I’ve had my PHEV Sportage since September and I must say that now the temperature is dropping, the engine runs for most of the short journeys. I was expecting the engine to run to heat the cabin, but even with the temperature turn down (or even off), the engine runs. I’m 99% certain this is to get the engine warm. It does make sense – if it stayed in EV mode and I had to floor the accelerator the engine would kick in when it is COMPLETELY cold and very excessive wear would occur.
This has resulted in me learning that PHEVs are not suitable for very short drives, nor very long drives. I’ll be doing a round trip of around 38miles in a few minutes and that is the sort of journey where this set up excels.