ok i am looking into getting a HCH and have a few questions. frist about how much power is used daily from the battery? i ask because if i got one i would get a solar charger and hook it to the battery to help keep it full. or is that even a concern? second, would getting lowing springs improve my MPG?

thanks

 

Daily power usage depends on your driving habits and terrain. If you drive on a lot of hilly roads or accelerate aggressively, you're bound to drain your battery faster than if you drive on flat highways at constant speeds. That doesn't really matter though, because the HCH has regenerative brakes, so whenever you brake, the batteries recharge from the kinetic energy of the wheels. Drain the battery past 33% and the HCH will "force" recharge the battery, putting on a bit of regenerative braking while driving normally.

Based on past forum feedback, small solar panels installed on or in the car itself make little difference in terms of fuel economy improvement or battery charging. Rather, they're more for psychological enjoyment and publicity. You can see an example of a car-installed solar setup on the 2nd generation HCH in this thread.

What may be more promising is a solar-recharging setup in your home or garage. See this thread for more info or search the forums for "solar."

As for lowering springs, I remember from my Physics class that cars with lower ground-clearance figures are indeed more aerodynamic, because less space between the car and the ground means less air turbulence underneath the car. However, that's more of a general rule of thumb, and I don't know any specifics in mileage benefits. If it were me, I wouldn't bother with the lowering kit since the HCH is low enough already, but if you have the extra cash to burn and want to personalize your ride a bit, go for it and report to us any difference in mileage you observe.

 

cool thanks, i didn't know about the "force" recharging. are there any other little things that honda doesn't "inform" use about?

 

yes, test drive the car for at least 30 minutes before u buy.

 

why 30 minutes?

 

Can you tell us what the model year of the HCH you're planning on buying? 2003-2005 or 2006+? They're quite different..
I'll try to talk about some universal things:

Honda does "inform" you about everything in the Civic Hybrid; however, the catch is that they do it in the Owner's Manual itself, which you wouldn't acquire until after you've already purchased the car

Some tips:

- After driving on a hot day and parking the car, a noticeably audible fan will turn on for several minutes to cool the electric motor even after the engine is turned off. The fan is automatically controlled to remain on until a threshold temperature is reached, and it should not be altered lest you face electric motor overheating and failure. It's loud enough to fool others to think your engine is still on after you've parked it (I've had several people erroneously point out to me that my car is still turned on after I've parked it, locked it, and started to walk away), but you get used to it.

- The Auto-Stop feature takes a little getting used to. It is activated/deactivated with the ECON button located on the center console in the first generation (2003-2005) HCH. If the green LED is lighted, ECON mode is ON and Auto-Stop is ACTIVATED. If the green LED is off, ECON mode is OFF and Auto-Stop is DE-activated. In the second-generation HCH (2006+), Auto-Stop is always activated and the driver cannot control it. Auto-Stop is when the Civic Hybrid automatically turns off the engine to save gas when you come to a stop at any point in time when you're driving. This includes both stoplights and stop signs. You must hold your foot on the brake with sufficient pressure to keep Auto-Stop engaged. Once you release the brake, the electric motor spins the engine back up and your engine will turn back on.

Several key things to note with Auto-Stop:
- For 2003-2005 HCHs: It's not efficient to use this during a short period of stopping time, such as at a stop sign, because the energy used from the electric motor to spin the engine back up had to come from your battery pack, which ultimately was charged by using your engine in the first place. So, turn off Auto-Stop when you're going through stop signs or only stopping for a split second by pushing the ECON button so that the green LED on the button turns off. Turn it back on if you know that you will be stopping for a while, such as at at a stoplight. Some Civic Hybrid drivers have calculated that the "break-even" point for Auto-Stop is at approximately 7 seconds. So, if you Auto-Stop for a period longer than 7 seconds, you have actually saved energy. If you don't care, use Auto-Stop all the time. Unfortunately, if you have a second-generation HCH, you can't control Auto-Stop operation and this doesn't apply.

- When you park the car, the Civic Hybrid usually Auto-Stops. However, if you shift to Park (P), the engine will turn back on in all generations of HCH. To prevent this waste of gas:

1) After you park, keep holding down the brake pedal whilst in Drive (D), Second (S), or Low (L).
2) Turn the key back one notch to (ACC) while still holding the brake. The engine will turn off.
3) Shift to Park (P) while still holding the brake.
4) Pull up on the emergency brake and THEN release the brake pedal.
5) Turn the key to OFF and remove the key.

- While you are in Auto-Stop mode, the car remains on, you still have power steering and power brakes, and all electrical components work. If you have a 2003-2005 HCH, the A/C compressor is deactivated during Auto-Stop, so the airflow will be simply equivalent to the regular fan. Once the engine starts back up, the compressor is activated and the A/C once again blows cold. If you want the A/C to work while the car is stopped, deactivate Auto-Stop. If you have a 2006+ HCH, the A/C is electric powered and is always on despite Auto-Stop.

- For 2003-2005 HCH: If you are in Auto-Stop at a stoplight, and the car ahead of you inches forward, do NOT inch forward as well. The reason is: if you lift your foot off of the brake pedal, the engine turns back on. But there is a minimum threshold speed that you must reach before Auto-Stop can activate again (~12 mph; it's in the manual). So if you inch forward at 5 mph and stop again, the engine won't turn off again and you'll be wasting gas. In 2006+ HCHs, the car is smart enough to re-activate Auto-Stop after you've stopped again for a couple seconds (~2 sec).

- This only applies to the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) versions of the HCH (2003-2006+): After you release the brake and the engine automatically turns back on in Auto-Stop, wait at least 1/2 a second before hitting the gas to allow the revs to climb back up to idle speed (~750 rpm) and the CVT to recalibrate. Otherwise, if you suddenly hit the gas after Auto-Stop, the car transmission may "jerk" a bit to adjust, sort of like the feeling when you shift to the next gear in a manual car at too low of a speed.

- You may notice a small, flat, rectangular vent behind the rear seat headrests and between the rear speakers. Do not obscure or block this vent, as it is essential to cooling the battery pack, which is located right behind the rear seatbacks. As a result of this, the rear seatbacks do NOT fold down in the Civic Hybrid (2003-2006+) like in other Civic models. The trunk is also slightly smaller, but not by much.

Okay that's all I can think of for now, and I'm sure they're plenty more. Search the forums!

 

awesome thanks and i would be buy an 2006+

 

because u want to make sure u like the car