Quote:
Originally Posted by War_Wagon
I figured the assist was only for hills or passing, I didn't realize it kicked in at low speeds as well. I have yet to see how long the battery will last when climbing a steep hill...
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Actually it's a lot more for the low-speed acceleration than anything.
On hills, a good battery should let you do maybe 1000-1500 vertical ft at about 6% grade, doing 55 or so. (Of course this is really approximate.) Couple of points to note.
First, you may see a gradual drop of the charge gauge to part way down, then rapid drop to zero. This is a less-than-perfect battery, but should still give you decent service for years.
Second, there's a bit of a trick to keeping it from using too much assist on a long climb. You want to avoid getting SOC so low that it forces regen while you're still trying to climb. You can climb at 50-55 mph in 3rd, but it's good to keep the RPM below 3000, because that's where the VTEC shift point is. You can feel it kick in, and see a drop on instant mpg. You can cruise in 4th at highway speeds too...