Before I get started let me acknowledge that the FAS is not for everyone. FASing can be very dangerous depending on the owners knowledge, skill, vehicle and local driving conditions. In fact my public position is that for safety's sake people should not FAS.

Now for those of you who have ignored the safety warning and FAS anyways...

How long are your 12VDC batteries lasting? I went out today and bought my first DuraLast which I'm hoping will last longer than 2 or 3 years the old battery lasted. Evidently FASing is really hard on 12V batteries?

 

I've been getting 8 years of battery life from each of the 2 batteries that I replaced in my bought-when-new 92 Civic dispite lots of FASing. I have a voltmeter on the dash to monitor battery voltage. The only time that low battery voltage has ever been a problem was during winter night driving when there are lots of long red lights.

 

I never did FAS but had to replace batteries a lot on my Altimas. With 2 altimas and 6-7 years about 5 different batteries. While I do not FAS I do run around town a lot. So I probably average 8-10 starts a day.

 

Interesting...
What size is the non-hybrid Civic's 12V battery?

I wonder if hybrids are harder on batts since they use electric PS?

I drive at night a lot so that could be part of the problem. Several minutes of FAS at a time with the lights blazing away.

 

Don't know about Honda, but the Toyota EPS uses traction battery/inverter, not the 12V system. The motor is at higher voltage than 12 V. Also, Toyota specifies a gel battery rather than the more typical lead/liquid acid for the 12 V most likely due for spill resistance and safety (battery is in the trunk). Bad news is that certain kinds of overcharge and deep cycling of gel batteries cause a real short life, and replacement costs are out there for OEM battery.