A couple of questions for you Insight folks.
1)Will it run with a dead traction battery.
2)How hard would it be to "make it work" with a dead battery-just in case it won't run with a dead batery.
I'm asking this because there is a very high mile-200K Insight for sale in my mile and $$ range.My guess is that it should be able to get an honest 30-35mpg in city driving even with no regenerative braking-no electric motor power.The light wt-1600 lbs-and tiny 3 cyl ought to be good for pretty good mpg?
It wouldn't make any sense $$ wise to put a $5000 battery in a $6000 car just to improve mpg from 40 to 50.Thanks.Charlie

 

I assume you are refering to the hybrid batteries.

When I do a recal (battery dead: recharging), my maximum mpg is about 50. The acceleration suffers substantially - think Geo Metro. In fact, a Geo Metro or CRX HF might be a better choice than that particular Insight unless the battery was replaced.

 

Delta-thanks.It will run,but slowly,very,very slowly.Thanks.Charlie

 

I have heard of people getting "junkyard" batteries for a couple hundred bucks. Of course with anything from the junkyard you're taking a risk with the purchase. Just a thought. IF it's the right price car (Maybe $2k or less), worth the risk. If not you can always sell it to a ricer. I've got some cousins who own a "tuner" shop that specializes in Honda engine swaps and they drool everytime I pull in with my Insight. The car itself has some primo parts, then there is just a possibility of a (NON-Fuel Efficient) engineswap - either way the car would sell itself if marketed that way if it didn't work out for you.

 

The Honda system was designed with the combustion engine in mind first, and the hybrid system as an "ASSIST". So worst case, you can still run the car using the combustion engine if the IMA goes kaput.

 

Sorry I was not more help in my earlier post.

Curious what the lifetime mpg was on that Insight. If it's below 50mpg, I'd be concerned.

 

i ran my insight for about a week after the IMA pack completely quit. lost about 3 mpg on my standard commute. had a little less power. no big deal. i would buy it, as long as the dc-dc converter is keeping the 12v battery charged up. and start looking for a cheap set of batteries for the ima system. YMMV.... a lot!

 

Hi Chuck, my car had 47MPG on the lifetime when I got it. The day I bought it I reset it. 3,000 miles on non-LRR tires and loaning the car to a non-hybrid friendly driver for 3 months netted it 59mpg. Now at 12,000 miles the lifetime display shows 64.8. That being said, I still have battery issues.

Low lifetime mileage doesn't always mean there is a serious problem. It could mean there is was a driver who liked to sit in traffic not using ECON with the A/C on a lot. I'm thinking that was the issue with my car.

 

In December the IMA light on my 2000 Insight came on along with the check engine light. Prior to that I had been experiencing what appeared to be a weaker IMA response. The dealer confirmed that I needed a new NiMH battery; the cost: $3000 plus tax and labor, $3600. I put it off. In January one Monday morning I got IMA assist ascending a hill and then nothing again after that: no assist, no charge, no autostop. The only difference I noticed was a 5 mpg drop in fuel economy and the need to downshift sooner ascending hills. I calculated that at $3.00/gal I would have to drive 600,000 miles to make the new battery pay for itself (1,000,000 miles in Oklahoma where gas prices are less.) I have 148,000 miles on it now. It didn't make economic sense, but the question was could I get along on only the 12v battery. The dealer found out from the IMA technician in CA that >3000 rpm would charge the battery. So for over a month I have been getting by primarily by plugging in the 12v battery to a charger a couple times a week. However recently this has not been effective and when I thought the battery was charged my battery warning light came on as I was on a trip. The >3000 rpm technique didn't work either except to add three bars to the IMA charge indicator. I arrive at the next town and the instrument panel went blank. I could only go about 2 mph and the lights dimmed. Fortunately a friendly townfolk allowed me to charge the battery on his housecurrent for 30 minutes. I made it the rest of the way but had a similar problem on the return trip. My conclusion is, yes, the Insight will function without the IMA battery with only a minor loss in performance (5 mpg less and poorer acceleration compensated for by using lower gears), but the lack of an alternator is a serious drawback to trying to depend on the 12v battery. I am getting a new IMA battery installed whenever the dealer can get one.

 

Yes, it will. A more interesting problem is getting along with a weak 12 volt battery. That will bring you to a halt. I had that unhappy event.

Here is what I would like to do when my battery pack dies:

http://ev.whitecape.org/insight/

We'll see.