2 Bars? You must not have been in traffic for too long...

In 20 minutes I was down to 3 left with Autostop frequently engaging and the AC on 68 degrees.

No way to stay off the brakes...

 

I have had it happen only once in 10,000 miles. I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, uphill with the AC cranked. Didn't think I would ever make it up the hill, and it wasn't a big hill at all! You can really tell when you don't have any electric engine helping you along!!

Have been in bumper to bumper traffic a lot, but I think it was a combination of going up hill and having the AC cranked that did it. Usually its fairly level around here...and the AC isn't going full tilt.

Next thing will be a window tint, as I am possitive that will help the AC and the mileage.

As to FE, I am sure its got to be a good loss, but for that short of time, it probably won't make any difference on a tank of gas.

Regards,

Bob

 

I too noticed how weak the acceleration was on my car after the battery dropped to two bars. What happens when all of the bars go out and I am stuck in bumper to bumper traffic? Does the car shut off?

 

**** that's a shame, i was hoping the hchII would give the prius a run for its money when it comes to stop and go traffic. Right now my driving is pretty efficent but if I were to buy a hybrid to increase effencies, I would for sure make stop and go my highest priority.

Hm I would imagine wait for the guy in front of you to go and wait for him to stop, then try to pulse to get the car going and then try to ev mode and regen yourself to his position because by the time you get there, he's probably up creeping right up to the next dude

as for the above post, i reckon you get two auto stops, then it idles, but at least when your idling your charging the battery, unlike my car ;(

 

The ICE will keep running and all the things you have turned on will continue to work. It will be just like driving a Non-Hybrid. I have seen this condition just this past week when the Temp. was like 96 Deg. and high humidity. At stop and go traffic. The car was at a stoplight and the ICE was off and the A/C was blowing cold and all of a sudden the last bars dropped off and the ICE started up and everything was back to normal with No-Delay. Then I finally got through the traffic and stoplights and the bars started building back up and everthing was just fine. The next stop the ICE was off and the A/C was blowing cold as usual and foot off brake pedal and ICE fired up and away I went.

HCH II, works just fine.

Terry

 

The A/C sucks the life out the car here in Phoenix. I get it all the time but we were stuck in a detour from the 101 for 30 minutes with the air on and by the time we were getting back to the freeway, it had gone down to zero bars. The engine snapped back to life while it was off. It was weird.

 

I have had my '06 HCH for a few months and 3K miles now, but I have never been (at least to my knowledge) been in electric only mode. I thought that the ICE ran all the time (except during AutoStop).

I don't think I have ever had a forced Regen either. I seldom use the AC because it seemed to take a huge bite out my FE. I do live in a fairly flat area of the mid-west, so that helps I am sure.

And what the heck is EV Mode?

 

Ev Mode is the point were your gas engine is off while driving. The easiest way to do it is to simply let of the accelerator until you mpg meter pegs to 100mpg. Now the trick is to reapply the accelerator until either you have bars of assist without turning the engine back on or to glide no assist or charge. Read around this site you will learn that you have a amazing car and if you are willing to sacrafice some speed and drive smart you can get over the EPA mpg listed on the sticker.

Reading this for starters should help.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/learn/ar...fficiency.html

Also how did you calculate you MPG? We have found that the meter on the cars are not accurate. Normally you get better MPG than what is listed on the display. Calculate manually and find out what you really got.

 

Thanks Birchman2, I thik I finally fugured out what you are talking about. I drove about 300 miles RT this week and on the way home today, I practiced the EV thing. I started out getting it to work at slower speeds (mid-30's or so) and later could get it to kick in at higher MPH's. Not always when I wanted to, but I looked for some good spots to try (even or slightly down hill terrain, no lights, no traffic, etc.).

I also tried some safe "drafting"....not too close to the truck in front of me, but enought to see the IMPG jump 5-10 mpg.

I had to fill up on the way home, but really focused on the driving techniques for the 40 mile ride after I stopped to gas up. I was amazed that I was able to keep the mileage at 60+ for the 40 some miles (see photo below).

We are taking it on another roadtrip tomorrow, so I upped the air pressure in the tires from the factory 32 or so, to 40 psi to see how that helps.

Not the only problem is my wife informs me our 15-year old needs to drive to get the experience (he has a learners permit) before he gets his license next month !! There goes the start of a great tank for me.

 

I've had my 17 yr old on his permit putting some miles on my HCHII (and I only have about 250 miles on it). But I am taking advantage of the gauges and letting him see what can be accomplished by driving "correctly" (whatever the heck that is).

So hopefully he will be a better and more FE concious driver for it. So try to drill FE into your son at an early age and maybe you and he and the world will be rewarded (at the expense of a bad tank or two).

I'm on vacation with a rental car. I am suffering Civic Hybrid withdrawal.

Mike