I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not but as the weather has gotten cold in New England my car rarely goes into ICE mode. Before when I'd be at a stop light the engine would go into ICE mode right away but now it never goes into ICE mode. The only time my car is in ICE mode is if I were to shut the car off to go grab something and then return to start it when warm. My gas mileage average has taken a substantial hit to. I was averaging around 32 to 33 mpg before but now I'm in the 23-24mpg range driving the same routes and same style.

Anybody else experience this? Should I be worried? The car has thrown no CEL of any sorts. Any advice will be appreciated!

 

The cold weather necessitates the use of the cabin heater which is run off of the gasoline engine (the ICE or Internal Combustion Engine). The car will only go into EV (Electric Vehicle) mode if no heating is called for. With the engine running nearly all the time, the big mileage benefits of the hybrid system are minimized.

As far as I know, all Sport Hybrid owners take a big hit in mileage during the winter months primarily due to more frequent use of the ICE for heating the cabin as well as the negative effects of winter gas and other factors.

 

Hondamore thanks for the reply. This makes me feel better that it's not the battery but just the
winter Gas and heat.

 

Totally normal. I'm back down into the 25.9 to 26.7 average mpg now that the heat is being used. When spring comes back and the heat is no longer in use, your EV mode will kick in more regularly. A trick I have found is once the car is warmed up and the inside temp is about where I want it, I turn off the heat system and small amounts of heat still radiate into the cabin and the EV mode kicks in more than it would otherwise at this time of year. I only do that if I am driving below 58 mph. Just a tip. Give it a try. It may boost your mpg a little.

 

Not sure if this would draw on EV performance, but once the cabin reaches a comfortable level, I turn off the heat and simply use my heated seat and heated steering wheel. This more than often keeps me comfortable for my commute.

I dont pay attention to my fuel economy at all - but I have noticed less driving in EV since the weather has started cooling.

 

I am very fortunate to have a heating garage. I keep the temperature in there around 65 degrees all winter long. In the morning, at least, my mileage to work is always better than my mileage home after sitting outside in a cold parking lot all day.

 

This is an even problem for straight EVs. We have an i3 and it has a function that will pre-condition the cabin while charging. You set departure time and it will start the heater in time to get the cabin warm by departure. Same for AC in the summer. However, we live in moderate climate so I have yet to use the feature

 

Completely normal behavior as other have pointed. My MPG now have dropped to 25-26 from 30-31mpg

 

I used to blast the heat on HI as I find that it takes longer for this car to get the heat going and this was killing my EV mode. Now I leave it around 75 and the EV mode kicks in a lot more. I've taken the advice of turning the heat off once the cabin is comfortable and I use the heated seats and steering wheel function, this had bumped my mpgs back to around 30 mpg. Thanks for all the tips! You guys truly rock this message board!

 

We all try to be helpful to each other in hopes of enjoying the product more. Nobody has a monopoly on the information. We all find little things here and there and share it with each other.