Unexpected hybrid mode

[Markh]

Hello,

I have a 2021 Clarity. Today, I switched from econ to sport mode. A minute later, the blue curve was replaced with a gray curve and the car was in hybrid mode. I pressed the HV button and notification said that HV mode is on. I pressed it again and a notification said that HV mode was off, even though the ICE was running! For the next twenty minutes, sometimes the battery was running the car and sometimes engine was running the car. Sometimes the engine was charging the battery (which was at about 68%). Turning off and turning on the car had no effect. Throughout this time, there was no piece of a blue curve even when the car was running on battery (the EV was displayed) After 20 minutes, the blue curve reappeared and the car was no longer in HV mode. I did not press any button to return it to EVE mode.

Any idea what is going on?
Thanks.

 

[insightman]

Hello,

I have a 2021 Clarity. Today, I switched from econ to sport mode. A minute later, the blue curve was replaced with a gray curve and the car was in hybrid mode. I pressed the HV button and notification said that HV mode is on. I pressed it again and a notification said that HV mode was off, even though the ICE was running! For the next twenty minutes, sometimes the battery was running the car and sometimes engine was running the car. Sometimes the engine was charging the battery (which was at about 68%). Turning off and turning on the car had no effect. Throughout this time, there was no piece of a blue curve even when the car was running on battery (the EV was displayed) After 20 minutes, the blue curve reappeared and the car was no longer in HV mode. I did not press any button to return it to EVE mode.

Any idea what is going on?
Thanks.

It is likely your Clarity performing a system check, as discussed in previous threads, such as this one.

 

[David Towle]

Insightman doesn't the car also do this if you pushed the accelerator far enough to activate the engine? It takes less travel to do this in Sport than the other modes. Eventually the engine got fully heated up and could shut off. Sometimes when I've done this turning the car off puts me back in EV, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[insightman]

Insightman doesn't the car also do this if you pushed the accelerator far enough to activate the engine? It takes less travel to do this in Sport than the other modes. Eventually the engine got fully heated up and could shut off. Sometimes when I've done this turning the car off puts me back in EV, sometimes it doesn't.

Depending on the mode, the blue zone gets smaller and the white (gray) zone gets larger. When you press the accelerator far enough to push into the white (gray) zone, the Clarity starts its engine. However, when the Clarity decides it's time for a system check, there is no blue zone--it's all white (gray) and the engine starts up.

I don't believe it's a good idea to turn your Clarity off and on to make the engine stop running. The Clarity knows best, even if it's not doing exactly what you'd like it to do. It makes sense that your Clarity would want to warm up the oil before turning off the engine because it has no idea how soon you will want the engine to run again.

 

[Markh]

Thanks,
I read the manual and the suggested threads. I think insightman is correct. It sure looks like a system check. It lasted the correct length of time, and the display, without any blue, matches a system check. I tried turning off and turning on the car because, frequently, that will solve problems with electronics. It didn't because this wasn't a problem, it was a feature.

 

[insightman]

Thanks,
I read the manual and the suggested threads. I think insightman is correct. It sure looks like a system check. It lasted the correct length of time, and the display, without any blue, matches a system check. I tried turning off and turning on the car because, frequently, that will solve problems with electronics. It didn't because this wasn't a problem, it was a feature.

Reminds me of a cartoon that's more than 40 years old:

 

[Frankwell]

However, when the Clarity decides it's time for a system check, there is no blue zone--it's all white (gray) and the engine starts up.

Maybe I'm misremembering how the power display works, but in HV mode the power circle is all white when ICE is running, then at times when ICE shuts off (EV appears on the display) then you see a power circle that is partially blue with the rest white. It will stay that way (blue/white) as long as ICE remains off, then when you eventually push the power needle into the white zone ICE starts up, the EV indicator disappears, and the power circle becomes all white again.

If someone is driving in EV mode and accidentally starts up ICE thorough heavy acceleration (or regen with a full battery) then ICE starts up and goes into warmup cycle, during which time the power circle is all white. Once warmup is complete it doesn't go back to a blue/gray circle, when ICE shuts off the power circle goes back to all blue.

I would think system check looks identical to the other situations since the power circle is all white. So I'm not sure how you would ever know when you are in system check and not in HV with ICE running. Other than people who go for over a month say that eventually ICE will come one, which AFAIK would be the only time the car would go into system check mode. But then it would be the circumstances of when ICE is running that would indicate that you are in system check, not any differences in the display.

white (gray) zone

LOL everyone understands white and uses that term, I was the one who said that as a new owner I was confused why I never saw a white power circle like everyone else did, my power circle was only ever gray. Now I know we are all seeing the same thing and are just calling it something different. But I never use the term gray because then everyone else will be wondering why they never see a gray power circle, only white.