2001 Honda Insight Mk1 - The OG hybrid now joined by a CRZ

Spotted one just like yours on the M1 today with the plate W5 UFO, it really isn't a massively bad looking car, some will probably think I'm mad but with a few subtle changes it could easily look like a modern CRX and not that dodgy del sol thingy they actually made!
 
Simon said:
Fox - your outlook on buying cars is very different to most though. You see them as a consumable item, others see them as investments that have a depreciation curve.
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I don't think you can call the purchase of any car, with the exception of a 1920s Bugatti or something, an investment!


With regards to this thread, I quite like it :o
 
NiMh. There are 120 1.2v Panasonic autograde D cells in 20 rows. 6.5Ah each cell. Will assist the engine at 100A and regen to charge at 50A. Most 9 year old good packs are left with capacity of around 5.5Ah. The IMA system only actually uses 4Ah, so empty is really 20% State of Charge and full is 80%. Going okay so far, sucked up behind a lorry and did 106 MPG over 4 miles :p

The new Insight only carry over part is the battery pack and the NiMH was well understood from the Honda EV+ project.

1997 typical range of 100miles.
evplus_4970919.gif


2005 EV+ also was the first FCX with a fuel cell pack
 
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Replacement battery pack

As of October 2006, Honda was paying the replacement cost of these batteries on cars with up to 150,000 miles (240,000 km) of use.[citation needed] As of 1 June 2008, the replacement battery costs US$1,968 and installation is around US$900.[10]

As of 2008, independent mechanics have been known to replace Insight batteries with either Prius sub-packs or Civic Hybrid subpacks. A US$300 used NiMH battery from another more mass produced HEV can be used to build a replacement Insight battery pack. Other independent mechanics have been reconditioning their old Insight battery packs to correct wear and tear issues. Reconditioning allows correction of some issues at lower cost than rebuilding a replacement pack from other used packs.
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I wonder if Honda will pay for replacement batteries in the UK? A laptop battery is around £100 so I hate to think of how much replacement batteries would be on something like this! :eek:

That said, you can get 9AH D cells, so if you wanted you could upgrade your capacity by 50% or so. They're around a fiver each so £600 is a fair whack... At least it will last longer than Li Ion.
 
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MikeHunt79 said:
:eek:

That said, you can get 9AH D cells, so if you wanted you could upgrade your capacity by 50% or so. They're around a fiver each so £600 is a fair whack... At least it will last longer than Li Ion.
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What sort of charge rate will they deal with? Im not too worried about the battery at the moment but nice to have some options. The car would be a bit slow without assist!

One of the Insight guys has a 40Ah lithium pack in his.

Im just gonna do a few things with shutting assist off manually so i dont rape the battery going up hills which means forced regen on the cruise and kills lean burn, also gonna do a mod to force the auto stop for downhill sections. Shame you cant decouple the engine from the motor to remove the pumping losses, the new IMA car actually close all the valves so theres effectively no pumping losses just a big air spring.
 
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