Great pictures Ron, I just bought a kit and polished my headlights also. It is amazing the difference it makes from the old to the newly polished! Not sure about those trees though, now you got me wondering?
Those are silver maples that have been repeatedly butchered (hacked back to stubs, basically). I don't know why this is so popular to do in KY right now, because it always ends up with terrible looking trees.
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2004 Honda Civic Hybrid @ 53 mpg so far!
RIP 2000 Insight, 40k miles @ 69.2 mpg
Ever seen 20 bars before? BetterBattery equipped cars can get there easily.
My pack is 6 years old and when driving to work in the morning with my headlights on I get 20 bars all the time. Is this not normal? And yes, I know what 19 bars looks like.
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Proud owner of a Blue 2001 MT as of May 2011.
Ever seen 20 bars before? BetterBattery equipped cars can get there easily.
My pack is 6 years old and when driving to work in the morning with my headlights on I get 20 bars all the time. Is this not normal? And yes, I know what 19 bars looks like.
It is not normal and that photo was taken at 5:35pm (no lights). Would anyone else like to chip in?
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2000 MT #4227 175K miles - Citrus Yellow, BetterBattery
It's too bad you couldn't make it to Phoenix for the meet last Saturday, since you were just a few hundred miles away. Could have been for 'business' as well, as the biggest subject by far was battery pack replacement. There were 15 Insights there with a few in need. I know I would have liked to meet you and discuss the BetterBattery.
Good to hear you had a fun trip though!
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2000 MT Insight #4812
156,000 miles, 77.3 lmpg, 76.15mpg actual as Owner
--Calpod's Clutch(CARD) and Corey's Brake Switch Mods
--60 PSI on OEM RE-92s
--600w RF amp w/ 10" Sony sub
--135dB Airhorns from Harbor Freight
--Calpod's FAS Mod 2.0
I can get to 20 bars if I'm sparing on assist and heavy on regen. Casual driving and it would be tough to be there, it takes some effort but I've noticed that if I use the effort of extra regen to get it to 20 bars that it seems like I'll never get that same energy back out the same way I will if I stay around about 18 or 19 bars or so, at least with the stock pack of both of my cars.
One exception though, when the car is cold, 20 degrees or colder the car will background charge either until the battery is warm or completely full. With my first car I could be at 15 bars on a -10 degree F day and it would be at 20 bars and refuse to regen the highway offramp since the battery had filled itself. It is a good way to get 50mpg when I could otherwise be a good bit above 60mpg. Since I never really need the battery on my highway commute, I use the clutch switch to disable that background charge when the temperatures are low as it saps power and keeps me at 50mpg and barely maintaining speed rather than being in lean-burn as long as the intake temperature is warm enough to support it. With my second car, the engine makes a whole bunch more heat so if I crank the heat as soon as the engine is warm enough to make some it will get the battery warm enough in 5 miles of highway driving on a 20 degree day to stop the background charge before the pack is full. Of course this is with a stock pack.
I wonder if the BetterBattery gets to 20 bars easier because its less wasteful of the regen at higher state of charge. Either that or I've got cells burning off the charge while others aren't quite so full, meaning it could be a symptom that gets worse with a worn out pack and an issue that goes away with a BetterBattery since the pack is new and better. I'm not sure if that answered your question, I'd have to compare by driving a BetterBattery car but neither of my cars has a battery needing replacement yet so it could be some time.
Here, I was just driving at highway speeds (65-70) not doing anything special and not using any assist (this car has no MIMA or CALPOD). The ambient temp was around 30 or so and my headlights were not on. The road was flat and level, so the bars just climbed up until the battery was full. It happens all the time with these batteries.
The BetterBattery is more efficient at both charging and discharging (lower internal resistance), so more regen is captured and stored chemically (and the battery depletes at a slower rate when being discharged).
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN Driver
I can get to 20 bars if I'm sparing on assist and heavy on regen. Casual driving and it would be tough to be there, it takes some effort but I've noticed that if I use the effort of extra regen to get it to 20 bars that it seems like I'll never get that same energy back out the same way I will if I stay around about 18 or 19 bars or so, at least with the stock pack of both of my cars.
One exception though, when the car is cold, 20 degrees or colder the car will background charge either until the battery is warm or completely full. With my first car I could be at 15 bars on a -10 degree F day and it would be at 20 bars and refuse to regen the highway offramp since the battery had filled itself. It is a good way to get 50mpg when I could otherwise be a good bit above 60mpg. Since I never really need the battery on my highway commute, I use the clutch switch to disable that background charge when the temperatures are low as it saps power and keeps me at 50mpg and barely maintaining speed rather than being in lean-burn as long as the intake temperature is warm enough to support it. With my second car, the engine makes a whole bunch more heat so if I crank the heat as soon as the engine is warm enough to make some it will get the battery warm enough in 5 miles of highway driving on a 20 degree day to stop the background charge before the pack is full. Of course this is with a stock pack.
I wonder if the BetterBattery gets to 20 bars easier because its less wasteful of the regen at higher state of charge. Either that or I've got cells burning off the charge while others aren't quite so full, meaning it could be a symptom that gets worse with a worn out pack and an issue that goes away with a BetterBattery since the pack is new and better. I'm not sure if that answered your question, I'd have to compare by driving a BetterBattery car but neither of my cars has a battery needing replacement yet so it could be some time.
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2000 MT #4227 175K miles - Citrus Yellow, BetterBattery
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Trip to Colorado
