I have a lot of friends and family who are either interested in hybrids now or thinking about buying them. The Civic HCH-II is nested in a very nice spot where is much cheaper than the Prius, with close to the same mileage performance. It has the same trunk size as the Camry Hybrid, but the trunk space is much more usable. Lastly it has more inside room than the Prius but slightly lower than the Camry. My wife actually can not drive the Prius as she is all legs and the seat does not go back far enough.

Anyway now to the point of this post. Most of my friends/family are coming to the same conclusion that I did, and that is that the HCH-II is a great buy and about as small as we would consider for a family car. Only problem is that Honda is not making enough of them! There are 6 week waiting lists that are getting much worse as the price of gas goes up? Will Honda be able to ramp up production to meet demand to start to close the sales gap vs. the Prius? I think it is very important for us current owners that the HCH-II increase volume sales if we are going to have options later on in the modification/aftermarket business.

Do you guys think there will be companies making Plug in Vehicle modifications for the HCH-II in the future? I normally keep cars for 10-13 years and would love to play around with Lithium Ion Battery kits with possible plug in performance enhancements after the 8/80,000 Hybrid parts warranty is up and the price for the technology drops sharply. I would hate to get 8 years down the road, only to find out that Lithium Ion batteries are 1/2 the price of NiMH, with better performance, but be forced to have to replace our batteries with more expensive inferior NiMH cells. I notice that right now the upgrade/PHEV market is focused almost entirely on the Prius. It is only a matter of about 5-6 years in my mind where LiON are standard packs in Hybrids. It would be nice to think that in 5 years we would be able to purchase a LiON/PHEV kit that also changes the programming in the computer system to make all electric cruising on flat roads and 100+ mpg a reality for the 3-4K price range. Am I just dreaming?

It's highly possible that down the road some we'll be able to upgrade to Lithium Ion battery packs. Maybe with a much higher battery pack capacity, too. Maybe even plug-in recharge capabilities. This will be good.

But, the electric motor is just not powerful enough to propel the HCH except for very short distances. Also, it's very difficult (if not impossible) to use the IMA alone from an absolute stop to move the car. However, I CAN easily get into IMA-only mode at 1100 RPM at low speeds (10-20MPH), and occasionally at other speeds. I can only sustain this IMA-only mode for a short while though. This is where tweaking the programming to go "all-IMA and stay there longer" COULD make a difference if we had much bigger battery capacity.

The Prius is targeted much more for the PHEV projects because:
(1) much more powerful electric motor,
(2) much more potential cargo area to put the (currently) rather large contraptions, and
(3) economics - many more Pruis' sold=worthwhile to make/market PHEV kits.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

There it is again that 100 MPG thing.

It does NOT get 100 MPG if it is using gas AND electricity.

Plus how much coal did they have to burn to get that electricity.

And did that burning coal produce more toxic emissions than your HCH would have produced to travel the same distance?

Need fewer troops to support.
Drive a hybrid.
Best tank 71.65 MPG.

Before this car I spent two years learning hypermiling on my 2004 HCH1.

The HCH will never be a candidate for a plug in. By that time, Honda will have their hydrogen fueled vehicles anyway.

Support the Troops - Drive a Hybrid!