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Old 09-15-2011, 06:50 PM   #7 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sven7 View Post
I'm confused. What's the advantage of cutting the alternator if it's still hooked up? Or isn't it?
If the alternator is disconnected so that it does not power up to generate electricity, all that is left is for it to nearly freewheel, significantly reducing parasitic draw on the motor. But there's a catch... you will need to power up the battery again somehow. I will plug in the battery at night, and use a 1.5 amp on-board maintainer to keep its charge during my 22-24 mile round-trip daily commute. I don't know for sure how well it will work.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



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