Hope this isn't a repost...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,1088581.story

It seems like the experience after this update is YMMV, just like in the other thread...

 

i have a 2006 civic hybrid. first IMA issue last year when the light came on and i had no electric assist on the steering wheel. took it into the dealer and i was told it was a dead engine battery (not hybrid battery) and faulty relay switch both replaced under warranty. fast forward to this year - IMA light went on a couple of months ago and it seemed that the battery not holding its charge. took it into local honda dealer who kept it for a couple of days and then told me it needed a software update to correct the problem. since that time, very poor acceleration (even for a civic hybrid!). read the los angeles times article today and now have a very good idea of why acceleration and gas mileage have dropped. so now basically i get the same gas mileage as a regular civic and have less acceleration capability. naturally, if the electric assist is not turning on during acceleration, you will get less power but preserve your battery cycle life. looks like honda is coming up with a really unethical "workaround" for hybrid batteries that would normally fail under existing warranty coverage. can't believe that this once honorable and customer oriented company is screwing with some of their most loyal clientele. hope someone out there files a class action so that we consumers don't get screwed.

 

I have a 2009 and the IMA Light illuminated at approximately 15,000 miles. Honda replaced the battery back. I'm now at 21,000 miles. I'm getting only about 40 MPG but run the air constantly (in Florida). I think Honda needs to extend the mileage warranty on the battery pack until 150,000 miles.

 

I knew it, my economy on my 09 has been going downlhill the last 6 months, battery crashes.......aghhh. Glad to see it is making news.

 

I am glad to see this IMA battery issue making the news. I'm hoping Honda starts reading these forums and steps up to plate and fixes the issue. Otherwise they will get national attention with a class action lawsuit. And you are right, we ARE loyal Honda customers. They have lost me as a customer for life because of this.

 

here's a quote from the article;

Honda's Martin declined to discuss the company's meetings with regulators, but said Honda did not consider battery degradation to be a safety issue because the primary source of power in the Civic hybrid is the internal combustion engine.

So there you have it. I hope California is successful in its dealings with Honda. Honda cannot do without the state of California as far as sales. And the car is beyond dangerous without the hybrid assist in acceleration - almost unusable as a car. Definitely dangerous in Texas on the highways around town. You need the assist.

I hand a written instruction sheet to the service department the few times I have gone in which states ; " Do not update, touch, examine, alter, or interrogate the IMA software or anything related to charge management for my car."

From this point on, I will have them print it out on the return service ticket. It's entirely clear what this update is about overall - decreasing the frequency of battery pack changes.

And if you have a 2007 you are skcrewed. Cuz all of the more frequent 2006 failures had their batteries replaced ( like mine) under warranty. I have no issue cuz my battery pack was replaced in 2009.

HOWEVER - my mileage has decreased from about 46-47 in the summer to 44.5 to 45 and from about 50 MPG in the "winter" ( Texas) to about 48.5. Passable but annoying and not as fun.

Hopefully the battery packs will be available for $1500 or less in 2012 when my next battery change will come up. I'll just swap mine out for a new one if performance goes down the tubes and guard the software situation like a hawk from this point on.

 

Wow, what a stretch of the truth. I understand the primary mode of power for the car once at speed is the ICE, but the primary mode of acceleration, especially from 0 mph is the IMA. Electric motors make all their torque at 0 rpms. Gasoline motors make zero torque at zero rpms.

This safety issue is inconsistent acceleration with no warning from the dash instrumentation to warn when the behavior will happen next. Inconsistent acceleration is a direct result of the IMA assist being reduced or cut.

We have certain expectations that if I push my throttle in 1/4 of the way, i get 1/4 acceleration, and when I push it half way, i get half available acceleration. When IMA assist is cut, 1/4 throttle now equals 1/10th throttle, half throttle may equal 1/4 throttle. THAT, my friends, is the safety issue.

 

yes. You have framed the key issue of IMA and acceleration very very well.

 

I think pushing the safety issue was how I got Honda to finally replace my battery.

I was nearly run over when jumping out into traffic 2 or 3 times just as an unexpected recal occurred. I looked at the battery SOC and had 5 bars. I pressed the pedal to the floor and got "nothing". Then I watched the battery SOC count down 5,4,3,2,1 and I realized what had happened.

I think it's time to start another lawsuit......

 

This is for RYSA4 but I don't think I know how to use this forum very well. Have the dealers given you a hard time about you refusing the software update ? Is there a way that you can tell that they didn't do it ? (An obvious way, not a mileage calculation)