john341

Can anybody with a hybrid confirm this for me please. My 14 es300h seems to start the engine as soon as I put my foot into the accelerator, when taking off from a complete stop. How does your es300h behave in stop and go situation? Does your engine start when you take off from stop or does the engine gradually come online after certain mph? I drive in normal mode most of the time. It stays in EV when going slow, which is normal.

don1

That's normal in most cases. If you are using moderate to full pedal pressure then the IC engine will come on. If you are using very light pressure, such as in a parking lot, then you may be able to run on electric if the battery is fully or mostly charged.I also drive in Normal mode.

john341

Thank you Don. I feel like my engine used to come on little later, The car is probably is adapting to my driving style. Mine also has a pronounced jolt when it come on, only when taking off from a stop; is your the same?

don1

No, no jolt. It's pretty seamless most of the time.Whether the engine starts or not has mostly to do with the current level of battery charge which is mostly beyond your control.

Sulu

That is normal. There are a number of factors that may cause that, with low battery level being the most obvious. Others include how quickly and how hard you press on the accelerator; and another is if there is even a little bit of an upslope going ahead of you. If the car determines you want or need more torque than the drive motor can provide, it will start running with the engine on.

If you are able to creep away from a full stop, on battery only, and then slowly feed it throttle, you may be able to avoid that.