It's pretty noticeable in my LE, not like it's a violent shaking or anything, but it is noticeable though.

 

In my opinion, what makes it so noticeable to us at first, if it is our first hybrid, is that up till now we only heard that noise when we were distracting ourselves by manually turning the ICE on ourselves. Now that it happens somewhat out-of-the-blue, it can be particularly noticeable to those of us who have trained our ears to listen to and feel the machines we have been around all our lives in the past.

I agree that the ICE startup is louder and has more vibration that what we might consider ideal. But I still believe that part of it is our perception of it more than the noise and vibration combination itself.

 

Consumer Reports sure likes the Camry Hybrid!

 

Consumer Reports sure likes the Camry Hybrid!

I do too.

I sometimes wonder what percentage of Toyota sales is directly attributable to CR.

Seems as if few other reviewers give a flibbity-jibit about reliability/dependability. Most other mainstream reviewers seem only to care about first impressions and how cars drive the first year or two on lease, or something.

Hope they don't choose their wives the same way.

Oops. Did I just say that out loud? I hope not.

 

thanks guys. Even with the shudder, it's still pretty cool to have that technology working hand in hand almost seamlessly.

Guess I'll have to get used to the shudder. Maybe eventually I won't notice it as much.

 

Yea.... No, I don't think you will ever "get used to it".

At least I never have. Many years and miles and I still find it odd.

 

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the club, I got mine a week ago and love it!

 

OP, just for me paying attention to words - it's ICE. Not ice. That we have plenty of winter time. Makes difference reading posts.
Shake at start up. With fully or mostly charged battery, you should only hear brake accumulator noise, priming after you turn the system on(see, you don't even start the car anymore, you start the system) and after D enaged, you should start rolling, quite and noiseless. Usually, THEN ICE turns on. On warm days, mine can let me out of garage completely, before ICE starts.
Shake will be stronger, or none at all. It's unpredictable. It can be not noticeable or can be quite violent. Something sometimes does not align right in all those little gears and engine, and it may scare the crap out of you. Many of us been through this. But she just keeps chugging and chugging along...
Good cars...

 

It likely has something to do with the higher RPM and more choked ICE at startup. Once the ICE is warmed up the transition is much smoother beteween EV and ICE. The ice is not unlike any other non-hybrid ICE motor in that it has to go through a warm up phase to reach normal operation temperature, and until it does the idle starts higher and fuel air mix is heavier on the fuel side. EFI systems have really improved the start up phase over carburetor fed ICEs. IMO as I back out of the garage and the vehicle is typically in EV mode, and then the ICE fires up, It's much like my previuos ICE only camry firing up except I'm quietly rolling now until the "ICE Start". I really like the TCH engine management system and find to be very subtle and appreciate my daily drives near the lake where I live at 37-38mph for about 1.5miles in EV mode. Very peacefull and almost eerie how it silently glides along.

Enjoy your new ride and mileage.

 

2014.5 tch se

Hello everyone!! I'm new here. I apologize if this not the correct way to begin a thread. I just picked up my TCH this past Saturday and I noticed as of yesterday that the gas engine comes on a few seconds after start-up. This is my first hybrid. Is this normal?

 

Yes.

 

Why does the gas engine come on when the battery has a significant amount of charge?

 

If the battery has enough charge you can force the car to stay in EV mode by pressing the EV button a few seconds after starting the car.

There are several reasons Toyota has the ICE go through a warm up cycle when you start the car.
1. If you need heat. The heater in the car depends on the ICE, if you have the heat turned on, or if you have the automatic climate control and it's set warmer than the temp inside the car, the ICE will run longer so the extra heat can warm the inside of the car.

2. Warm up the catalytic converter for smog requirements.

3. Quicker startup and less wear and tear on the engine once it's warmed up. Don't really want to keep starting and stopping a cold engine over & over.

There are actually 2 warm up cycles on the TCH, but the actual warm up time will vary depending on the outside temp.
The initial cycle takes a few minutes, and if you stop the car, the ICE should shut down. This assumes you have enough battery charge, and the heater is not running.
After the 2nd warm up cycle, which takes several more minutes, the engine can now shut down when you are driving less then 47 mph, with a light throttle. I love driving most of the last 2 miles (flat to slightly down hill) at 40-45 mph to work entirely on battery.

FYI: During the first 1000 mile break-in period on my 2013 TCH, the car acted like the 1st warmup cycle didn't exist. The ICE would run for several minute before it would shut down. This lowered my initial gas mileage, and since I still only have 4300 miles, it lowered my overall average. So don't worry if you mileage is low during the break in period, it should get better.






Any significant acceleration would require the ICE, so I assume that is why

 

Catalytic converter needs to be heated up.

 

Thanks!

 

Man I don't know, when my '12 TCH was new then after a few months of start-up in the carport my engine seems to be smooth. The more we drove it on the first daily daily start-up it kept getting smoother. That included the engine restart when coming out of the EV mode. After that I could not even tell when the engine kicks back on.

 

Today, I drove about an 1 1/2 hrs. for an appointment and on my way home I stopped at Starbucks and as I was going towards the window to pay for my coffee I noticed my TCH SE was making a noise using battery alone. Is this noise normal for a hybrid after a long drive? If so, please explain. I just want to make sure this car is ok.

 

If you were pulling forward in electric mode, the car makes a noise which varies in pitch with your speed to warn pedestrians of an electric car. Does not matter if long drive or just at first.
HTH

 

Yeah, mine makes weird noises when just using the hybrid battery, nothing to be too alarmed about.

 

Interesting i found this thread.
I too have noticed when starting in the morning sometimes and randomly ICE will shutter and almost want to stall out like it is running extremely rough no lights or error codes dealer tried to reproduce twice without being able to do so.....