Can you increase MPG by adding an extra IMA Battery?

[firsthonda]

Cobb. According to Enginers Website, with a 4KW kit you should average 40 blended miles per charge. Is that about what you are getting?

[Cobb]

40 blended? My tanks this winter are averaging just over 60 on the mid, 57 actual with gas from sheetz. This included my high mpg trips to work and my 4mph idle through the lambardy bridge on the way home.

This is with cruse control set to 56mph and heater set to 85 degrees.

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[samwichse]

He said 40 miles distance, not 40 miles per gallon.

How far do you get using blended assist?

[Cobb]

I don't understand.

The kit runs for 4 hours before it needs to be recharged rather you use it or not with the switch on. I find I cant sustain ev mode as it sucks it down faster than the phev kit can refill it. I can get maybe 3 miles tops in ev mode before I have to gas it, but in all seriousness that hurts mpg as the car gets assist happy when you maintain 100% soc.

I think that reference maybe for the prius? The kit does include the EV switch when you purchase one for the prius 2.
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[firsthonda]

Originally Posted by Cobb

I don't understand.

The kit runs for 4 hours before it needs to be recharged rather you use it or not with the switch on. I find I cant sustain ev mode as it sucks it down faster than the phev kit can refill it. I can get maybe 3 miles tops in ev mode before I have to gas it, but in all seriousness that hurts mpg as the car gets assist happy when you maintain 100% soc.

I think that reference maybe for the prius? The kit does include the EV switch when you purchase one for the prius 2.
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So you're saying that you get 4 HOURS of use per charge? So if you took a 4 hour trip on the highway, you can drive 200 miles and have extra assist the whole time?

[Cobb]

Thats my experience regardless of my driving or usage. THe 2 kilowatt system I was only able to manage 2 hours. 4 kilowatts, 4 hours.

The prius guys find usage and run time vary, but they are pushing more voltage than we are. They are all limited to like 15 or so amp output as the diodes in the output of the converter are limited.

It comes with a logger so you can look at all the date for input, output and each battery cell. I see its all over the place. Like I said earlier. I had to idle with the ac on waiting for an ambulance for my dad for 45 minutes or so. I saw it put out just 300 watts.

Myself and others think if the converter was replaced with a pwm it would give more performance.

Sometimes the inverter would put out a high voltage and low amps, low voltage and high amps. Then high voltage and high amps, low voltage and low amps. We thought it was a thermal issue, but that is either all on or all off.

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[firsthonda]

If that's the case, I may opt for the 2 KW Kit. My daily commute to work is 10 miles of flat, non highway driving; round trip. I typically get betwen 44-45 MPG on that route. Also in an average day, I only drive my car for about 30-45 minutes. Even when I travel between PA and NJ, it's only an hour and a half trip;tops?(usually 1 hour 15 minutes) On an occasional interstate trip, the 4 KW kit would run out anyway.

2 hours of assist should cover 99% of my driving senerios.

[Cobb]

I see. Sorry for the confusing. It took me a while to get the full understanding of how it works and why.

I use to live in a rural area and 2 hours was travel time to go to walmart or any big box store. We had a 7-11 8 or so miles away, but that was it.

So I was always charging my kit to go off again and save fuel. It took about the same time to recharge as the charger is almost a thousand watts in output.

I decided to upgrade to 4 once I saw how it worked and the fact the extra 2 would give me the tax break. If I knew more about the tax incentive I would of gone for 6.

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[firsthonda]

Isn't basically the only difference between the 2 KW and 4 KW Kit the number of batteries? I can always start out with a 2 KW and if needed work up. According to Jack Chen You get the same 30% tax break no matter what size kit you buy. Also the tax incentive is good until like 2016.

Also do you feel the bugs have been worked out with the system? I was reading that with the first Enginer PHEV Kits that came out, there were components burning out frequently and being upgraded.

[Cobb]

Yeah. he is using the solar tax break where as the previous one was an EV and PHEV credit. Ours was based on kilowatts, now its just 30%.

He has had quality control issues in the future and people twisting pots. Most people want MORE POWER and there thinking its not pushing the rated capacity. Well, it seems the converter maybe able to produce 5000 watts, however the diodes that makes it dc cant. Back then they were using 3000 watt converters. The original batteries were bad too as well as the battery management system.

Previously he had 2 battery alarms on each pack. YOU placed a baby monitor in your car and when the alarm went off you ran outside and unplugged the charger before it cooked your batteries. Now the bms logs, balances and prevents over charging and too much discharging.

He can be slow at times, but he does answer emails at 3am. If you do the self install it can take a month to get everything and don't be surprise if something comes from China vs Troy MI.

Yes, you can always add. It uses 48 volts. If you read any of the battery discussions around here its the word that the least you use your batteries the longer they last as the life is rated on cycles. If you are driving 20 miles a day, you should be fine. I was cycling my kit 2-3 times daily. That was fully charge til the low battery alarm went off and the system was turned off by the bms.

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