Leon phev keep switching to hybrid mode. Suspecting hot weather

[Gmn]

Leon e-hybrid.
The last couple of days were very hot where I live. I'm talking 38C. And coincidentaly, it's the first time I notice the car switching to hybrid after a few minutes of driving in Electric mode, even though the computer says I still have ~ 42km electric range. AC ON, of course.
Is this a known issue?

 

[chris_louk]

I had a similar issue in my Formentor eHybrid.
Last week the outside temp was about 43-44C and even though the car was almost fully charged it wouldn’t let me switch to Electric mode.
When the temperature dropped, it was back to normal.

I find it curious though, as the user manual only mentions that Electric mode can be unavailable in very cold weather. No mentions for unavailability due to hot weather.

But I guess the good thing is that this behavior is observed by many of us, even with different models. So it’s probably not because there is something faulty about our individual cars

 

[Davehaslanded]

I believe it may have something to do with the climate control. I’ve found that pre cooling or heating the car before starting a journey tends to kick the engine in more often. The hotter the inside the car, the more often the engine kicks in. I’m wondering if the power draw of the climate control at maximum power is too much power draw in the car batteries to run EV only too.

 

[SRGTD]

I believe it may have something to do with the climate control. I’ve found that pre cooling or heating the car before starting a journey tends to kick the engine in more often. The hotter the inside the car, the more often the engine kicks in. I’m wondering if the power draw of the climate control at maximum power is too much power draw in the car batteries to run EV only too.

That sounds feasible.

I seem to remember reading of other (non-VAG brand) hybrid cars where power draw of other electrical components / accessories has the same effect on EV operation. I think that was specifically in relation to self charging full hybrid cars though rather than plug in hybrids.