Volt won't start engine for cold unless it's cold enough to get to the selected ERDTT temp or if battery pack is weak.
Winter Impact on PHEV Range
- Thread starter Astro_Guy
- Start date
Volt won't start engine for cold unless it's cold enough to get to the selected ERDTT temp or if battery pack is weak.
This morning I needed to run a few errands before an expected snow event later in the day. I departed home with a full battery on an anticipated 14 mile roundtrip. The car was in EV mode with the heat on, and ambient temperature was 27 F. The car was showing an estimated range of 16 miles which in 20% below the nominal 20 mile range.
After eleven miles of EV driving with heat on the battery was completely depleated and the ICE took over. My actual EV range was 45% below nominal and 31% below estimated. Sure wish I had more information on how the figures were derrived in that Fox News Christmas EV Road Trip piece. As the saying goes, "your mileage may vary."
After eleven miles of EV driving with heat on the battery was completely depleated and the ICE took over. My actual EV range was 45% below nominal and 31% below estimated. Sure wish I had more information on how the figures were derrived in that Fox News Christmas EV Road Trip piece. As the saying goes, "your mileage may vary."
On Saturday 20 January I left work in the evening with roughly a 95% charge and an estimated 15 miles of range. The ambient temperature was 22 F and I satarted the car in EV mode with the heat switched on. The infotainment system flashed up a message or two that basically said "no dice, starting ICE." It promptly did that and ran it for three miles until the heat warmed up. The ICE restarted twice over the course of the next four miles. I doubt that the oil got anywhere near normal operating temperature.
Moving on to today, Sunday 21 January, we took the car out for grocery shopping at 25 degrees F ambient and the heat on. This time the ICE did not start. A bit of reverse engineering says that vehicle will insist on starting the ICE somehwhere between 22 and 25 degrees F if the heat is also switched on. Normally I just swtch it to ICE mode anytime it is below freezing, but this morning's short run of three miles out, three miles back with an hour of cooling in between clearly favors EV mode when thinking about the impact on the oil. IIRC this is an oil forum so I will attempt to stay on topic.
Moving on to today, Sunday 21 January, we took the car out for grocery shopping at 25 degrees F ambient and the heat on. This time the ICE did not start. A bit of reverse engineering says that vehicle will insist on starting the ICE somehwhere between 22 and 25 degrees F if the heat is also switched on. Normally I just swtch it to ICE mode anytime it is below freezing, but this morning's short run of three miles out, three miles back with an hour of cooling in between clearly favors EV mode when thinking about the impact on the oil. IIRC this is an oil forum so I will attempt to stay on topic.
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The Jeep 4xe PHEVs have a Fuel Oil Refresh Mode (FORM) that will turn on the ICE if the fuel in the tank has not been used for some time and/or the ICE has not run long enough at operating temperature to burn off any fuel in the oil. My Wrangler went into FORM for the first time last week.