I've had this happen just a couple of times in 5 months and wonder if others have noticed this? Driving in rural traffic I come on a stop light and the motor turns off. Then after about 5-10 seconds it starts again while still sitting there then immediately (2 seconds or so) stops for a second time. Anyone else ever notice this? It likely is sensor related as heat, AC, coolant temp or something is demanding this then changes it's mind possibly on the edge of parameters that turn it on is my guess? There is also some situations that the motor reamains on that baffle me, so I'll keep that open to discussion as well.

 

Was this usually after a long downhill slope? Next time switch to the Energy display and have a look at the battery charge state. If it's full bars when you come to the stop, the ICE may come on to 'burn off' the extra battery storage. This is to prevent overcharging the battery and prolong its life. No fuel is used as the engine is being rotated by the electric motors.

 

Yes it definitely was! And that was my other question is sometimes at the bottom of the long hill I go down, Ice just remains on for the entire light? I never thought it would intentionally burn off battery charge as a possibility, but I guess that makes sense and yes I know the battery is full at that point as I've checked that before. Maybe I'll try shifting to neutral part way down and see if that changes the behavior as a test of overcharging.