Hello,
On Honda's website, they mention that my 2007 HCH should be able to "propel the car from a stop to speeds up to 35 mph". This has never been the case since I bought the car, the engine is always assisting when accelerating to 35MPH. How can I get my car to do this? If I can get it to work as described it could really help my mpg when driving on city streets.

Honda's IMA Webage:
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-h...px?feature=ima


Thanks!

 

I really don't think its possible.

 

That has to be some kind of mistake. It is not possible. The only way to get to 35mph from a stop in an HCH II without using the engine is to be at the top of a hill and let gravity do its thing.

 

That must be a type-o. The HCH does not work like that. You will only go into electric-only mode when your have been coasting then just lightly step on the accelerator. The 20 HP electric motor is not powerful enough to get you going that fast by itsself. You should contact Honda and ask them what is up with their website.

 

More than anything, I think that this is sneaky advertising and careful wording. Notice:

"The electric motor can propel the car from a stop to speeds up to 35 mph."

This statement is indeed TRUE! The electric motor DOES propel the car from a stop to speeds up to 35 mph. The catch is that it does it ALONG WITH the gasoline engine. Alternatively, one could argue that the electric motor is certainly CAPABLE of accelerating the car up to 35 mph, but it's just impossible to do in a production model released to the public because of the nature of the IMA system itself (notice the Assist in that acronym)

Notice that they didn't write:

"The electric motor can propel the car from a stop to speeds up to 35 mph BY ITSELF."

Oh, the joys of deceptive advertising.

 

The statement is FALSE. I really don't see how you could think otherwise.

This is clearly either a false statement--most likely a mistake. I think I have seen similar statements from Honda without the "from a stop" portion. If you have: "The electric motor can propel the car at speeds up to 35 mph.", the statement is much more reasonable. To pretend that their statement has some implied indication that electric motor actually means gas engine and electric motor is silly. As a matter of fact, they clearly distinguish the engine from the electric motor throughout the paragraph. They talk about what each can do individually and they talk about what they do together.

If the electric motor actually meant the engine and electric motor, why would they say it can propel the car from a stop to speeds up to 35 mph? Clearly, this would be a false statement as well. Combined, they are certainly not limited to 35 mph.

 

If you're really that pissed off, go and sue Honda for deceptive advertising & misrepresentation, and settle out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. I was trying to make a joke in my post but I suppose you read it too seriously. Of course, I know it's impossible for the electric motor to propel the car up to 35 mph, and that's why I called it "sneaky" and "deceptive" in the first place. I'm not trying to defend Honda, but sometimes, I think that one has to approach things with humor, or everything in the world will seem to be wrong.

 

I'm sorry, but did you not read anything I wrote? What makes you think I'm pissed? As I said in the post, I think their wording is a mistake. Why would I be pissed at a mistake? Why would I try to sue for deceptive advertising and misrepresentation? I think it is a mistake. You are the one that was saying Honda was being sneaky and deceptive.

Humor aside, you still said their statement was true through careful wording. I disagree. I see the statement as clearly false. That's all. I'm not pissed.

 

Well, we can probably all agree that the "most obvious" reading isn't true. More broadly, I've never liked the way Honda talks about how the car can run electric only. At various places I've seen speed claims ("up to 35 mph") and distance claims ("up to a quarter of a mile") that simply don't reflect lived reality with this car. Most notably, I've seen it go EV at speeds up to 80, and for distances up to a mile. And, no, I've never gotten it to accelerate from a stop without the gas engine.

So, I dunno whether it's a "mistake," but one way or another, Honda's official claims about EV-mode never have reflected actuality. This is one more example -- but a pretty egregious one, since they just happen to be claiming parity with the Prius, which actually is engineered to do this, while the HCH simply is not.

cheers --
doug

 

Couldn't agree more, Doug.