Hello,
There’s a lot of discussion on this topic already but I’m not finding satisfying answers (maybe there isn’t any…).
I’ve had my Tucson PHEV for a month now, great car, absolutely love it. However, I am a bit unhappy with the EV mode: the ICE keeps kicking in more often than I’d expected (by far). I read multiple threads on here (and searched Google for articles) they all say it’s to be expected with A/C or heater on, or upon kicking the gas pedal a bit hard. I understand all the explanations and they make sense.
However my other car is a Chevy Volt Gen 2 and I can tell you it NEVER uses the engine (to charge the battery — which is the only thing that engine does on the Volt). I can hit the gas as hard as I want, even in Sport mode, I stay in EV only. When I got the car in 2017, I did not put a drop of gas until I hit 3,000 miles (just for fun…)
Note that there is a difference in the Tucson in EV mode vs. HEV mode: when the ICE kicks in in EV mode, it’s only to boost the battery, the traction remains from the electric motor (as demonstrated by the little power flow animation on the dash), which is somewhat reassuring. But still, I don’t understand why it’s not possible to just use EV when temp control is on (I could potentially accept the steep acceleration exception, and remain gentle there if I want to stay in EV). And it’s ok if I didn’t get 33 miles of EV range with temp control. This is something Hyundai could easily allow by firmware. It’s just annoying that, in cold or hot weather, during a 10-15 min trip, I basically drive a gas car… Frankly, I don’t even understand that California would give it the HOV sticker (which it does, I just applied).
Thanks for reading and sharing any consideration.
There’s a lot of discussion on this topic already but I’m not finding satisfying answers (maybe there isn’t any…).
I’ve had my Tucson PHEV for a month now, great car, absolutely love it. However, I am a bit unhappy with the EV mode: the ICE keeps kicking in more often than I’d expected (by far). I read multiple threads on here (and searched Google for articles) they all say it’s to be expected with A/C or heater on, or upon kicking the gas pedal a bit hard. I understand all the explanations and they make sense.
However my other car is a Chevy Volt Gen 2 and I can tell you it NEVER uses the engine (to charge the battery — which is the only thing that engine does on the Volt). I can hit the gas as hard as I want, even in Sport mode, I stay in EV only. When I got the car in 2017, I did not put a drop of gas until I hit 3,000 miles (just for fun…)
Note that there is a difference in the Tucson in EV mode vs. HEV mode: when the ICE kicks in in EV mode, it’s only to boost the battery, the traction remains from the electric motor (as demonstrated by the little power flow animation on the dash), which is somewhat reassuring. But still, I don’t understand why it’s not possible to just use EV when temp control is on (I could potentially accept the steep acceleration exception, and remain gentle there if I want to stay in EV). And it’s ok if I didn’t get 33 miles of EV range with temp control. This is something Hyundai could easily allow by firmware. It’s just annoying that, in cold or hot weather, during a 10-15 min trip, I basically drive a gas car… Frankly, I don’t even understand that California would give it the HOV sticker (which it does, I just applied).
Thanks for reading and sharing any consideration.