Engine doesn't kicks in by itself as before

[coutinpe]

I just began my eighth year with my Clarity, and just shy of 50K miles. On its first years the IC engine would kick in almost every day even though I had it in ECON mode and I wasn't hitting the gas any harder, sometimes even standing by. I vaguely remember somebody around here saying that was some sort of self-maintenance thing and I took it as a natural occurrence. However, I've noticed that in the last months, maybe more than a year, the engine doesn't kick it by itself anymore like before, only when I have to hit the gas hard or when I switch to HV or HV charge modes. I didn't worry too much at first but now I'm starting to. Is this normal as the car ages? Has someone else had the same experience? Thank you.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

Mine has behaved like yours is now since it was new. Very rarely does the engine run for maintenance, maybe once every couple of months.

I'm editing this post to add:

But upon reflection, it does seem like the engine starting due to regen after battery has been fully charged has pretty much stopped for the last year or so. It used to do that multiple times a month, even if I was being very careful to try to avoid it.

 

[Conelite]

My 2018 with 120k miles never turns on the ICE if I'm in EV mode. Its not suppose to. I don't see why it would turn on unless you are pressing the throttle harder than usual which turns the ICE on.

 

[insightman]

My 2018 with 120k miles never turns on the ICE if I'm in EV mode. Its not suppose to. I don't see why it would turn on unless you are pressing the throttle harder than usual which turns the ICE on.

I believe my Clarity PHEV's engine has started for no obvious reason only a couple of times in 8 years, but I've seen it happen.

From the Clarity Owners Manual (page 13 in mine):

System Check
When the engine initially starts (between the time the POWER button is turned on and turned off), the vehicle conducts a system check.
● While the check is being conducted, the engine may periodically turn on and off. This, however, is normal.
● The curved blue line in the POWER/CHARGE Gauge will not appear during the system check (EV indicator may still turn on).
● Once the engine starts, it will continue to run until the system reaches operating temperature.
The curved blue line in the POWER/CHARGE Gauge will reappear once the system check is completed.

And on page 110:

 

[Conelite]

I have never seen that Icon. Maybe bc I run HV mode almost daily.