Hi, first off, i am new to this forum, so hope i don't step over anyone's toes or piss anyone off!

anyhow, i was wondering if there was a way to have the hch start in electric mode or disable the gas motor in anyway and run soley on electric?

does a hack exist, has anyone tried this, and is this recommended?

thanks!

Nope, can't do it because a) the electric motor is very small (compared to HSD that does EV mode launches) and b) the motor is attached to the IC engine's driveshaft, so to spin the electric motor the gas engine also must spin.

The 2006 model offers a quazi EV mode where it will cut the fuel to the engine and close all the valves and run with just the electric motor for low speed cruising, but you'll still be taking a 'hit' in efficiency because the ICE will be spun by the electric motor too.

2001 Prius Photos       2005 Prius Photos
1992 Mitsubishi Delica Diesel-WVO Hybrid Photos

It's too bad that there's no way to upgrade a 2003 HCH's battery array to make it a "full" hybrid like the 2006 HCH is going to be.

The problem is the size of the motor, not the size of the battery pack. I believe the HCH carries a similar amount of batteries (in terms of poundage) as the Prius, but the Prius has a much larger motor with far more torque. The 06 Civic still will not be able to launch the vehicle under electric power only, but it can maintain very low speeds (such as neighborhood 25mph roads) on electric only.