I was wondering just how the HCH II would do on I-70 through Colorado. I have some friends I visit around Denver and Aspen every few years and had some concerns on how my new HCH would handle I-70 around Loveland and Vail. I take it you and Kristian have driven that route a few times with no problems?

 

Yes. No problems from me. I sometimes take the steep inclines a bit slow, but that is more for fuel economy reasons. I'm still going faster than the semis.

 

It's kinda interesting at altitude. The IMA is not affected by a lack of oxygen and the CVT is great so I would venture to say that it has more acceleration if the SoC is full than our old 130hp Protoge at the really high altitudes. However, the battery simply doesn't last that long, and it always seems to discharge on the slight hills so it's only at 4 bars when the steep ones start. When the SOC is low, the ICE likes to stay around 4k rpm to maintain a traffic-safe 50mph. It's plenty powerful to get up the hills, but if you have to stop, it takes a little bit to get back up to speed.

I've only had it at the high altitudes twice--both in the winter on ski trips, with skis on top. Also, the car was pretty new at the time. The best I could manage was about 45mpg on those trips, despite the large amounts of gliding on the way home. I'm curious to try it again in the summer, but then it would have a bike on the roof which I know is going to kill my MPG.

BTW, Loveland is lower than Colorado Springs and it works very well here in town at 6,200 feet