View Single Post
Old 08-22-2018, 11:29 AM   #11 (permalink)
Ecky
Master EcoModder
 
Ecky's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 5,005

ND Miata - '15 Mazda MX-5 Special Package
90 day: 42.54 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,866
Thanked 2,501 Times in 1,547 Posts
I'm not certain that a CEL breaks lean burn in the HCH1. It certainly doesn't in the G1 Insight.

When the battery goes, you're looking at ~$1000 for a rebuilt one which would probably be good for a minimum of 4-5 years, or if it turns out the CEL doesn't break lean burn, you can just remove it entirely and save the weight. HCH1 is a fantastic car, whose only real weakness was the HV battery.

In fact, you could remove the entire hybrid system and do something similar to what I did in my car, which is to just hook the 3 phase wires from the HV motor to a rectifier and drop the 70-300v DC produced down to 14v. Costs about $120 in parts (just 2 parts, in fact) and you'll have what is effectively a far more efficient alternator.

Even without lean burn, an HCH1 will probably beat an HX in economy. HCH1s with dead batteries are common and cheap as dirt.


Last edited by Ecky; 08-22-2018 at 11:36 AM..
  Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Ecky For This Useful Post:
whaemmel (12-20-2018), Xist (12-27-2018)