I suppose it is coded from the factory to start the ICE when/if needed.

It maybe the 12V battery, but the engines been used most of the weekend as I had no opportunity to charge. Plus I think it's been confirmed the 12V battery will charge off the hybrid battery anyway.

It will go for days just on EV, and then go into hybrid when selected or the batterys echausted then all of a sudden one day will start the engine when 100% charged. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

Once 100% charged at work today, it started the engine again when I moved the car off the charger bay... Grrrr.

 

[CupForm]

Do you have the possibility to measure the voltage of your 12V battery with everything OFF? Hope I'm wrong, but I would start from there if this would happen to me... I know it's "hidden" in the back, but one can measure the voltage at the fuse-box in the engine-bay. It's where the manufacturer recommends to connect a 12V battery charger when needed...

I think it's been confirmed the 12V battery will charge off the hybrid battery anyway

Indeed, I remember clearly reading that somewhere, the 12V is charging:
- while charging the HV battery,
- while driving in hybrid or EV mode,
but I've seen so many SW glitches at VAG and read about so many 12V battery failures on this exact hybrid-system, that I'm skeptical about it's reliability...

 

[LetsForment]

I have the same thing on some morning, but the E-Mode locks on after a few minutes. I have always just through it was down to the system heating up and the clima control being much more effective with the ICE running.

 

[CupForm]

Sooo... the funniest thing happened this evening, only 1 hour later after I was making assumptions about the 12V battery.
Starting the car for my way back home from work, the ICE started the moment I pushed the Start button.
Probably some context is needed here:
- it's been the longest interval I've used only EV mode since I have the car - about 3 weeks, some 500 km out of the total ~2.200 km;
- today was the coldest evening since I received the car at the end of September; it's been a rainy weekend, the weather was really wet, it got really cold outside after sunset, the real-feel dropping to nearly 0 deg Celsius;
- I started the car heating from the App about 5 minutes before I arrived to the car - smart choice, since the windscreen and front-side windows were demisted by the time I got to the car...
So I can't tell whether the ICE started because it's been a long time since I last used it, or if the 12V battery was unhappy about the me starting the heating, or if the car decided it was more efficient to heat via the ICE. All I can say is that I've previously started the car heating from my office (car not connected to a HV charger), and the it was happy to drive-off in EV mode. The charge level today was 68% when I started the heating, and dropped to 63% by the time I got into the car.
In the morning I don't preheat the car because it's parked underground - a bit warmer than sitting outside overnight.

 

[Fergoo]

I've had similar issues with my Leon e-hybrid, although more sporadically.

It did it consistently for about a week before the 5F unit failed, but that was in the middle of August so certainly nothing to do with the outside temperature. I assumed it was probably an issue with the 5F unit itself, as once replaced it was back to normal.

In the last 3 months it has generally stayed in E mode. However, leaving work the other night the ICE kicked in when I put the front demister on. It did it both morning and evening again about a month ago too for no apparent reason, but sorted itself out overnight.

It gets charged every night at home, so plenty of opportunity for the 12v to be charged.

I've just put it down to dodgy software which plagued this generation of VAGs (I'm running 1940), but checking the 12v would definitely be a good place to start. As others have said you can use the points under the bonnet rather than going to the battery itself.

It would be interesting to know that when you press 'Start' if there's any voltage drop. I would assume there wouldn't be as the load is substantially less without having a starter motor, but my old derv Astra dropped to 7v when cranking and the 12v was failing. This caused errors with loads of systems which would clear once the voltage stabilised.

 

[Fergoo]

So on Wednesday I drove 200 miles in hybrid mode which used all the battery.

Charged over night into Thursday, pre heated as planned Thursday morning. Battery 100%, press 'Start' and the engine fired up.

Drive 200 yards down the road and I was able to select e-mode (which I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be able to, given the engine temperature). A mile down the road, it went back to hybrid itself and disabled e-mode. Once the engine was warmed I was able to select e-mode again and it's been fine ever since.

These cars really do have a mind of their own!

