HSD Electric Motors
 

In my 2006 Highlander Hybrid, I notice that immediately after starting, the "power gauge" shows ~50kW of energy being used under normal acceleration--with barely a peep from the engine.

After about 2 minutes of driving, pulling that much power significantly revs up the engine.

Is it just me, or does HSD allow temporary boosts in electric motor output at the beginning of drives when the engine is cold-started?

I've noticed something similar in my 2006 Escape Hybrid (which uses the same style hybrid setup). The electric motors seem to do as much of the work as possible for the first couple minutes after a cold start. My guess is that its to save wear and tear on the engine by letting it warm up a bit before putting too much of a load on it.

It's too bad the system doesn't "boost" most acceleration--isn't that where the greatest savings would arise? (I'm thinking those hydraulic hybrid garbage trucks that double their FE from such a setup--engine for light loads, but not accelerating from a stop.)