[TexasCotton]

Has anyone tried battery modification to a Civic or Insight IMA? I know that PHEV conversion has been the popular thing in Californa with the Toyota Prius with Plug in supply charging like 5 to 6 grand for the kit to convert Prius. I have seen on another forum site where additional start battery and alternator cut out switch was used to increase FE. The starter on Honda's IMA seems redundent if IMA is used and curious if can be bypassed?

[Electric_Rav]

Did you ever get any information on your question? I too would be interested in modifying an IMA in a Honda Accord hybrid. I cannot seem to find anyone who has successfully done so.

[reddwarf2956]

Originally Posted by TexasCotton

Has anyone tried battery modification to a Civic or Insight IMA? I know that PHEV conversion has been the popular thing in Californa with the Toyota Prius with Plug in supply charging like 5 to 6 grand for the kit to convert Prius. I have seen on another forum site where additional start battery and alternator cut out switch was used to increase FE. The starter on Honda's IMA seems redundent if IMA is used and curious if can be bypassed?

I have an Insight. I still have the batteries on warranty, so it will be about 25k miles before I will look into any changes. Mine is a 2000 model, so I would expect most owners are thinking the same here.

I have seen a kit online, but I have not heard any thing on it. If I did do anything it would be to remove the gas engine and make it all EV with an AC motor.

[Electric_Rav]

Try 99mpg.com

I have a Honda Accord hybrid and as soon as the battery is out of warranty I plan to convert it to a plug in hybrid. Since there is a 3 liter 6 cylinder ICE I'm not expecting huge gains but it will be a learning experience trying.

[jbrecher]

I have a Honda Insight.
Those thinking about a "plug-in" for it need to understand the difference in it and a Prius. The Prius is an electric helped by a gas. The Hondas are gas helped by electric. The Insight will not operate on pure electric. There is a mod which installs a retractable wheel which is electric powered.
If you want a plug-in, sell your Honda at a good price and get a 2004 Prius and convert it. Remember, the lead acid version of plug-in has to have new batteries every year or so at about $1000 plus. The lithium cells are hard to get into the space in a size large enough to run the high voltage needed.

[Electric_Rav]

I fully understand the difference between the Prius and the Honda IMA systems. I agree the Prius is much better for converting because you can run on electric only. In my case however I live in South Dakota and there really is no such thing as city driving or stop and go traffic. Since I don't have to hit the brakes much the IMA battery hardly ever gets charged.

This is what I have observed with my Honda Accord;

If the battery SOC (state of charge) is at half then it almost never provides any assist unless I really tromp on the throttle. Remember most of my driving is 55 to 75mph driving with rare need for braking.

If the SOC is at 60% then I get modest assists on the uphills but only when the engine revs are low.

If the SOC is 70% then I gets more aggressive assists but this drains the battery down to 60% or 50% fairly quickly.

If the SOC is 80 or 90% (I've never had it all the way up to 100%) Then you get very very aggressive assists but again they don't last long because the battery capacity or temperature or both limits the assist.

So you might be thinking to yourself, how does he get up to 90% SOC if he hardly uses his brakes? I ran some tests where I found the IMA won't assist if the the automatic transmission is in 2nd gear. So when I was doing some slower driving one day I kept it in low gear but put it in drive when using the brakes and eventually I got the batteries charge way up.

So what can we learn about this? I conclude that if I can keep the SOC up with an auxiliary bank of batteries that the IMA would assist more often and more aggressively. I planned to use a 48 volt battery pack with a DC to DC Converter that converted the 48 volts up to the Honda pack voltage. The current would be limited so as to not build up too much heat in the hybrid pack. The 48 volt pack would be charged at home from the grid.

So when I'm cruising down the road at 65 the IMA would kick in more often. Providing modest gains of which probably would never pay for the batteries, DC to DC Converter, relays, charger and wiring. But it would be fun to try. Besides I've been in a Prius, I like my Hybrid Accord Waaaaayyyyy more. The thing is like a rocket! To bad I only get 30mpg.

Suggestions welcome.

My real electric vehicle will be a Toyota RAV4.

[reddwarf2956]

[quote=Electric_Rav;94056]Try http://www.99mpg.com

There are a lot of Mods at that site. I don't have a second car, so I can not try to do them. I have seen a conversion to a all electric

http://www.evalbum.com/461.html
http://ev.whitecape.org/insight/

JN

[Electric_Rav]

Yes, I've been to 99mpg.com and have conversed with the gentleman behind that. He knows quite a bit about the IMA system that pertains to the Honda Insight but admitted he knows less about the Accord or Civic IMA systems. The best advice he gave me was to watch out how much current flows into the hybrid pack from the auxiliary pack since the internal resistance is low in the hybrid pack.

[zercath]

The 2000, Honda began production and sales of the seventh generation civic. It closely resembled the XYR concept with the exception of the front bumper and rear spoiler. The 2000 civic was an element of Honda Project Genesis, an effort to bring younger buyers to the marque in the United States.
The civic came in two different models. The ZZT230 powered by an economical 1.8 L 4-cylinder 140 hp 1ZZ-FE engine and the ZZT231 powered by a higher-performance 1.8 L twin turbo 4-cylinder 381 hp 2ZZ-GE version, co-developed with Yamaha. Both of these engines featured Honda's signature VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence) system, which continuously varies the camshaft timing.

For 2003 model year, the civic received a face lift, with a revised front bumper, revised tail lights, and the addition of several new colors to the lineup. The GT-S was also now equipped with a drive-by-wire (DBW) throttle body in the manual transmission model.

[zercath]

Okay, so I'm kinda new at this whole modification thing. I have a 1997 Honda Civic EX...with an automatic 1.6L MFI VTEC. I know a good amount about cars, and as far as installing anything my dad is a mechanic of well, he's been a mechanic longer than I've been alive. I'm wanting to put modifications for obviously increasing the power a little bit. I'm not really looking for an extremely fast car as of yet. I intend to make it a racer but not until I can get another car for every day driving. So here's my question. For the first modification. What should I do? I was thinking somewhere along the lines of cold air intake. Is this reasonable or should I look into something else. In time I'm wanting to supercharge it (not a big fan of the turbo). I'm wanting to keep it as much of a sleeper as possible, so if anyone can give me a place or to start, and some good websites for information to read up on modifications to my car that'd be great. If you can't post the websites on here, I can give you a screen name to send them to me.

I've read most of the rules but like I said in the introduction page, I'm new at this forum thing, so I'm still learning if I do something I shouldn't, PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me!
Thanks everyone for the help and advice!!!:thumbs: