when does ICE (gas engine) kick in? (yes, i've searched the forums)

[uicandrew]

i'm a new owner of a 09 TCH. i've test driven 2 TCH and they all behave the same.

turning on/starting up a TCH on a 70 degree day on a flat terrain, with battery at normal charge....... the gas engine (ICE) kicks in after a few seconds of just rolling (after shifting to drive and not pressing gas or brake) or VERY light accelerator (ie - not above 10-15 mph)

i thought the ICE kicks in after you reach a certain threshold of acceleration or speed, not just by shifting into drive and not pressing either gas or brake.

it's not like the engine/battery was ice cold, or that it was going up an incline. also, after driving around for a couple miles, and starting the car a few minutes later, it performed the same way. so by that time, the engine and battery should have warmed up.

i've already tried searching for the answer in the forums, but i didn't find anything.

[98CamryLE]

Congratulations on your purchase, and welcome to the forums.

I encourage you to visit greenhybrid.com, which has a lot of information about how the car works. It also has a FAQ section that answers most questions that people have about the Camry Hybrid.

Link to the section in the FAQ about when the engine starts/stops:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/159268-post16.html

Again, welcome and congrats on your purchase.

[uicandrew]

thanks for the great link. i've been reading about stages 1, 2, 3, but didn't understand what they were referring to

[Frodo65]

Originally Posted by uicandrew

i'm a new owner of a 09 TCH. i've test driven 2 TCH and they all behave the same.

turning on/starting up a TCH on a 70 degree day on a flat terrain, with battery at normal charge....... the gas engine (ICE) kicks in after a few seconds of just rolling (after shifting to drive and not pressing gas or brake) or VERY light accelerator (ie - not above 10-15 mph)

i thought the ICE kicks in after you reach a certain threshold of acceleration or speed, not just by shifting into drive and not pressing either gas or brake.

it's not like the engine/battery was ice cold, or that it was going up an incline. also, after driving around for a couple miles, and starting the car a few minutes later, it performed the same way. so by that time, the engine and battery should have warmed up.

i've already tried searching for the answer in the forums, but i didn't find anything.

As you're finding out, the short answer is 'whenever it feels like it needs to'.

The ICE strategy balances several needs: keeping the battery charged, keeping the car moving, keeping the catalyst and engine coolant within acceptable range. It's the latter that causes the initial few minutes of run time, even when partially warm. For the catalyst to be effective, it has to be at operating temp (which is pretty hot). So, the ECU will run the ICE for a bit, verify the O2 drop on the catalyst, and then cycle as needed based on other demands.