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You read my mind as far as how best to use the system.
My plan was pretty much what you stated.
#1 Top off the supplemental pack and hybrid pack before leaving.
#2 Always accelerate with the engine and cruise in EV.
#3 Read the road and my route to use the supplemental pack when it is most useable (I.E. not when descending a long hill that would naturally charge my hybrid pack).
One thing about this;
My car seems very well suited to add a plug in system to. It is capable of running up to 85mph with the engine off, so no worries that I will overdrive the system (assuming the SOC is high enough). It has a 40hp electric motor, so it cruises just fine in EV. It has a 1.4kwh hybrid pack giving it up to 4 miles of EV if the hybrid pack is charged high. This last item is cool because in town to town driving (where I do most of my driving) I sit at stop lights and have otherwise prolonged times of very low level electric use thus giving the inverter a chance to catch up.
Odds are I can up my mpg by a significant amount using this system.
This big question is; How much do I want to spend on the battery? I hate the complexity of BEC systems. So, I may very well go with 4 big deep cycle batteries (at least for now).
Matt
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