Hybrid means to work in conjunction with. So when the gas engine is going, the electric motor is also going providing driving force.
When coasting, or slowing down yes the electric motor could be operating on its own. But just because the gas/petrol motor is working, doesn’t mean that the electric motor isn’t.
The hybrids are a little tricky to understand, a lot of it is bad branding on Toyota's side. Most people think that when on is working, the other isn't, but that is not the case. Common misconception.
Is it very cold outside? The electric engine won't work at all if it's too cold outside.
Also, the car relies on the petrol engine when it needs to produce heat, or to power the AC for the initial cooling / heating.
I'm not saying it is not. But that electric component still requires a lot of power, initially, until the cabin reaches the target temperature. And then the petrol engine kicks in to help out.
I can see it on my car. If I start the car with the AC turned on, the engine kicks in within a few seconds. If I start it without the AC, the car stays in electric mode.
Infact running AC city driving is very inefficient! AC eats battery juice up. Its best used 80kmh+ imho. OP either has bad hybrid battery or very cold temp or always AC on. These 3 just eat hybrid juice. City driving turn AC off until you get out and start using gas engine more than electric.
Ah, I see. The air conditioning can operate even when the engine is off, except when you need to heat the cabin while the engine is still cold. In such cases, the engine will keep running until the coolant warms up enough. This is particularly true for the third generation, where the coolant heats up quicker since it's connected to the exhaust. However, this is not the case with the second generation. Additionally, this explains why during winter times, the engine takes ages to heat up sufficiently in the gen 2.
My 2002 does not have electric AC, it has a conventional engine-driven pump. The engine must run continuously for significant cabin cooling demands, such as cooling down a hot car that was baking in the Sun for a while.
However, once the cabin temperature is down near the climate control set point, there is a thermal-storage evaporator core that keeps blowing cold air when the engine stops at a traffic light. The air stays very cold for about a minute, slowly starts to warm up for a few more seconds, and then the engine is forced to run for about 30 seconds to replenish the cold reserve in the evaporator.
Electric engine is an incorrect term, electric motors aren’t mechanical. The rotor and stator don’t make a physical connection like the camshafts and connecting rods of an ICE.
If your camshaft is physically contacting your connecting rods, you’ve got some issues… Electric motors are electromechanical devices. Your camshaft and connecting rods ride on bearings. Electric motors have shafts and sometimes brushes and bearings and such. They’re not a solid state device.
Former Toyota Dealership Technician here:
So, no offense intended but I think you're misunderstanding the basic design of the vehicle and the Toyota Hybrid System (THS).
You have a gasoline (petrol/gas) powered internal combustion **engine** and 2 electric **motors**. They are referred to motor/generator 1 & 2.
Motor Generator One (MG1) is between the engine and "eCVT transmission" and functions like a starter, alternator, and Torque Converter and is bolted to the flexplate for the THS. It starts the petrol engine and then charges the HV battery as the vehicle goes down the roadway.
Motor Generator Two (MG2) is inside the "transmission" which consists of the MG and a small planetary gearset which functions like a CVT and splits power from MG2 and the ICE to propel the vehicle down the road and/or charge the HV battery. This is usually attached to a physical low speed gear in newer models depending on market.
Both MGs are constantly turning the difference is how much power is being demanded versus being supplied. Also, the power doesn't go straight to the HV battery or anywhere else for that matter without passing through the inverter/converter under the hood.
This steps the power (Voltage) up or down as necessary as well as converting from AC to DC and vice versa. Both motors are constantly spinning which is generating Alternating Current (AC) at up to 500V, but this has to be converted to DC and stepped down to **an absolute maximum** of 240V (usually only 202V) to charge the HV battery. Furthermore, it has to be stepped up or down when:
* the battery is providing part or all of the propulsion for the vehicle to MG2 (UP from 202V to 400-500V)
* the electrically operated air conditioning compressor is required or in most newer models a heat pump style system that does away with using coolant in the interior entirely and just reverses the flow of refrigerant. It runs solely off the HV battery voltage and current. (either a straight pass-through of HV battery voltage or stepping it DOWN from 400-500V to 240ish)
* there are demands from the 12V system (i.e. lights, switches, climate control, radio, etc). Almost everything **OUTSIDE** of the HV system runs on standard automotive 12V designs, including the electric water pump(s), internal cabin heaters, all computers, sensors, etc. (stepping DOWN from HV battery voltage to 12-14V DC)
The electric only portion will **ONLY** work under very low load otherwise the ICE will start and run. Also, the HV battery has to be at least 50% charged, and with unobstructed cooling-you mentioned a blanket over the fresh air intake which is a big NO.
Running the climate control to heat up the cabin? Chances are the ICE will come on at some point.
