Lets talk BATTERIES!
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From: San Francisco
For Honda, the IMA idiot light has to come on. Specific codes have to be read which will determine if the battery pack has degraded to the point that a replacement is necessary.
If you pay attention to the behavior of the charge/assist meter you can tell if your battery pack is on its last legs. Unfortunately Honda will not do anything until the IMA light comes on.
If you pay attention to the behavior of the charge/assist meter you can tell if your battery pack is on its last legs. Unfortunately Honda will not do anything until the IMA light comes on.
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From: LA
Originally Posted by rockville,Mar 11 2010, 11:02 AM
Even if you were to mess with the battery there is no guaranty that you can get more power out of the electric motor. Honda could have put a larger electric motor in the car but since they didn't you may be stuck.
Joined: Apr 2006
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Originally Posted by rockville,Mar 11 2010, 11:02 AM
Even if you were to mess with the battery there is no guaranty that you can get more power out of the electric motor. Honda could have put a larger electric motor in the car but since they didn't you may be stuck.
As for the battery life warranty I've always asked what exactly is the guaranty? Take a laptop battery as an example. One one hand after about 1 year most laptop batteries show some noticable reduction in life. However, they still work. If I only need my battery to carry the laptop from room to room then as far as I'm concerned my battery is good so long as I have 10 minutes of life. However if I need 4 hours of battery a day a reduction from say 4 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 40 minutes would be "end of life". In the battery industry end of life is often defined as 80% of original capacity. Most laptops have lost than in their first year of life. However the battery can still provide useful life for years after that.
So what's my point? Well, how does Honda (or Toyota, Ford, GM etc) define a failed battery? Do they define it as a % reduction in capacity or as a total failure that prevents the battery from actually operating? As an owner if you have less battery power your car simply relies on the engine more heavily that in used to. That results in lower gas mileage. So you will still have a hybrid but over time the mileage you enjoyed will drop as the car needs the gasoline engine more often. Only in the less common case of a complete battery failure would we lose the ability to actually operate the hybrid system.
Anyway, this is why I take claims of long hybrid battery life with a grain of salt. The battery still does it's job but odds are not as well as it did when new.
As for the battery life warranty I've always asked what exactly is the guaranty? Take a laptop battery as an example. One one hand after about 1 year most laptop batteries show some noticable reduction in life. However, they still work. If I only need my battery to carry the laptop from room to room then as far as I'm concerned my battery is good so long as I have 10 minutes of life. However if I need 4 hours of battery a day a reduction from say 4 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 40 minutes would be "end of life". In the battery industry end of life is often defined as 80% of original capacity. Most laptops have lost than in their first year of life. However the battery can still provide useful life for years after that.
So what's my point? Well, how does Honda (or Toyota, Ford, GM etc) define a failed battery? Do they define it as a % reduction in capacity or as a total failure that prevents the battery from actually operating? As an owner if you have less battery power your car simply relies on the engine more heavily that in used to. That results in lower gas mileage. So you will still have a hybrid but over time the mileage you enjoyed will drop as the car needs the gasoline engine more often. Only in the less common case of a complete battery failure would we lose the ability to actually operate the hybrid system.
Anyway, this is why I take claims of long hybrid battery life with a grain of salt. The battery still does it's job but odds are not as well as it did when new.
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From: las vegas, nv.
if there were forums when the internal combustion engine was released you would've seen threads like: no "controlled explosion device" will ever match the power of my trusty steed!
i'm not exactly thrilled about hybrids from a performance standpoint, but human ingenuity will find a way. i'm sure one day we'll all see the hybrid in a different light. i can just see it now: engine swaps for the gas motor and the electric motor haha
i'm not exactly thrilled about hybrids from a performance standpoint, but human ingenuity will find a way. i'm sure one day we'll all see the hybrid in a different light. i can just see it now: engine swaps for the gas motor and the electric motor haha
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<sigh> you know honestly, if they dropped a K series into this car and kept it around 2500lbs, I'd actually be excited about this car. I love the current SI but at the weight and everything it's just hard to justify.
Of all the non lux makes, I find that I'm the most impressed with hondas, and I love the K series engines, so in a lightweight car that'd be quite the gem.
I mean sure, the FT86 (if it came with a turbo), s2000s, turbo Kappas, WRXs, etc are all great if not better cars, but one thing that a K series powered civic type car offers is a low cost of ownership, operation, and stress.
Of all the non lux makes, I find that I'm the most impressed with hondas, and I love the K series engines, so in a lightweight car that'd be quite the gem.
I mean sure, the FT86 (if it came with a turbo), s2000s, turbo Kappas, WRXs, etc are all great if not better cars, but one thing that a K series powered civic type car offers is a low cost of ownership, operation, and stress.
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