UK BetterBattery Upgrade Thread

retepsnikrep · 08-09-2011, 01:13 PM

Thought I better start something off to document these in UK.

1st one I did was in my wifes car which has been working fine since I did the swap about a month ago now.

Just finished 2nd one today for Ian, he drove away from mine with a smile on his face anyway!
I've asked him to post on here after a few days to let us know how he is getting on with it.

Another two sets of cells on order and another UK customer on standby!

I'm going to keep a built pack in stock as well to make it quicker for people wanting an upgrade/rebuild without the lead time.

**Mark Elvin** · 08-10-2011, 02:17 AM

This is great news Peter as now the gearbox is going back together tonight I'm hopefully very close to getting my car on the road, then I'll see if there are any battery issues.

What's the cost of the new ones?

retepsnikrep · 08-10-2011, 03:42 AM

Depends a lot on exchange rate, customs and vat charges etc.

Cost is approx $1800 + shipping + above + my build/test/charge and install fee.

£2000 ball park all in approx. That's about 2/3 the price of a new one + fitting from Honda UK.

Mark. You would be very wise to grid charge you car if it has stood for any length of time.

ozzies · 08-14-2011, 02:21 PM

Well it has been nearly a week since I drove away from Peter's with a smile on my face. I still have one!

There have been no technical issues at all ,if not for the increased performance there would be no way of telling.

I have done about a 150 miles at the end of a 580 mile tankful so changes in the mpg are minimal. The big differences that I have noticed is the increased performance at low throttle inputs, the car is just "friskier" probably 10-15%.Another is in the city or hilly driving (I live on the Pennines) the overall mpg drops slower. It is still very early days and it will be interesting to see results over a tankful of petrol

All in all I am more than satisfied cf. to my 11yr.old battery.

Ian

ozzies · 08-22-2011, 10:26 AM

Another week gone by and I am pleased to say everything is excellent. No problems of any kind.

I have started a new tank doing the journeys I normally do ie. local and drives of 20 miles or so. It is very hilly (on the pennines) and motorway to leeds or sheffield.

Before I had to work hard to get around 61 - 62 mpg. Now it is 70-72 mpg with less effort and faster overall speed. It's subjective but 10-15% faster.

I feel there is room for further improvement of the figures as is but I would love to fit a IMAC&C , as having experienced Peter's the gains would be huge.

Ian

ozzies · 12-30-2011, 06:45 AM

Peter has asked me to give the UK owners an update.

As usual when there is nothing wrong you forget about it. The BB's are great -

no issues or problems at all !

MPG as reported is consistently up 12-15% and the one long journey I have

managed to do I got a personal best of 91.7 mpg. I am not a hypermiing

enthusiast by the way.

If you are needing new batteries BB's are the way to go.

Ian

**UK_MJN** · 12-30-2011, 07:23 AM

I'll back that up with our experience - completely fit and forget. No recalibrations and Assist never yet throttled back due to low SoC.

Peter also took our car round a local test route to give it the once over (and 95 mpg) - valuable help and advice for new owners.

Of course I'm also keen to support anyone building up the necessary expertise to keep the I1 running properly over the next 10 years, so buying a BB is also an investment, IMHO.

Willie Williford · 12-30-2011, 02:14 PM

When you BB users give updates, please also indicate the total miles since installation.
(Some of us rely on those figures more than time. (Especially Old Farts.)

Willie

ozzies · 12-30-2011, 02:25 PM

" you people " ?

approx. 2000 miles.

**UK_MJN** · 01-03-2012, 05:49 AM

Approx 2,250 miles.

With full battery function/assist, the car's ability to drive up 10% grades in third gear continues to amaze. It's quite a magic carpet when you judge it right!