Quote:
Originally Posted by Red
Far as I know the only way for a Gen 1 or 2 IMA system to EOC is if you are in neutral and are below 18-20 MPH. Anything faster and the ICE stays on
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Not strictly true, at least in the Insight. You need to be below the ~18 mph speed for the engine to stop, but if you're on a hill you can then coast up to a fairly high speed (45 mph is as high as I've been), I think until brake vacuum drops.
Coincidentally, I was just doing this tonight on the way back from the lake. There's about 10 miles of 6% downgrade, which is being repaved so there's a 40 mph limit in the one-lane sections. I normally go about 55-60 down it, in gear with regen. With the paving, there were a couple of spots where traffic stopped (or nearly so), which put me in autostop. When it started moving, I just eased up on the brakes, and soon was rolling along at 40, still in autostop.
I don't think it's much of a gain, though, since I normally would have been in fuel cutoff, and getting regen. This is probably true of most hybrids - you may coast a little further, but OTOH you don't get regen - and in these parts most hills are steep enough that you can be in gear with regen, and still need to brake a bit.