Who still has their original IMA battery?

[MetrosMan]

Originally Posted by kaypee171

...until a viable lithium solution is available..

Just like the ones that Boeing is using in the 787? I think I'll pass...

[Willie Williford]

Kaypee171
The BBB is more capacity, get one you will love it.

MetrosMan
The trouble is probably not with the battery, but the charging system.

My opinion
Willie

[JohnVirginia]

But it isn't the charging system that catches on fire, is it? Albeit, even the Insight battery would probably burn if charged incorrectly.

[kaypee171]

I have no doubt I would enjoy the Bumblebee Battery, and I have a very positive business experience with Bumblebee from my OBDII C&C, but I bought a never installed MIMA that I would like to take more advantage of than 8ah can provide. However, if I do need a battery before then, I will buy one and start pestering Mike about his V-buck setup.

[MetrosMan]

Originally Posted by Willie Williford

The trouble is probably not with the battery, but the charging system.

My opinion
Willie

While a faulty or incorrectly designed charging system can cause catastrophic results, it is more likely that a physical breakdown in the insulation layers between the plates (even microscopic in size) will short the plates together, causing a fire such as those reported on the 787. That said, I would be concerned about the frequency, amplitude, and types of vibration the batteries in an Insight are typically subjected to over their service life, prior to making any recommendation for the use of lithium-ion type units.

As you say, my opinion.

[kaypee171]

Yet you drive around with between 1 and 10 gallons of a brutally flammable fuel behind you without thinking about it. ANY battery that can unload 144 volts at 100 amperes is dangerous. So is the gasoline. It is how those dangers are managed that matter. Leafs and Volts and Fiskers and Teslas and many more have shown lithium to be workable. I respect your right to avoid the danger, but this argument has went round and round forever. I will review how well managed the dangers are (or take the opinion of informed people smarter than me whose judgement I trust). If I am not satisfied, I buy the Bumblebee. I may anyway from lack of patience, depending on how I can supplement it.

[MetrosMan]

You are correct, kaypee171. We each must choose the type and level of risk we're willing to tolerate in order to achieve an ultimate goal, in this case, fuel economy.

[webskipper]

My 2000 G1 has 242000 miles on it and I'm done playing games with the IMA.

Time for a new one.

What's the track record for bumblebee batteries?

What's your mpg with them?

[MetrosMan]

Originally Posted by webskipper

My 2000 G1 has 242000 miles on it and I'm done playing games with the IMA.

Time for a new one.

I don't know about you, but I think 13 years and nearly a quarter million miles is a pretty good showing for the stock batteries. Why change to something else? I have no factual basis (other than my own experience in owning one of these cars myself), but having an electronics background, I suspect the ultimate battery life is determined more by things like driving habits and environment rather than on strictly the batteries themselves (I'm not saying the batteries don't have an effect, but believe it to be overstated). I also will state here that I don't want my car to be 'kludged' with a bunch of aftermarket 'improvements' - it works quite well as is for me. Good Luck!

[webskipper]

I neglected to say that the IMA light comes on daily.

I know how to reset it, recal the battery, blast the AC to keep the battery cooler longer.

I can go a few days with no issues. Sometimes I can't leave my work parking lot without it coming on. Then I sit by the road holding a fuse till the systems resets itself.

During the Summer, when the IMA light comes on, I have to restart the car to get the AC back on because 100F is too hot to drive with windows down.