Hi,

I have a 2012 Camry hybrid and I live in Colorado. I was driving down this afternoon and the car felt like it was braking automatically on steep grades. No warning lights came on and after parking for about 30 minutes it never came back.

I can't find anything online but it's hard to explain so I might not be looking correctly. Anybody have any thoughts??

 

Given the car has regeneration the system most likely kicked and this placed a drag on the wheels which is the same a braking. This is no automatic braking system.

 

The drag was the feeling I got but I was not braking and I was coasting down a mountain road. Will it kick on automatically even if not braking? It's never done this before.

 

Was the gear selector in "D"?

The regeneration system works when the brake is applied or the car is decelerating. The system has many modes of operation and operates differently above preset MPH's and driving conditions such as going downhill, long downhill, up and down hill, etc.

The regeneration system charges the battery. If the battery charge reaches a certain percentage and the car is coasting over a set MPH, the computer will change the engine timing. The timing change effectively turns the engine into an air compressor increasing the HP required to rotate the engine. This additional load can feel the same a braking the car. The car may have gone into long down hill mode.

The car should have an additional shift position "B". This position is supposed to put the car in constant regeneration mode for enhanced braking when going down hills and to keep the car from going backwards if the brake is released from a stop when going up an incline.

Your owners manual should explain the shift positions but not all the details of operation under certain driving conditions.

 

This sounds like what happened. "This additional load can feel the same a braking the car. The car may have gone into long down hill mode." I do have the "B" gear and I use it on occasion if i need to slow down a bit when coming down the mountain. On some of the steeper grades, 6-8%, I will use it because I dont want to overheat the brakes.

Thank you for the help on this! I really appreciate it.