u/Forsaken_Garlic_4208

Personally, I didn't get it at first either. But I've come to love having the charge mode button now that I've used it a bit. I'm wondering how others have found gas mileage to be on long trips when charge mode is activated and set to current levels as opposed to starting with an "empty" battery in hybrid mode without activating charge mode.

From my searches on the matter, it seems like people completely misunderstand this function, and the manual doesn't exactly make it clear what the point is.

The way I came to understand it is, based on the fact that it asks you for a charge target every time, the main point is to set the base charge level for hybrid use (generally near current level), NOT to charge the battery per se (unless you want/need to).

If you ignore this button, it simply uses the battery until the charge target is "empty" which is actually 10% as you can see on the gauge. In a standard hybrid model, the battery isn't big enough for you to worry about this and it's all handled automatically. But with such a big battery in a PHEV model, it's actually kind of genius to allow you to set this target anywhere in the battery's charge range, which is why they ask you every time. This annoyed me too at first, like why is it always asking me this BS?!

I've really come to appreciate this little button for several reasons.

1. As a mechanic, I don't like the idea of running the engine for short periods where it never gets hot enough to properly burn off condensation and causes milkshake oil. So this button allows me to make sure the engine stays on until the oil is warm.
   • I really wish I could get a shortcut for the maintenance menu that shows the oil temp.
   • Despite the coolant temp getting warm within only a minute or two, the oil temp takes a VERY long time to come up and never gets above 204. It should be getting to at least 210 to burn off the water, but I've read that anything over 160 should be ok.
2. This button lets YOU be in control of EV/hybrid mode, and you should choose one or the other at the start based on the expected drive. As I just mentioned, the charge target should be set at the current level if you intend to drive in hybrid mode for any length of time, ie using the engine at all. Personally, in my humble opinion...
   • You should either be in EV mode or use the engine, not whatever the car chooses, and this button gives you that power.
   • Letting it automatically run in EV for a short time, then use the last 10% of the battery in hybrid mode with a cold engine turning on and off constantly is not only bad for the engine (see #1), but it's not great for the battery to be charging it back and forth at the minimum.
   • You should choose whether to use hybrid mode when you start the drive based on the nature of the drive if you want to keep a healthy engine, see #1.
   • Don't be afraid to use the engine. It needs to be run sometimes and should be run for the entire drive, not just at the end for a few minutes.
   • You should use the charge button when you do so and set the charge point at the current level as opposed to running it down.
3. When I want to drive spiritedly in sport mode (or normal mode), it doesn't seem to matter what your charge target is. It gives you "boost" power when you want/need it.
   • I wonder if on long uphill grades, if it will drain the battery despite your charge target.
   • Will you lose power if you don't use the charge mode and let it go completely empty on long grades or towing?
4. I can save EV mode for city driving or traffic.
5. I can sacrifice some gas to keep it charged up for later.
   • I get free charging at work, and it's sometimes a pain or I don't have time to charge at home, so it's nice to top it up during errands and save the battery for work drives, especially if I'm resigned to needing to use the engine at some point (and thus want it to run long enough to keep it warm, see #1).
   • This doesn't seem to use much extra gas. I only see 2mpg at worst. Does anyone have numbers on charge mode vs hybrid (without having the EV mode skew the car's calc)?
6. You need to reserve some charge for AC to work. You might notice that there's no AC compressor on the 4cyl motor.
   • It only sorta mentions this in the manual saying that having AC on may prevent charging.
   • I saw one report of someone's AC turning off in hot weather when the battery read empty.
   • Has anyone had their AC stop when the battery is dead?
   • I know it has electric heat, but I would hope that it uses engine heat as a backup. Has anyone had heat stop in the winter with a warm engine and a dead battery?