The IMA battery in my '03 HCH1 5-speed is starting to drain very low and not recharge fully. This has been going on for a few months and it's getting worse. Now it no longer gets the 3 green bars it used to have when driving with a light foot on the accelerator, and today for the first time, it didn't fully charge up after a spin on the highway that ALWAYS fully charges it. I spoke to the service manager at Honda and he said, 'Between you and me and the doorpost, trade that thing in NOW.' (Needless to say, they're offering me a terrible number for the trade. There's only 123Kmiles on it but it is 10 years old and I've kept it up well, done all the scheduled maintenance, and everything else about it works just fine.)

What I want to know is, do you think I can expect this to be a slow death--weeks, months? --or is it likely to suddenly and permanently die? Is there a way to prolong its life or is this definite death throes? I'm especially concerned about driving in hilly country (I'm in New England) and facing winter. I'd rather retire this car before it strands me at the bottom of a mountain it's too drained to drive up. I know a lot of you have been through this before, and appreciate good advice. I'd sure like to make it till the 2014 HCHs come out--I have loved this car and would be happy to get the next generation, but I'm told not to expect 2014s available till end of the year. Thanks folks.

 

PS: Has anyone encountered a situation where some part of the regenerative breaking mechanism was the cause of the IMA battery not charging well? Or is it pretty much always the battery itself that's the problem? Thanks.