- First Name
- Mike
- Joined
- May 3, 2024
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 4,953
- Reaction score
- 4,560
- Location
- KC Metro area
- Vehicle(s)
- 2005 Toyota RAV4, 2024 XLT Hybrid
- Engine
- 2.5L Hybrid
Actually - drive it as recommended for ANY vehicle for last many decades.Hybrids are hard on an engine if you think about it.
When you press the start button, the vehicle turns on but the engine does not start, you put it in gear and off you go to the end of the street, wait to pull onto the highway and "Blast-Off".
The poor cold, sleeping engine kicks on for the first time trying to immediately get up to highway speed from a cold start.
You could change the oil every day and it would not help.
What you can do is, once you first turn the vehicle on, tap the accelerator peddle quickly and the engine will start and just idle for a few minutes or until you need it.
That would infinitely be the best thing you could do for your hybrid engine.
In my opinion.
Start out slow and easy, perhaps a quick 20-30 sec idle first.
For the hybrid - it stays in EV mode after the ICE is turned on, until the catalytic converter reaches 1000 - unless you are indeed getting off your driveway, and straight onto highway at speed.
But then that would be ignoring the advice and hard on ALL vehicles except BEV's.
The engine actually has it easier - it's spun up to required RPM and THEN fuel/spark added.
Not with starter with fuel/spark at start to get it up to RPM.
So much gentler to have the engine and oil pump going full RPM before explosives added.
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