Stationary charging of main traction battery Toyota hybrid

[cirian75]

Today I test drove a Renault Clio Hybrid

quite a nice car but I think I prefer the Toyota

The one thing that did impress me though, is when I first started the car it ran the engine until it had charged the main hybrid traction battery all the way..

Can the Toyota Corolla did this?

[littleredrooster]

Yes - press the On button, then select B rather than D. This prioritises battery charging.

But why would you? Regenerative braking and battery management will optimise charging, so why (potentially) waste fuel charging when it may not be needed?

[Gerradi]

...or on older Hybrids (450h), start/ready, foot on brake slightly press accelerator for 30 secs. Repeat if neede until batt shows full.

[Snow and Rocks]

Why would you want to do this? The whole point is that there's capacity to store some energy that is otherwise lost to braking and use that to help take some strain off the ICE. If it charges to full off the ICE then you won't be able to recover any energy.

[Tabs]

Yes, why the need to do it?
I've been driving Toyota and Lexus hybrids for 15 years and about 500,000 miles.
I just get in and drive.
During this time, I've only ever seen the hybrid battery graphic bars full to the top on a handful of occasions.

[Yahonza]

That's right - the battery under the back seat retains some charge so you can drive off without having to do this. Depending on the circumstances the engine will come on, or not. If there is a lot of demand on the battery, e.g. cold and needing the heaters on the engine will come on. It charges better on the move. The Corolla is still one of the best of the hybrids - it is all seamless.