Warming up at startup

[Jeff Huang]

First time on this forum, and first time posting. Apologies if I'm bringing up an old topic (tried searching for it but don't think I saw the thread) or am asking an obvious question.

 

I wanted to know the "proper" way of warming up my 2012 hybrid at startup. I've heard people say that hybrids don't particularly need to warm up since it's an electric startup.

 

Again, sorry if I'm asking a dumb question or bringing up an old topic again. Thank you for any responses and feedback!

[terryb]

Look a little further down the page to fuel mileage/Remote Start Advantage for a discussion of whether there may be an advantage to letting the car charge the battery before making a trip by using remote start. I think a manual warmup would fall into the same category. Generally speaking unless you are in a frigid situation there is no reason to warmup. Then the recommendation is only to take it easy on the car until equipment reaches operating temperatures. In cold weather the heated seats are more efficient than running the cabin heat.

[rico567]

I'm not surprised that a hybrid is no different- any car manual we've ever had says to start the car and drive off, that warming up is neither necessary nor desirable. The engine warms to operating temperature much faster under load (i.e., when driving), and warmed up and operating is where the engine is designed to be. Nothing -nothing- is harder while an engine is running than cold starts. They are unavoidable, but a shorter time spent while cold means more time spent in the temperature range where the engine is designed to operate.

[acdii]

2012 FFH is a lot different than the 2013 in the above thread mentioned. Unless you have remote start, just get in and drive it, it will warm up faster with a load on it than if you let it idle. The power split system and charging between the 10-12 and the 13 is very different. There may be a slight improvement for short trips on the 13, but the 12 will run the ICE until its warm no matter what its like outside, the 13 if you are only going up to 25 MPH can stay on EV when its above 60* unless the pack is low, or the AC is on.

 

So in short, just get in and drive and dont worry about warm up, not needed on the 12.

[expresspotato]

A little interesting fact: If you're in EV and the engine kicks on the first time in since keystart and is relative cold, the engine will run at very low RPM's producing not much power for about 30 seconds, then rev up to meet the power demand. Sounds like a protection mechanism to me.