Citroen c3 mhev ev mode no longer after recall

wildwooley

We recently had three recalls on our c3 mhev which is 8 months old and done 1,200 miles after receiving car back the ev made had stopped working. went back to main dealer they said they already had two cars there like it and Citroen havnt issued a fix for it with no time scale on it.So now we have a car we thats not what we brought if we try and reject it we have to pay about £1 a mile so at moment we are not using it anyone have a solution to this.

EssexExile

I'd try the Citroen Owners Club forum.

paul_c123

Do mild hybrids really have EV mode anyway?

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085312#Comment_82085312

These do, but it's trivial. <20mph, about 1km range. Basically, it uses stop-start while moving to coast with a bit of assistance from the main (lithium) battery.

On a car that's only done 1,200 miles in eight months, I'd be thinking that the battery is simply not charged enough for stop-start to kick in, especially after a period sat parked up.

Bet it'll work just fine after a proper run or a night on a suitable battery charger. Poor thing.

forgotmyname

Noticed that some cars now stop the alternator from charging the battery which may save a few pennies but at the cost of
having to replace the battery more often. I have one of those plug in voltmeters and thought why is it only 12.3volts with the
engine running. I would have expected it to charge the battery when the voltage got that low.

I have to trick it into turning the alternator on to charge the battery. Each journey is now starting to require a checklist
like a pilot. Short journey so stop start disabled, supermarket journey so autobrake off, then it's what can I turn on to fool the
alternator? The passengers beat me if I choose the seat heaters in this weather, I don't want to use the screen heaters in this
heat and I don't want to use the lights because they are stupidly expensive to replace…

Heater blow on high seems to trick it but that gets annoying after a while.

Goudy

The Hybrid system won't engage if the small traction battery is less then 30% charged. The system will prioritise recharging it before taking anymore out of it. This means it probably won't engage it's limited EV system until the traction battery is far more charged that the 30% minimum charge. Likely when the battery is near fully charged.

(they also won't fully charge to the whole stated battery capacity to prolong the life of it. So it's software thinks it's effectively empty at 30% and fully charged at 80% or so)

The climate setting will over ride the system. Running the air conditioning will cause it to disengage. Plus the system will prioritise engine warm up before engaging it's limited EV capabilities.

First thing would be to try and make the traction battery charge, this might involve a decent length drive around.

I'm unfamiliar with the precise working of this system but usually there are ways to force a traction battery to recharge with a hybrid, it's called Brake Torqueing.

With a Toyota system you just turn the car on to "Ready", hold the foot brake down hard, select D and press the accelerator to force the engine to start and charge the battery. It usually only takes a few minutes, but this isn't a Toyota so who knows.

Next would be turning off those loads that keep the engine on. I've pretty sure most people are running their air con regularly at the moment, so it might be worth a try.

If you're sure the traction battery is well charged with things like the air con off and it still fails, then there is obviously a fault or perhaps a software issue with the system.

daveyjp

I've never needed to press the brake on our Toyota. Turn key or press starter to 'Ready', leave in Park and press the accelerator.

.

Goudy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085620#Comment_82085620

Putting it in drive actuates the planetary gear controller, basically locking the ICE to the gearbox, which effectively locks it to the MG1 as your brakes are on and no torque goes to the wheels.

All torque from the ICE then goes through the MG1 and charges the traction battery, usually in under two minutes for a good traction battery pack.

In park or neutral the gear controller isn't active all the time. Some torque will spin the MG1 as and when the cars charging system thinks it needs to and not if it doesn't. It's not necessarily fully focused on charging the traction battery fully, it's just in a idle mode. It will charge it, but when and how it wants to, you aren't forcing all the ICE torque through the MG1.

If you have a paid up copy of Dr Prius, you can see the different charge rates between Park and Drive.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085498#Comment_82085498

Hyybrids do not have alternators. They have a DC to DC charger.

Iceweasel

My mild hybrid definitely has an EV mode.

It's a 3 litre 6 cylinder diesel.

Get it up to 70ish on a reasonably level motorway/dual carriageway, lift off the accelerator, the revs fall to zero, and it'll cruise on for miles and miles until you reach an uphill gradient, brake, or accelerate.

The 'power meter' on the dash shows if you're in ICE, EV, or battery recharge mode.

I get around 20 mpg more than with my last car which had the same engine but was not a mild hybrid.

paul_c123

Anyway, to fix the problem it needs diagnosing. A first step would be to scan for codes and read live data….