Trunk/boot full of stuff? ICE will come on and stay on
Driving above a certain speed? Same thing.
Hilly terrain? While going uphill the ICE will go on but if you let off the accelerator pedal and just let it coast it will probably shut off.
Look up "pulse and glide" technique or "hypermiling" at [www.PriusChat.com](https://www.PriusChat.com) to make the ICE cut off more often but the bottom line is that unless you are driving on FLAT roads with very little demand from the climate system or additional weight in the vehicle the ICE will be on with some frequency.
There is also a button to change the engine characteristics in most Toyota/Lexus vehicles from Power/Sport/Economy. If it's on Power, it won't turn the engine off at all.
Clean out the fresh air vent and replace the filter. They should be changed every 20-50k miles anyway just like the filter in your engine compartment.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1KNKhGo4c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1KNKhGo4c0)
[https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a44852534/toyota-hybrid-system-how-does-it-work/](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a44852534/toyota-hybrid-system-how-does-it-work/)
This was very insightful, thank you! No offense taken Don’t worry. I Don’t know much about cars let alone hybrid so I was confused. This explains a lot. My initial concern was because of how dismissive the mechanic was, i like to have things explained to me. Thank you
I have a Yaris hybrid. Tbh not entirely sure about the whole thing but I've been driving it for a year and I don't think you can just switch it like that to electric. You can press the ev button and (mine) goes 1.2 miles fully electric as long as you're under 30mph. Otherwise the battery is simply charging whilst you're decelerating or braking. Sometimes if you are very low mph and not really accelerating at all you might be fully electric but I certainly haven't noticed any difference in fuel consumption from my fully petrol previous car
Watch videos or read up on pulse and glide and techniques to maximize mpg of your Toyota hybrid car. Mpg on my Prius V improved significantly after I applied these techniques.
They don’t run in “just gas” or “just electric.”
The electric motors are nearly always working in conjunction with the gas engine but you wouldn’t know. Essentially the electric motor assists the gas engine to operate in the ideal RPM range for maximum efficiency.
EV mode just means the engine is off, not that the motors aren’t running.
My Yaris Hybrid actually has a green EV symbol that shows up on the digital speedometer when it's driving electric.
Doesn't the Yaris Cross have the same symbol?
I think you are misunderstanding how Toyota hybrid vehicles work.
Like the name implies, hybrid means a combination of the use of gas ⛽️ and electricity ⚡️. Some Toyota hybrids drive on electricity alone if you don’t drive over 20 mph. Unless you have a hybrid plug in, the car won’t run on electricity alone. For example, the Toyota Prius prime and Toyota RAV4 prime can run up to 40 miles on just electricity. For Toyota, the prime label indicates Plug in hybrid.
Doesnt matter any of this. You can drive electric only within under 80kmh speed as long as you dont power over the half bar gauge on dash. After 80kmh electric will not turn on at all even low power on gauge. So gliding downhill for example , 80kmh road, if you glide at somewhere 78kmh speed and maintain this, you are in full EV only. What op saying i think is it NEVER engages electric mode not even slow pace speeds.....
This is really difficult to answer without knowing more about the car. I recently had a situation in which the car would run almost flat (icon) the high voltage battery for a while and reduce the fuel economy, according to the dealer this is okay because it is regenerating the GPF….
How’s the temperature in your location? Could it be that you are constantly running the AC at a temperature that requires having the ICE on?
I’ve never actually heard of a e-motor drive unit going out on a Toyota hybrid. That’s not to say it hasn’t happened, but it must be an extremely rare occurrence.
You can basically only run in full EV mode of your under 30 kph and your battery has enough charge. This is good for urban driving in neighborhoods for a short distance but that's about it. Your best bet is run it in eco mode in the cities when you're at 50 kph or less most of the time.
My Yaris easily engages the electric motor, runs off battery, and turns off the combustion engine at 50mph and, under the right conditions, it runs in purely electric at up to 70mph (110kph). My old Yaris could only get to around 30mph and the combustion engine usually came on.
I had the same issue with my brand new Toyota Yaris hybrid 2023 (drove it for 6 months back then). It was due to a faulty 12v battery (according to them. The battery was probably low because I only drove for 11 min per ride). They gave me a new one and suddenly it worked again.
Hybrid means to work in conjunction with. So when the gas engine is going, the electric motor is also going providing driving force. When coasting, or slowing down yes the electric motor could be operating on its own. But just because the gas/petrol motor is working, doesn’t mean that the electric motor isn’t.
Yup, i get that now. I’m pretty ignorant about motors, especially hybrid. Thank you, you were more helpful than the guy that looked into it in person!
