This afternoon I was driving around town on my job with the low fuel light on since yeasterday afternoon. There was just one bar on the guage, and had been that way for at least 25 miles. Normally my assist doesn't kick in four bars until the fuel economy guage drops below 40, but this afternoon it was staying at four bars even at 40 + 2 or even +3 bars fuel economy (44 to 52 range).

Has anyone else noticed whether this apparently more aggressive assist function is normal when fuel is low? This is absolutely the first time I have been able to keep that kind of assist at low speed and "high" mpg.

I haven't had the update done yet. I'd be interested to know if anyone has seen this after the update as well, not just on "original" cars.

Thanks.
Matt

 

I haven't noticed it but I'll look out for it.

 

i haven't noticed it either

 

me either

 

I haven't noticed this since I rarely let my tank go below an eight of a tank. (I know, I'm paranoid, even in a Hybrid!!)

However, I have noticed that my assist seems to be more aggressive on cruise control than when I'm driving normally.

Or maybe I'm imagining it.

 

I notice the IMA assists more when the SoC is higher.

 

I have not noticed this.

 

I think this is the reason you saw your assist jump up, JMG. You probably had a full or nearly fully charged battery and the IMA took advantage of it. The software update has to do with controlling how much the revs can drop to protect the catalytic converter, not the ima assist

 

I notice this when the temperature is warmer out. I believe what you are noticing is that the MPGs at a given throttle position are higher than they normally would be due to a tailwind, or better weather, or something like that. On very cold days, assist for me usually kicks in in the high 30mpgs, but on hot days, it kicks in a couple notches above 40. Also, the battery may be in a more optimal temperature range, I know the computer take that into account when determining how much assist to generate.

 

My car seems just plain moody to me. Sometimes it gets "assist happy" and will show assist even when the instant mileage guage is around 55mpg with barely any throttle. Other times (especially when cold) the car does not like to use assist and will not assist even when the instant mpg gauge is down around 30mpg. I hate when it gets assist happy and prefer the way it acts when it is cold, only using assist when you really need it.