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Old 05-28-2012, 01:00 PM   #4 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
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Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 57.73 mpg (US)
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There is a way to roughly test the health of the hybrid battery by driving the car, but it requires you to be able to find a long enough hill to do a test involving a long stretch of maximum assist (and a test of regen, ideally).

You should be able to draw the hybrid battery level down (to ~2/20 bars) without triggering any trouble lights (obviously) or without causing the charge level to drop "suddenly" -- the battery charge level should change gradually. The inverse holds for testing extended strong regen.

The easiest way to predict if you'll have battery problems is to know the age of the pack. Is it original? Is it nearing 10 years old? If so, expect it's on its last legs. If it's been replaced with a new Honda pack under warranty, then it should be good for years.

The "good" news about these cars is you can drive them with the hybrid functions disabled (ie. "dead" hybrid battery), and still get very good fuel economy.
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