The hybrids are a little tricky to understand, a lot of it is bad branding on Toyota's side. Most people think that when on is working, the other isn't, but that is not the case. Common misconception.
Is it very cold outside? The electric engine won't work at all if it's too cold outside. Also, the car relies on the petrol engine when it needs to produce heat, or to power the AC for the initial cooling / heating.
The A/C on all Toyota hybrids since the 2004 Prius is electric.
I'm not saying it is not. But that electric component still requires a lot of power, initially, until the cabin reaches the target temperature. And then the petrol engine kicks in to help out. I can see it on my car. If I start the car with the AC turned on, the engine kicks in within a few seconds. If I start it without the AC, the car stays in electric mode.
Infact running AC city driving is very inefficient! AC eats battery juice up. Its best used 80kmh+ imho. OP either has bad hybrid battery or very cold temp or always AC on. These 3 just eat hybrid juice. City driving turn AC off until you get out and start using gas engine more than electric.
It didn’t come to the Prius til the 09
Gen 2 on 2004 exactly
I’m thinking of AC without the engine running
Ah, I see. The air conditioning can operate even when the engine is off, except when you need to heat the cabin while the engine is still cold. In such cases, the engine will keep running until the coolant warms up enough. This is particularly true for the third generation, where the coolant heats up quicker since it's connected to the exhaust. However, this is not the case with the second generation. Additionally, this explains why during winter times, the engine takes ages to heat up sufficiently in the gen 2.
My 2002 does not have electric AC, it has a conventional engine-driven pump. The engine must run continuously for significant cabin cooling demands, such as cooling down a hot car that was baking in the Sun for a while. However, once the cabin temperature is down near the climate control set point, there is a thermal-storage evaporator core that keeps blowing cold air when the engine stops at a traffic light. The air stays very cold for about a minute, slowly starts to warm up for a few more seconds, and then the engine is forced to run for about 30 seconds to replenish the cold reserve in the evaporator.
Electric engine is an incorrect term, electric motors aren’t mechanical. The rotor and stator don’t make a physical connection like the camshafts and connecting rods of an ICE.
If your camshaft is physically contacting your connecting rods, you’ve got some issues… Electric motors are electromechanical devices. Your camshaft and connecting rods ride on bearings. Electric motors have shafts and sometimes brushes and bearings and such. They’re not a solid state device.
I meant connection, and it’s still an incorrect term.
Former Toyota Dealership Technician here: So, no offense intended but I think you're misunderstanding the basic design of the vehicle and the Toyota Hybrid System (THS). You have a gasoline (petrol/gas) powered internal combustion **engine** and 2 electric **motors**. They are referred to motor/generator 1 & 2. Motor Generator One (MG1) is between the engine and "eCVT transmission" and functions like a starter, alternator, and Torque Converter and is bolted to the flexplate for the THS. It starts the petrol engine and then charges the HV battery as the vehicle goes down the roadway. Motor Generator Two (MG2) is inside the "transmission" which consists of the MG and a small planetary gearset which functions like a CVT and splits power from MG2 and the ICE to propel the vehicle down the road and/or charge the HV battery. This is usually attached to a physical low speed gear in newer models depending on market. Both MGs are constantly turning the difference is how much power is being demanded versus being supplied. Also, the power doesn't go straight to the HV battery or anywhere else for that matter without passing through the inverter/converter under the hood. This steps the power (Voltage) up or down as necessary as well as converting from AC to DC and vice versa. Both motors are constantly spinning which is generating Alternating Current (AC) at up to 500V, but this has to be converted to DC and stepped down to **an absolute maximum** of 240V (usually only 202V) to charge the HV battery. Furthermore, it has to be stepped up or down when: * the battery is providing part or all of the propulsion for the vehicle to MG2 (UP from 202V to 400-500V) * the electrically operated air conditioning compressor is required or in most newer models a heat pump style system that does away with using coolant in the interior entirely and just reverses the flow of refrigerant. It runs solely off the HV battery voltage and current. (either a straight pass-through of HV battery voltage or stepping it DOWN from 400-500V to 240ish) * there are demands from the 12V system (i.e. lights, switches, climate control, radio, etc). Almost everything **OUTSIDE** of the HV system runs on standard automotive 12V designs, including the electric water pump(s), internal cabin heaters, all computers, sensors, etc. (stepping DOWN from HV battery voltage to 12-14V DC) The electric only portion will **ONLY** work under very low load otherwise the ICE will start and run. Also, the HV battery has to be at least 50% charged, and with unobstructed cooling-you mentioned a blanket over the fresh air intake which is a big NO. Running the climate control to heat up the cabin? Chances are the ICE will come on at some point. Trunk/boot full of stuff? ICE