What type of FE techniques seemed to work best on your HCH II? Have you made any modifications to your HCH II? Have you considered making your HCH II plug in? Have you conducted any experiments regarding FE using your HCH II?

 

BTW, I was out of the state last week on business and passed a Honda dealer that had FIVE HCH II out in front (2 - 2006, 3 - 2007)-- I was shocked! I had a few min. so I stopped in. I explained to the the salesman that I was a member of this group and wanted to know if he would let me compare the differences between the 2006 & 2007 HCH II. He said sure as business at this dealership seemed very slow and he seemed interested in what I thought.


One of the 2006 was used with 2,300 miles and the window sticker was folded neatly in the glove box (the other 4 were brand new). We took the window sticker out of the glove box, walked it over to the 2007 window sticker and compared it. They were almost identical. However, the price on the 2007 was approx. $500 more, the cost of fuel per year was also more as they must have figured a higher cost per gal. of fuel, and one of the lines describing the safety cage was a bit different.


If you go to the honda website you will find a few other minor changes, however, both the 2006 & 2007 looked and drove identical to me.

 

Sure...

- Added IMA assist inhibit dead pedal button.
- Added sacrificial anode electronic rust protection to all four corners.
- 5W Solar power panel to trickle charge the battery.
- Added blue floor lighting to the rear seats as well which is much better than to have the lighting for the front passengers only.
- And a few little other things to enhance the use of interior space (PDA, GPS holder, rear center cup holders, etc).


Cheers;

MSantos

 

which battery are you charging with the solar panels?

 

The solar panel is mounted on the dash and it provides extra power and managed charge to the 12V subsystem.

 

do you find that this has any measurable or noticeable effect on fuel economy or otherwise?

do you know of anyone that has tied into the high voltage pack to try to charge it externally?

 

Hi Msantos,

Please explain what was involved in installing the IMA assist inhibit dead pedal button and where you purchased it and for what cost? We really would like to try this.

Also, what about a trickle charge to the large battery? We would like to find a way to fully charge our battery using solar panels that we have while the car is parked at home. Any suggestions?

[/quote]
- Added IMA assist inhibit dead pedal button.
- Added sacrificial anode electronic rust protection to all four corners.
- 5W Solar power panel to trickle charge the battery.
- Added blue floor lighting to the rear seats as well which is much better than to have the lighting for the front passengers only.
- And a few little other things to enhance the use of interior space (PDA, GPS holder, rear center cup holders, etc).


Cheers;

MSantos[/quote]

 

The IMA inhibit assist is something that myself and another long time friend of mine developed for our HCH-2's at a local university (he's a professor there).
In basic terms, it consists of a module with custom software that taps into the IPU's MCM and the DLC ports and gets its primary input from a push button mounted at the top of the dead pedal.

This module is not yet for sale (we're thinking about it even though we got good cooperation from Honda)... For now it is just good motivational material (extra experience) for the students.

We cannot fully charge the IPU battery. Doing that would hasten the charging cycle/profile which would then shorten the battery's lifespan. Besides, it would interfere with the battery management regimen Honda identified as ideal for the HCH-2 anyway.

We also suspect that neither the battery pack (in its current configuration & capacity) nor the motor would benefit much from a fully charged IMA battery. Adding a supplement of batteries would be encouraging but then the motor and assembly would be unable to sustain the stress because of its relatively small size and proportionally small motive force. Too many variables and too risky for most folks. Unlike Toyota's HSD, we feel the IMA platform does not offer alot of potential for third party modifications or enhancements. Sorry.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

how would increasing the SoC do anything but help the FE? I can see making an argument that the battery may not deal with it adequately, but i can get significantly better trip FE with the SoC high so I can exploit assisted coasting more frequently without being put into a forced regen while cruising.

it seems that if the regenerative charge voltage and current could be duplicated it could be fed into the battery to recharge it while it sits still. Then my next trip would have a full or nearly full battery for me to use. I can then get it to the point where its about to enter into forced regen as i reach my destination and then charge it back up.

I am certain this is an over simplification, but fundamentally there should be a way to put energy into the battery without using the IMA motor as a generator.

I am sure I am wrong but I would like to know why

 

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1306