Turbulent jet ignition cold start aid via compression heating

An electrified powertrain of an electrified vehicle, the electrified powertrain comprising:

• an internal combustion engine:
• configured to combust fuel/air within respective primary combustion chambers of a plurality of cylinders to generate drive torque, and
• including a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) system configured to combust a pre-charge of fuel/air in a pre-chamber of a particular cylinder using a respective first spark plug and expel heat energy therefrom into a respective primary combustion chamber of the particular cylinder;
• one or more electric motors connected in series with the engine and configured to generate drive torque;
• and
• a controller configured to detect a request to cold start the engine and, in response to the detected cold start request:
• control the one or more electric motors to generate drive torque to physically power the engine for a period to increase a temperature within the particular primary combustion chamber;
• and
• after the period, starting the engine by combusting a primary charge of fuel/air within the respective primary combustion chamber using the TJI system,
• wherein controlling the one or more electric motors to physically power the engine for the period eliminates a need for a respective second park plug of the TJI system that is associated with the particular cylinder and configured to heat and promote combustion within the particular primary combustion chamber.