[InqInv2017]

Hi - I bought a 2017 volt. I live in Indiana and as soon as it got cold out the engine started running. I pull out of the garage, the battery is in use and the temperature registers around 40 degrees. The outside temperature starts registering. As soon as it hits 31 degrees I see a message "Run Engine due to temperature". I get less than 26 miles per gallon when the engine is running. It doesn't appear to be using the battery or acting like a hybrid. I don't recall reading that the car would do this and I'm disappointed. Is anyone else seeing this?

 

[saghost]

Search for ERDTT - the acronym we made from the message you mentioned. This is one of the most controversial features of the car, but your car is operating as designed.

The good news is that if you don't like it, you can reduce the temperature it happens at, or spoof the sensor to disable the behavior.

 

[Just_Jon]

.... Is anyone else seeing this?

I did a Google search for "Run Engine due to temperature".

Google returned 52,800,000 results with all the top ones pointing to threads on this site.

So, yes, other people have seen this.

 

[TSquare]

Hi - I bought a 2017 volt. I live in Indiana and as soon as it got cold out the engine started running. I pull out of the garage, the battery is in use and the temperature registers around 40 degrees. The outside temperature starts registering. As soon as it hits 31 degrees I see a message "Run Engine due to temperature". I get less than 26 miles per gallon when the engine is running. It doesn't appear to be using the battery or acting like a hybrid. I don't recall reading that the car would do this and I'm disappointed. Is anyone else seeing this?

Check the personalization section of your manual, page 143 "Engine Assist Heat". There it will tell you how to change the temperature threshold from 35 to 15 degrees.

 

[BAZINGA]

Set Engine Assisted Heating to DEFERRED. That means the ICE won't come on until the OAT drops to 15 degrees, then it will cycle ON/OFF to provided extra heat to the cabin the same as ANY ICE vehicle. The engine runs, gets HOT and the coolant absorbs the heat and that in turn is used to heat the cabin.

Come this spring you'll forget all about that when you are getting 60 miles of range from the battery.

 

[GSP]

While you are at it, you can select the "never start engine when plugged in" option. This allow preheating or cooling the car with remote start without the engine, even below 15 F. The 2013-2015 gen 1 Volts have this option, and I would expect the gen 2 cars to have it as well.

GSP