Using gas when battery is charged

[TrueBlueNYC]

I have noticed that my Clarity will on occasion start to use gas to charge my battery, even when the battery is adequately full, and I have NOT switched on HV mode. Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a way to "force" the car back to EV mode? I have switched HV mode on and off when this happened, and this still did not stop the car from choosing to burn gas. It did eventually turn off and switch to full EV mode.

 

[Zor]

If you accelerate past the 'click point' the engine will turn on and complete a full warm up cycle before turning off. This lasts about 10 minutes but that may be shorter or longer depending on the weather. That point is fairly easy to hit in Sport. If you look at the power gauge, white represents engine and blue is EV. You hit white the engine will start without any delay.

There is also a self check/non-use trigger that will start the engine after it hasn't been ran in a while.

 

[insightman]

I have noticed that my Clarity will on occasion start to use gas to charge my battery, even when the battery is adequately full...

By "adequately full," do you mean full? There has been much discussion in this forum (mostly by me) about how a fully charged Clarity PHEV starts its engine when deceleration triggers the regeneration of electricity. This deceleration can be initiated by either the car's brakes or the left (-) "deceleration paddle selector."

Some owners report they avoid fully recharging their batteries just to prevent the engine from starting when they come to the stop sign at the end of their street.

If the battery is full during deceleration, when the traction motor (operating as a generator) starts (re)generating electricity, the Clarity PHEV has to find another place to put that electricity. My personal theory is that the car starts its engine and runs the starter motor/generator as a motor that is resisting the torque from the engine. Pitting the starter motor/generator against the engine uses up the excess electricity the battery cannot accept.

If there wasn't such a pseudo engine-braking scheme, Clarity drivers with full batteries would have to ride their brakes for long distances down a mountain. Interestingly, the Accord Hybrid burns off excess regenerated electricity by using the starter motor/generator to turn the engine (as it does when starting the engine) while the engine isn't receiving fuel and is keeping its valves closed to provide maximum resistance. Perhaps the designers of the Clarity PHEV were willing to use up gasoline to provide pseudo engine-braking because the heavier Clarity is more difficult to slow down than the Accord Hybrid.