eHybrid switches to ICE every time outside temperature exceeds 40°C/104°F

[chris_louk]

My Formentor eHybrid has started doing this very weird thing where every time the outside temp gets over 40°C, it automatically switches from Electric mode to Hybrid mode and will not let me switch back to Electric mode no matter how much time I drive with the engine on.

Is this normal? Has anybody else experienced anything similar?

 

[Jones2020]

Battery overheating?

 

[CupraOnForm]

I can’t comment as I am in the UK which rarely gets above 30C let alone 40!
If global warming does kick in this year, I’ll be sure to report back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CupForm]

Is this normal? Has anybody else experienced anything similar?

It's quite difficult to say what's normal and what not, since I've never seen a ICE (or hybrid mode) start conditioning. No idea what is the complete list of parameters, but it is definitely more complex than what they wrote in the User Manual.
Since the heat arrived here in Bucharest (few weeks), I've always preconditioned the temperature of the car (with the AC) before going home from work. I was always able to drive home in EV mode, until yesterday evening. The car was parked in the shadow the entire day (max outside temp ~35 C), and by the time I left my office it was about 30 C. I cooled the car remotely, but when I got in and pressed Start - the ICE kicked in!!!
Long story short, I have no idea why it did that. The car also does that if the ICE was off for a long time (more than a week or so), but yesterday it was not the case, since I had a long trip using ICE over the weekend. However, the system allowed me to switch back to EV mode after about 1-2 km of drive yesterday, sometimes it takes a bit longer. But I am always able to revert from Hybrid to EV over my short trip from work home (about 13 km), no matter how hot or cold (negative Celsius) it is outside. I still have to discover how it will behave in high-30s or even 40s C, because I only have the car since late-September, so I haven't experienced very high temps yes.

Battery overheating?

I doubt that this would be a probable reason, since the PHEV has two distinct cooling circuits, one for the ICE and the second for the EV part (including HV battery). So the second one will be using an electric water pump, I don't really see the need for the ICE to start in order to cool the HV battery.
On the other hand, when I cool the car down remotely, I can hear the radiator fan working when I approach the car - probably running to cool down the AC-radiator. What I can imagine (even though I'm not sure) is that the radiator fan is using the 12 V battery and not the HV one; and it's possible that the system decides that 12V needs immediate recharge, thus starting the ICE. Hard for me to understand why, since driving in EV-mode also charges the 12V battery...
Until we see a clear ICE-start conditioning diagram, or vice-versa: a conditioning diagram for running exclusively in EV-mode, we can only make assumptions.

 

[LetsForment]

I have had this happen when outside temp is lower than 0 Deg

 

[flatbone]

The way you described it seems weird behavior and it shouldn't run like that.
I think something else is happening and the weather has nothing to do with it.

From what I gathered so far on this topic, the ICE starts when:
- the battery level is low and/or battery temperature is low and the power demand is too high to cope with
- you press the accelerator pedal a bit more vigorously, this level depends on previous conditions as well
- the car was previously shutdown when ICE was running its filter cleaning routine, then ICE will start at startup
- you set the car in hybrid mode or battery charging / specific soc target
- you set a destination on the car navigation system, so the car will decide the way it will run, as efficiently as possible, for that given (longer) distance

I haven't tested the last claim so I'm not really sure.. I read it somewhere. But the others I tested in my 3 years ownership.

Either way, after the ICE starts up first time, it will run for some time to get the oil going and reach optimal running conditions, which should take from a couple minutes up to around 10 minutes, depending on outside temperature and the running regime. But at some point the e-mode should become available to select.

Oh an also if you go into sport with double flicking the gear selector, then it automatically goes to hybrid mode and the ice will kick in earlier when accelerating. But then going back to D should take it into e-mode again.. as long as the ICE has run its up to temp start cycle.

 

[chris_louk]

I am certain that the defining factor was the temperature. It did it every single time the outside weather was above 40. No matter how much battery I had left, it would do it even when it was full.
And even after the ICE warmed up and there was so much battery left, it just wouldnt let me switch to Electric mode.
The reason I find it odd is that in the user manual, the only thing that mentions temperature in the chapter explaining when Electic mode is unavailable is that it won’t let you use it when it drops below -10 degrees. Nothing mentioned about unavailability in high temperatures, only in low.