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I think what I really need to do is to make some videos that show the length that I go to to get my ridiculously high numbers. As to not make them too boring, I can "fast-forward" through the uneventful stuff.

Believe me, my drives can be quite boring, but I like it that way. It's a great time for me to relax, listen to some music, etc.

I'm not sure that most people recognize that, like in Auto-X, the biggest component is the Driver. Most of the things that you mention will help, but their small pieces that support the driver keeping the car in lean burn mode as long as possible. However, I was able to get over 100MPG before any significant mods, but a lot of willpower and annoyed people behind me.

Mods definitely allow you to get respectable mileage at a more acceptable speed. I do believe the most significant gain you're going to see from mods would be the combination of MIMA (to allow you to stay in lean burn when it would otherwise be impossible, and access the power of the battery without having to drop to 60MPG or less, as well as to disable the parasitic background charging), a grid charger (allowing you to start off with a full battery and to "refuel" it in a way that doesn't suck the life out of your gas tank) and FAS (letting you coast without fuel or drag from the engine at any speed, such as for a half a mile before leaving an interstate, and not requiring you to lose speed by tapping the brakes to try and incur auto-stop.

Of course, extra battery power will help you out, but to make the most of it, you should learn how to drive as efficiently as you can while still meeting your "must haves" (minimum cruising speed, etc). If I went to 4-5x the usable charge of what I have now, this would basically multiply the distance that I could drive in "near-full-electric" mode (using only a tad bit of throttle and treating the joystick as if it were the gas pedal), as well as lengthen the distances that I could get amazing numbers on. For instance, I could get 130MPG coming home from my old job (25 miles home), but if I wasn't able to charge there, the 50 mile trip could easily be a battle for 100MPG or less.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't learn the tricks to get the most out of gas savings with your current battery, then you will still be operating at that "battery usage efficiency level" but with more power - essentially wasting the same percentage of power as with the original battery, but at a higher rate due to capacity. I hope this makes sense. By "battery usage efficiency level" I mean the battery being used in the most appropriate situations where there is the biggest opportunity to replace torque provided by the little ICE at higher throttle with the instant-on torque of the electric motor. That scale would be quite subjective, but a 10 would be essentially perfect usage, while a lower number would be using the electric motor as a primary propulsion device.

We do have to remember that electricity costs money too. Just because you used little to no gas on a short trip doesn't necessarily mean that one isn't wasteful. If you have the stock battery plus a battery that gives an extra 4x the capacity and use it all up frivolously on a short trip, you could possibly be wasting more than just trying to do well with the gasoline engine only.

Let's take my trip to the post office and back at about 5.5 miles. If I use a whole battery pack, it's going to cost me about $.12 or $.022 per mile. But even hitting 150MPG (some gas will be used), that will cost me about $.106 or $.019 per mile. Add those together, and you get around $.23 cost for the trip or $.04 per mile.

But then, let's look at frivolous battery usage of 4kWh for the trip. That'd be $.48 for the trip in electricity alone, assuming not a drop of gas was used. However, that would be a lot of energy to use at that distance, but even half would equate to the same as the scenario above.

But there's even more to the equation... you have to figure out how much each cycle of the battery is costing you. Although you are saving gas, you likely had to spend thousands of dollars for those batteries. I've caught Enginer trying to calculate the ROI of their battery kits with charging twice per day over a number of years... while it clearly states in their documentation that it would add up to more cycles than they expect for you to get from the batteries. In short, expensive kits will generally not pay themselves off if you're already driving pretty efficiently (it's all simple math, try plugging in some numbers with what you get now and what you'd expect to get with a kit). There's also the guarantee of losing some efficiency with the extra weight, and the loss of space (that can either be a deal-breaker with the already low amount of space, or not matter at all).

Another thing to think about is wasting potential power on that type of trip, which could be used to rectify a much more fuel-inefficient situation. Batteries take hours to charge, and if you arrive home with a dead pack, that can mean that an unexpected trip turns your day's MPG average from stellar to barely acceptable.

Back on costs though, let's make sure we put things in perspective for a regular Insight trip sans grid charging. Short trips are hard, but I'd expect to be able to get 80MPG out of that without trying too too hard (but still trying). That'd be about $.20 for the trip. Wait... that's the cheapest so far! What's with that? Well, wasting full charges on short trips really isn't all that efficient. If I make at least one point with all of this - at least that can be one. Again, it's all about extending that electric charge and using it at the most efficient parts (and making sure it's not already been used up when you really need it).

So 80MPG might be what I can get, but what about Mr Average Joe (but still MPG conscious) insight driver? Let's say he tries and can get 60MPG. That's nothing to write home about, but it only costed him about $.26 - less than a penny per mile more than my original "extreme" scenario.

Really, in the end, the extremely high numbers are for bragging. They save money, but in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty minor. The effort put forth to do so could have very likely been more profitable if money is important. But it's a damn good hobby in my book.

To make that point, let's look at a 12,000 mile year. Going from a 20MPG guzzler ($1740) to a fair 30MPG car ($1160), is a nice big jump, but to receive about the same savings from there, you have to get an Insight and drive it decently at 60MPG ($580). Then let's look at someone like me who might get an average of 90MPG ($386). Wow... that $194 drop isn't so huge, is it? Don't forget that with a 90MPG average, they're probably grid charging with at least 1kWh per day, let's subtract about $44, bringing us down to a true savings of $150. In fact, put that in perspective of buying new tires when your current set isn't worn out, or purchasing MIMA and FAS at $800.

MIMA can (and in my case will) pay itself off, assuming that I'm attributing a generous MPG gain solely to the system. But it will take some time. I calculated at least 100k miles (though I plan to go there and then some). However, a battery pack that could jump me from 90MPG to a consistent 115MPG would only save an additional $35, before electricity is factored in. That means that it could actually cost more in fuel (gas + electricity). That kit is never going to pay itself off!

However, it's one hell of a hobby, and if you're very eco-conscious, you can add a gold star or two to your hat for getting the 100MPG+ numbers. It's also nice to squeeze out an extra 200 or so miles or extend your fill ups for a few weeks when you're on unemployment (or fighting your company to get even that).

Anyway, to sum things up, the ridiculously high numbers are a fun hobby, but if you make a decent wage, the savings are less significant than the amount of worry put into getting them. As a world, it makes far more sense to get rid of the really low MPG junk boxes, like getting your wife out of her SUV and in a Prius, or encouraging your neighbors to do the same.

If you are about saving money, then keep the stock battery (although over time a cheap parallel pack might pay itself off) and learn how to put it best to use. Also grid charge, and either keep charge high enough to not require background charge, use MIMA to disable it or a clutch switch. I'd invest in a long extension cable, look for open outlets wherever you go, and convince friends to let you plug in at their places. I call this "punk-charging".

Must actually get things done today, so my rant is long enough... cheers!

I really wish there were more Insight peeps around to "play with". I'd love to test cars against mine to see if there are certain mechanical things that might be holding the driver back, or if they just need to ride along and learn (or compromise on MPG performance if they're not willing to be 100% devoted, which is totally respectable, as it can take valuable time - although that time can be spent on the phone with loved ones, listening to audio books or just relaxing).