Isn't the HCHII supposed to be able to run on only its electric motor for short periods of time? I have heard of this but it has never happened to me when driving... How do you do this?

And another topic--I am still getting terrible terrible mileage with my HCHII. There is no way it is my driving style--I know I have no way to prove it to anyone, but I seriously do drive the way a hybrid is supposed to be driven. All I can think of is that maybe the trips I make are too short for the engine to ever warm up (I live up North), and maybe this type of 5-10 minute per trip city driving is impossible to get good mileage with.

I probably should have researched more before I bought the Civic Hybrid. I think since I mostly do city driving, a full hybrid like the Prius would have suited me a lot better, since it can do up to 20mph only electric.

Does anyone think there is a chance of Honda releasing some sort of software update that would allow the civic to do something like that?

 

Do you have a block heater? If you don't and you're making 5-10 minute long trips, you'll be hard pressed to get above 35 mpg in the winter months.

Heck, I'm in Memphis and I've seen 4-5 mpg drops when the temperature drops from 40 degrees to 30 degrees in my daily commute. I'm seriously considering a block heater myself.

In that regard, I could say I have a plug-in hybrid



--Chris

 

There's a thread on this very topic:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...er-hour-17073/

Some say it doesn't happen at all. Others claim it virtually happens. Whatever! I know that between 10mph and 30-50 mph you can get your meter to peg at 100 mpg and push the assist indicator 3-4 bars sustaining a speed. I've done this many times on the flat and mpg goes up pretty fast. Below 10 mph the ice kicks in. Over 50-60 I don't think you can engage it though some claim they have. The Honda literature says 35 and under the injectors cut out under certain conditions...usually downhill or flats.

Make sense?

 

Any hybrid or normal car is going to do worse over short trips, especially during the winter months.

Cold temps add to the fact the the car won't be able to to use some hybrid functions such as brake regen until it is warmed up. The Prius might be better in the city but if your doing cold starts to travel only 5-10 minutes the electric mode might not even kick in until you've arrived.

If you want good mpg right off the bat you'll need the block heater like everyone mentioned. Or other inventive lengths like grill blocking, etc.

 

The Civic hybrid can run on electric only, but not in the same way as the Prius does. Starting from a stop on electric is something the HCH was not designed to do.

However, there's this terrible and chronic misconception that running on electric is actually desirable.

Even the Prius will not achieve its best fuel economy when the battery is being hit often and since the HCH-II battery is even smaller, like in the Prius any trivial electric only operation should be avoided and be reserved for moments of strategic benefit.

Sure, it may make some folks feel better to ride the electric only for a while, but under normal driving conditions that remains one lousy way to put that "expensive energy" to good use.

If you are in the northern parts of the continent (like myself) the Prius will not even run on electric at all. Not in this cold weather. You'll have to wait until the temps warm up so that you can have the electric-only fun you are seeking.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

It's possible (I'm one of the folks who's done it), but there's really no point. Going a slight down grade, the wind resistance will typically slow you down more than the electric will keep you coasting, and by the time you get to a steep enough grade where the electric would keep you going the limit, you'd usually end up switching to regen for the free charge anyways.

 

I agree with MSantos. Even if there were a software upgrade for that, it would deplete your battery and cause you to go into forced regen. In the end, you would be using more gas. The only way would be a software update, a battery upgrade, and a PHEV system.

 

If you log on to one of the Prius forums, you will find the Prius does no better than the HCH when it is cold. It is really the same for any car--a cold engine needs a richer mixture when it warms up.
As far as running on electric only--it is normally not your friend when it comes to getting better mileage (unless you have a plug-in car). You have to keep in mind that all power, whether in the HCH or the Prius, comes from the ICE, so anytime you are running electric-only, you have to pay it back with gas use later. The Prius has a slight advantage over the HCH by being able to creep ahead at low speeds, whereas in the HCH the engine starts immediately we let our foot off the brake. In such circumstances, the electric motor can be more efficient than the ICE, and can result in better mileage. In practical use, there is little difference. I'm getting as good mileage on our HCH as we got on a rented Prius last year.

 

Try using the metric scale in your car for awhile -- provided that you are still adhering to speed limits and driving conditions. I have witnessed my HCHII go into electric-only mode at high speed, but these moments are under the right conditions and are usually brief. I've seen it in electric-only mode while cruising at 100 km/h. The evidence I use is the live fuel efficiency meter, which in metric drops to 0 L/100km. During these moments, there is a trickle amount of ASSIST happening.

In colder climates your fuel efficiency is going to suck a bit. All hybrids need a warm engine to operate at peak efficiency. I saw this the other day while watching a TCH drive off (from a stop) with the engine active.

 

Was it a cloud of vapor from the tailpipe that gave off the engine use?