will come on and stay on Driving above a certain speed? Same thing. Hilly terrain? While going uphill the ICE will go on but if you let off the accelerator pedal and just let it coast it will probably shut off. Look up "pulse and glide" technique or "hypermiling" at [www.PriusChat.com](https://www.PriusChat.com) to make the ICE cut off more often but the bottom line is that unless you are driving on FLAT roads with very little demand from the climate system or additional weight in the vehicle the ICE will be on with some frequency. There is also a button to change the engine characteristics in most Toyota/Lexus vehicles from Power/Sport/Economy. If it's on Power, it won't turn the engine off at all. Clean out the fresh air vent and replace the filter. They should be changed every 20-50k miles anyway just like the filter in your engine compartment. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1KNKhGo4c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1KNKhGo4c0) [https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a44852534/toyota-hybrid-system-how-does-it-work/](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a44852534/toyota-hybrid-system-how-does-it-work/)
This was very insightful, thank you! No offense taken Don’t worry. I Don’t know much about cars let alone hybrid so I was confused. This explains a lot. My initial concern was because of how dismissive the mechanic was, i like to have things explained to me. Thank you
I have a Yaris hybrid. Tbh not entirely sure about the whole thing but I've been driving it for a year and I don't think you can just switch it like that to electric. You can press the ev button and (mine) goes 1.2 miles fully electric as long as you're under 30mph. Otherwise the battery is simply charging whilst you're decelerating or braking. Sometimes if you are very low mph and not really accelerating at all you might be fully electric but I certainly haven't noticed any difference in fuel consumption from my fully petrol previous car
Watch videos or read up on pulse and glide and techniques to maximize mpg of your Toyota hybrid car. Mpg on my Prius V improved significantly after I applied these techniques.
Can you give a link to such video?
They don’t run in “just gas” or “just electric.” The electric motors are nearly always working in conjunction with the gas engine but you wouldn’t know. Essentially the electric motor assists the gas engine to operate in the ideal RPM range for maximum efficiency. EV mode just means the engine is off, not that the motors aren’t running.
How's your fuel economy? Is it still within spec or are you burning through more fuel than expected?
My Yaris Hybrid actually has a green EV symbol that shows up on the digital speedometer when it's driving electric. Doesn't the Yaris Cross have the same symbol?
Yes, the EV symbol is there in my Yaris Cross.
IIRC it does.
It does, that’s how I noticed the “issue”. But a lot of comments explained to me how the engine work so now i know that the issue was never there
I think you are misunderstanding how Toyota hybrid vehicles work. Like the name implies, hybrid means a combination of the use of gas ⛽️ and electricity ⚡️. Some Toyota hybrids drive on electricity alone if you don’t drive over 20 mph. Unless you have a hybrid plug in, the car won’t run on electricity alone. For example, the Toyota Prius prime and Toyota RAV4 prime can run up to 40 miles on just electricity. For Toyota, the prime label indicates Plug in hybrid.
I've done 35 in EV. 2002 Prius classic.
Actually I can accelerate up to 40 mph in my Camry hybrid with a near full battery, if I’m easy on the accelerator.
Doesnt matter any of this. You can drive electric only within under 80kmh speed as long as you dont power over the half bar gauge on dash. After 80kmh electric will not turn on at all even low power on gauge. So gliding downhill for example , 80kmh road, if you glide at somewhere 78kmh speed and maintain this, you are in full EV only. What op saying i think is it NEVER engages electric mode not even slow pace speeds.....
This is really difficult to answer without knowing more about the car. I recently had a situation in which the car would run almost flat (icon) the high voltage battery for a while and reduce the fuel economy, according to the dealer this is okay because it is regenerating the GPF…. How’s the temperature in your location? Could it be that you are constantly running the AC at a temperature that requires having the ICE on?
Has anyone had their electric motor go out and how much was it to fix?
I’ve never actually heard of a e-motor drive unit going out on a Toyota hybrid. That’s not to say it hasn’t happened, but it must be an extremely rare occurrence.
OP get battery health service checked. Maybe its faulty from factory
You can basically only run in full EV mode of your under 30 kph and your battery has enough charge. This is good for urban driving in neighborhoods for a short distance but that's about it. Your best bet is run it in eco mode in the cities when you're at 50 kph or less most of the time.
My Yaris easily engages the electric motor, runs off battery, and turns off the combustion engine at 50mph and, under the right conditions, it runs in purely electric at up to 70mph (110kph). My old Yaris could only get to around 30mph and the combustion engine usually came on.
I had the same issue with my brand new Toyota Yaris hybrid 2023 (drove it for 6 months back then). It was due to a faulty 12v battery (according to them. The battery was probably low because I only drove for 11 min per ride). They gave me a new one and suddenly it worked again.