I recently bought a used '07 Civic Hybrid about a week ago, so I'm new to the Honda hybrid system. I have read that it will cruise on electric only at low speeds under light load, but I have yet to experience this.

Can you describe your experience of running on electic motor only? Does the gas engine turn completely off?

Thanks - Kenneth

Practice on slight down grade. At 50mph or so come off the trottle and you will notice you have regen[grn] bars showing. And the instant miles per gal. guage should be pegged at 150mpg. Once you have both of these showing, you are in EV mod. feather your throttle untill the grn. regen bars go away. If your SOC is good you can go as high as 4 assist [wt] bars and stay in EV for as long as your SOC is good.Practise and it will become easy. Cheers, H

And if you're moving faster than 7 or 8 MPH, the gas engine NEVER ahuta off. This is different than in a Prius or Escape. What happens is that (on occasion) the intake valves shut off the gas flow to the engine, but the crankshaft keeps turning. Therefore, engine on, gas off. It's cool to know, and it occurs occasionally just naturally as you drive. You CAN induce it, like Harold explains, but I do not strive for it often. Using up the IMA's juice is cool (as you may not be using any gas at that point), but you must replenish the battery juice you used up - and it's not 100% efficient - so the cost is almost always higher than the gain.
Trying NOT to use the battery pack, except when it's needed for extra acceleration or hill-climbing, is the best way for the typical driver to get better MPG.

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

I usually kick it into EV mode when I'm about a mile away from my turns if I know I'm going to be on a stretch longer than a mile without stopping after the turn. I get about 3-5mph above the speed limit then do a forced EV with 4 assist bars. I slowly reduce speed to about 5-10 mph below the speed limit by the time I get about 0.2 mile from the stop sign, then lightly apply the brakes to stop. Usually what I gain in mpg is what I use on the acceleration back up to speed on the next part of the trip! Breaking even this way is better than low mpg gain on the stop and then using more than what you gained on the next acceleration!

I often use the EV mode with the cruise control when I ride in small French town and when the road is flat. I turn on the cruise control at 50 km/h (31 mph) (town speed limit in France) and I press several times on button to decrease my speed between 44 and 46 km/h (27 and 28 mpg), then I'm in "EV mode" at a constant speed !

I drive regulary 2 or 3 km non stop in EV mode (1 or 2 mi), it is esier when the road is slightly going down

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I'll try that next time out, Denis. Thanks,H

you're welcome, note that the thermic engine is still running but there is no fuel consumption ! the mpg bar is at zero and the white bars of the IMA are between 4 and 6.

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I'll try that Denis. I have never managed to go more than 4 assit bars. After 4 assist bars the ICE kicks in. Maybe you can go more than 4 assist bars when on criuse? I will find out! Cheers, H

I think the HCH "EV mode" is well running when the thermic motor is hot or has the good temp. In my case, when I use the "EV mode" (with cruise control), I get 6 assist bars only when the motor is "in temp". But you can use EV Mode with 6 assist bars without cruise control, you may just be very smooth with the acceletor

You can find some videos on Youtube about that, I'll check that this evening and post them here !!

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You can have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/hypermiling for the videos giving some tips about driving the HCH II.
Enjoy !

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