Hi, everyone. I just got a HCH last night and while the salesman was nice and friendly, he was clearly unable to explain how my new engine works and what the gauges mean to me. What does the green "Auto Stop" light mean when I'm idling at a light? And am I supposed to be paying attention to the "Assist" bar as it rises and falls? I love the car and am anxious to see my next gas bill, but I'm not interested in trying to squeeze another few miles out of the car if it requires a lot of effort. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi Perli,

The flashing green Auto Stop light means that the engine has shut completely off and is not using a single drop of gas. Notice the RPMs are also zero. As soon as you take your foot off the brake the engine (ICE) will restart.

Enjoy!

Ron is SoCal

 

The "assist" bar tells you how hard the electric motor is working to assist the ICE (internal combustion engine). If you want to improve your fuel eficiency then the "assist" bar is helpful. If you're gentle on the gas pedal you'll see that you use less assist, and you'll be more fuel efficient. However, you shouldn't avoid assist completely. If you did, you wouldn't be utilizing your hybrid's capabilities.

I believe the IMA system automatically adjusts the amount of assist it provides depending on your batteries' charge level. If the charge is low, it will not offer much assist. If it's high, such as after you've gone down a long hill and recharged the batteries, it will provide more assistance to the ICE when needed.

 

The best thing about the "Auto Stop" light is that it's the car telling you that it's turned itself off for a reason, and not because something very VERY bad has just happened

 

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...read.4922.html

will answer most of your questions.

Jesse

 

I wouldn't worry much about the Assist bar to begin with. You'd be better off paying attention to the instantaneous Fuel Consumption Display when cruising (on the '03-'05 models that is a bar below the speedometer, on the '06 it is located on the upper-tier panel) Without giving specific examples, if you simply pay attention to that for a while, you will discover techniques that will lead to more economical driving.

The only time I normally pay attention to how much assist I'm using is if I'm approaching a big hill climb. If this is the case, I want to save up as much of my battery pack as possible-- if the battery runs out then the pack will begin trickle-charge from the engine before I'm finished climbing the hill. Also, if I know I'll be coming to a stop soon, and have a chance to charge, I'll use assist slightly more than usual.

 

I miss that feature on the Accord, but I suppose with that car, you're just better-off not knowing.


It's just a matter of habit but I don't pay a lot of attention to the instantaneous scale/numbers because I'll tend to start "watching" that, as opposed to watching the oncoming traffic. Mostly I've come to use both cars like those rotisserie ovens they sell on late-nite TV. Find the cruise control button, set it, and forget it.