Getting tired of the lack of power?

[jrlnc]

I have almost 40,000 miles on my Insight now.

My lifetime (to-date) mpg is 49.5 mpg since I've been tracking it. (Actually that is pretty good compared to the EPA rating).

But I guess that the IMA batteries are aging -- and I don't like what that is doing. My mileage has been declining. Granted, we are in the season where rain and cold temps really kill your mileage. Also, this summer I put some different tires on the car (Yokohama) which handle much better but give lower mileage. Last tank was 48.6 mpg (Fuelly Profile.
But the main aggravation I have with the car is every other time I take off from a light or going up a hill, the car has no power. I switch the MID to the battery screen and (sure enough) the battery is below 50% and the system is in heavy recharge mode.

When it gets like that, I feel like I'm "fighting against the car" and driving it aggressively to keep up with traffic. It must be getting worse than normal mileage, but it is mainly an unpleasant experience. I recently replaced the 12V battery to make sure it wasn't the problem. It might have been a little. But now the full blame has to be on the IMA battery and the programming. If this is what Honda calls "normal operation" I am not going to put up with it.

How many others are starting to notice this substandard performance? When the car was new, the battery assist was always there. Now it's not so much anymore. I notice that a lot of older Priuses and Honda Civic Hybrids record very poor mileage. (low 40s and high 30s) Maybe the owners just tolerate it because they don't know what is going on. To me the car is becoming undriveable.

I find myself wishing I had just bought a regular Civic with 25% lower mpg. At least I would never start to hate the car as it aged.

[Jayemtee]

I understand your frustration in your situation.

Without hijacking your thread, do you think it's possible that your driving style has changed? When the car was new, we use all the visual tools to drive as careful as possible to get the very best mileage and best score. I know that since I have maxxed out on the score and the game is over, that my driving style has changed in a bad way. I am less tolerant of extremely slow drivers on their cell phones, I sometimes start off from the light a little faster than before, and I don't really care as much if I don't get a good score. I'm thinking of resetting "the game" again at my next oil change to see how long it takes me to WIN again. That will give me reason to focus a little more on my driving style.

Specific to your complaint, do you put the MID on the battery page on the last part of your drive to insure the battery is up by the time you reach your destination? Do you use that page regularly to monitor your state of charge?

40k in one year is a lot of driving. I'd hate to drive that many miles per year in a car that made me unhappy for any reason.

[jrlnc]

Well to be more exact I have just under 39k in 1 yr 7 mos which works out to 24k+ annually.

I guess I could have become less interested in mpg but just want to get from a to b. When it starts recharging that gets in my way and I can't stand driving the car. At first I was ok with it to get the extra mileage. Now it isn't worth the aggravation to save maybe $350/yr.

[Cobb]

Some days my car goes almost 400 miles and is running or idling upwards to 14 hours a day. Although I dont think its lacking any power, after 10-13 thousand it seemed to gain a few and the red line went up. I find my mistake was using sport mode while econ was on. Sport mode with econ makes a big difference. So, when I need some power I use econ off, even more I shift to sport.

Yeah, the lack of power or dependability is an issue. I dont know if I go to pull out in traffic across 4 lanes if I will have assist or 3/4 regen when I mask down the throttle.

Yes, I have used a grid charger and balanced my pack twice, no change in over all performance in regards to regens.

[cheesie]

id like a grid charger!

[Purplegate]

I am a bit over 31K and I don't see any loss of power yet. My mileage is decreasing quite a bit now due to the winter effects, and I think the tires are loosing (increasing....) the rolling resistance with age (I'm still on the OEM Dunlops). But as far as power for taking off at lights, etc, no change. There was none when I bought it, none now... . But the IMA is still keeping up te pace, and no major recals or other funky behaviors. I cross my fingers...

You might want to ask the dealer to run a diagnostic. There might be something else wrong...

[insight78]

I'm sure we all know what you mean with the "fighting against the car" feel. I always noticed this to some degree since the car was new. I find this is most noticeable:

a) with the onset of winter (cold starts), especially when combined with a short stop and go trip where the car doesn't get to warm up fast- might want to try an engine block heater
b) when I drive more aggressively the drag is obviously more noticeable

What car did you have before? When my I2 regens it is certainly less peppy than my Z24 Cavalier had been but still kept up with my wife's Hyundai Elantra pretty well. With the boost it is still very quick off the line. The annoying thing is not knowing whether you're going to get the boost or the regen. In my opinion they should regen only during coasting and braking and should not regen when we're gassing it. They could cut that power swing in half so you'd be more confident in what output you can get. Very counter-intuitive how it is (and it seems we're losing out on efficiency this way too).

I'm still getting over EPA (sounds like you are too) and saving quite a chunk of change on gas which is more important to me.

I will expect better battery performance from a future vehicle but am happy enough with the I2 for now.

[Ehetleos]

Originally Posted by cheesie

id like a grid charger!

Id like a bigger battery

[insightfulone]

Well, if its any consolation, you are probably saving more like $800 a year than $350 over driving a Civic and it will only get better as gas prices rise.

Civic 24k mi / 32 mpg * 3.00 per gal = $2250
Your Insight 24000 / 49.5 mpg * 3.00 = $1455
Annual savings = $795

I used 32 mpg which is the fuelly average for the 2010 Civic. Without the feedback mechanism of the Insight, your mileage on the Civic would probably be average if you're anything like me. I had no idea of the amount of effect high speed, tire psi etc had on mileage. I think the dashboard feedback of the Insight has as much effect on MPG as the technology.

That said, regen on uphills is a drag (no pun intended).

[Cobb]

I know not using econ seems to work best performance wise, but I too often wonder if I cheated myself for not getting the civic in regards to performance and aftermarket parts. Then the cvt vs multispeed automatic transmission.

Just wished they made a civic hatch back hybrid.

This is one reason we need those parts. A new intake, muffler or cat back exhaust, CF hood and or hatch, a chip or tuner can make the Insight a new car again, give it the extra 5hp it needs. You know the extra power to comepnsate for the spare tire we carry around out waists and all the crap that fills the compartments.