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Originally Posted by HoosierRon
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It's slightly in error as to the cause of the engine running more often in cold weather. From the excerpt the writer seems to lay the responsibility on the battery. Actually it's on the engine.
All hybrids are primarily gassers with electro-mechanical assists. The electro-mechanical assist can help the gasser engine work less ( burn less fuel ) at the rate of 30-50% savings. However in cold weather we and our vehicles require warmth. We want to be warm and the engine's fluids need to be warmed, the catalytic converter has to be heated to a certain operating temperature and the NiMH battery probably needs a bit of a boost early on a cold day.
To accomplish all of this, especially warming up the huge cabin of the Tahoe the gasser engine has to run and run and run to generate heat. It has to do a lot of initial work to get us and the vehicle up to a comfortable operating temperature...THEN it can begin to take a break and let the electro-mechanical assist help drive the vehicle. All hybrids take a 10% hit in FE during the worst of winter simply because the gasser has to run more often and the electro-mechanical assist can't help out as much as in better weather.