things that make the engine start in econ mode

[ClarityBill]

I tried hard braking from 50 and 70 km per hour with a full battery, engine did not turn on... Did it several times.

If you were at 50-70 km/hr, you did not have a 'full' battery (You used some of the battery to get up to those speeds). This problem is most prevalent with people that leave their garage, and go down a big hill: The battery is absolutely full (100.0%). If I can get the battery down to 96%, I do not have the problem.

I have also had the engine start in panic stop situations, with the battery at lower charge.

 

[2002]

If you were at 50-70 km/hr, you did not have a 'full' battery (You used some of the battery to get up to those speeds). This problem is most prevalent with people that leave their garage, and go down a big hill: The battery is absolutely full (100.0%). If I can get the battery down to 96%, I do not have the problem.

I have also had the engine start in panic stop situations, with the battery at lower charge.

50-70 km/h is 31-43 mph. Doesn't seem like it should take that much power to get to those speeds. I think people may have reported the regen ICE start at similar speeds.

 

[JCA]

Mine behaves exactly like this. For awhile I thought I could avoid the regen startup if I preconditioned the car while not plugged in before my drive, but that method failed me last week too. I’ve decided to just let the car do its thing and stop worrying about it.

With your meter you probably have monitored the RPMs after the regen startup. I can only monitor the estimated range, but after a regen startup it seems to mostly us EV miles even though the engine is running. Is it just idling until it gets up to temp?

I've never actually experienced a regen startup; in fact I don't believe I've ever had the engine come on when I didn't know exactly why -- acceleration past the detent or in non-econ mode, EV range at 0, or I had put it in HV mode.

When it comes on, it seems to stay on until the coolant temperature hits 160, which varies based on outside temperature but averages 5 minutes. RPM was right around 1500 the whole time during this episode, which seems like idling. That also bolsters the theory that it wasn't extra acceleration that triggered it, and again she wasn't braking yet at the time so probably wasn't related to that. I don't really have anywhere I can charge then go down a big hill, but will try to get a regen startup if I can.