 

[dashnine]

So on Wednesday I drove 200 miles in hybrid mode which used all the battery.

Charged over night into Thursday, pre heated as planned Thursday morning. Battery 100%, press 'Start' and the engine fired up.

Drive 200 yards down the road and I was able to select e-mode (which I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be able to, given the engine temperature). A mile down the road, it went back to hybrid itself and disabled e-mode. Once the engine was warmed I was able to select e-mode again and it's been fine ever since.

These cars really do have a mind of their own!

Yes, I've had the exact same thing a few times now (without the pre-heating though, so don't think that's a cause / symptom of anything).

 

[LetsForment]

I don't think It's the temperature inside the car, it's the ambient temp of some of the running gear under the hood and the temp of the battery itself that plays in here. The battery heater only runs when the car is in 'ready to drive' mode.

 

[dashnine]

I don't think It's the temperature inside the car, it's the ambient temp of some of the running gear under the hood and the temp of the battery itself that plays in here. The battery heater only runs when the car is in 'ready to drive' mode.

Coldest morning yet this winter, and it starts in EV after having charged overnight. Go figure!

 

[Richiepoos]

Yep - mine started in EV with less than full charge this morning. Forced it to start engine as I wanted to save some battery for tomorrow mornings departure and won't be able to charge beforehand!

 

[Fergoo]

I don't think It's the temperature inside the car, it's the ambient temp of some of the running gear under the hood and the temp of the battery itself that plays in here. The battery heater only runs when the car is in 'ready to drive' mode.

I assume this is why the maximum available power (smaller blue bar) is lower on a cold start too?

 

[Ian986]

It is not that you are putting in sport mode by mistake then if you put into drive the engine still stays on. I have done this quite a few times so know i have to interior lighting change colour so I know I have done this.

 

[dashnine]

It is not that you are putting in sport mode by mistake then if you put into drive the engine still stays on. I have done this quite a few times so know i have to interior lighting change colour so I know I have done this.

No, with me the engine (can) start the instant I hit Start/Stop before any gear selection. It behaved itself this morning.

I'm wondering if the cause maybe the start / stop nature of the Intelligent Octopus charging when it's in and out of the car controlling the charging. When I've accessed the app several times myself, sometimes the app won't connect again until the cars been started and I wonder if that (i.e. multiple remote accesses) is the reason it starts the engine.

 

[Fergoo]

I'm on IO too, although have it disabled and just use the timer on the car, as it seems to never fully charge the car after the first day of so. Whilst I have accidentally done what Ian986 has said in the past and accidentally put it in Sports which starts the engine. I agree that when this sporadically starts the car when you press Start before even touching the drive selector.

 

[andycupra]

surprising this one, but a short look finds that many manufacturers have the same issue. with one or two have a dedicated mode to keep it in electric for when you want to move to car a little bit only.
I cant find the reasons why the ICE starts often, but i can't help thinking its to do with braking systems / cooling.

 

[Madars88]

I'm getting a tad frustrated that when I have charged the car up overnight, and with a fully charged battery I start the car only to see the engine start up!

The cars been running around all weekend in hybrid mode, it's not like the engines not run for weeks., it's 9.0 °C out there, hardly cold. After about 30 seconds I can switch to electric, but after a couple of minutes it goes back to hybrid mode and again fires up the engine! Only when the engine is fully armed up will it let me select EV mode again.

Anything I can do to encourage the car to stay in EV mode after a full charge?

Same thing, im living in Sweden and its cold here but what i know its to heat up engine to be safe you dont run cold engine on highway which is not good!

 

[dashnine]

I’m sure the car starting in hybrid mode was due to the number of Octopus Intelligent logins/accesses to repeatedly start and stop the charge to suit their schedule, which has multiple sequential 30 minute slots.

I’ve not Smart charged the car for few weeks now, using a timed WiFi switch instead to charge in the 23:30-05:30 cheap rate and the car has started in EV mode every time the morning after on the 5-6 times it’s been charged at home.