soo i want to trade my 05 300c, for a civic hybrid or even a smart car (lol yes i know) but im kinda likeing that smart car... ok well my questions are for those who feel like teaching me hybrid 101.
1. does the civic hybrid have to be pluged in, inorder to charge the battery?
2. whats the major diffrence between the older hybrid civics and the knew ones.
3. what type of gas do they need 87,89,93...?
4. when driving can it be switched from battery to gas or do u have to stop to do that?
5. how long will the battery take you, 5miles..20miles...50miles....? how long does it take to charge it back up, and how is it charged (question 1^)
i think thats it..... oooh ya one more!, why are the wheels so ugly??? just had to ask, thats the only thing i dont like about them.

thanks so much, i really want to know wuts up with this car so ur answers would help out alot!

 

 

Only thing I could add to what spartybrutus has already said is:

The electric motor on the HCH works in conjunction with the gas one, not by itself. There is no "electric only" mode with the Honda.

If you want a the 5 speed manual transmission you have to go for a 2005 or earlier. 2006 and above only have the CVT automatic transmission.

 

Just to clarify:

In a sense that is true since the crankshaft still turns with the electric motor.

However, the HCH-2 can be powered by electric only as one of the 3 modes built into the IMA4 powerplant. As spartybrutus said, you can go a few blocks on electric only... perhaps even a couple of miles or more if you use the SoC to extend your glide into what we call an EV-Glide. While this is relatively easy to do it is also hardly helpful in achieving the best FE. The Prius is also victim to the same rules especially if you want to get the very best FE.

By the way, I EV glide at the end of the day on my residential street as a reward for keeping the SoC high. But if I do a bad job and end up with an SoC of 6 bars or less then no EV for me.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

wow, i lost you at "however". well another question... what is the difference between the civic and the priyus? do they both run the same way?

 

No.

The drive-line of the Prius implements a Power-split device (PSD) that allows the gas engine and the electric motors to provide power to the vehicle independently of each other. Because of this, the Prius does not have the same drive line losses as the HCH-2 and can therefore operate in pure electric mode only.

The HCH-2 cannot operate in "pure" electric only because the engine's crankshaft is turning as well (un-clutched drive-line). Even though the engine was designed extreme low friction in mind, it is still burdened by the load of a spinning crankshaft and that in addition to the fact that the electric motor provides at most 20hp, the electric-only operation is best used as a glide extender. That is why most of us call it EV-Glide instead of a EV-Mode as we would with the Prius.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

cool so in the priyus how far can the electric only mode take you? and how is it recharged?

 

It recharges almost as quickly as the HCH-2, mainly because it has a deeper battery pack. Depending on how gentle you are with the throttle, temperatures, SoC and the terrain you're driving on, you can take it for a few miles or more on EV mode only, in mostly slower speeds (<42MPH).


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Well I just recently found out that this can be done with the HCH-1 as well, sort of. I was pushing my run up the interstate on my return trip from Florida. I knew I was cutting it close but really wanted to make it to my exit before refueling. So I did and as I was approaching the exit ramp I noticed my speed decreasing and the engine shutoff. Unfortunately it was uphill to the exit and I pulled over into the emergency lane and coasted as far as I could. Was probably 100 feet short of the exit when I could go no further. So I tried restarting the engine and it did restart and I started forward very slowly when I noticed that the gas engine did not seem to be running. I made it to the ramp and coasted down it with no problem except there was a stop light at the bottom and a car in front of me or I could have coasted right through the light and across the street to the station. So I waited and tried starting the engine again. It sputtered and again I could tell the electric was running and the gas was off but it got me across the intersection and into the station at a crawl but it did it. I had a full SOC when this happened and was down to half when I turned her off at the pump. It was a strange experience and one that I don't intend on trying again. The check engine light did come on & stayed until I had driven it about 100 miles and stopped & restarted again. Don't have a SG so will have to guess that it has a code for "holy smoke the idiot ran me out of gas!"