Civic hybrid failed battery ??

[KrautBurner]

Who has had this happen ?

I am under the impression that if the battery fails you can still drive it like in underpowered economy car . Is this true? is this true
And what kind of fuel economy will the car get if that's the case ?

I'm considering a 10-year-old civic hybrid and I'm curious what would happen in a worst-case scenario i'm considering a 10-year-old civic hybrid and I'm curious what would happen in a worst-case scenario.

[KrautBurner]

I think this is what I'm wondering about

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post279244

[Ecky]

Batteries don't tend to fail suddenly. As time goes on, you gradually lose hybrid functions. First, you'll get a battery light, and you'll get less assist. Over time, assist will drop to zero, but you'll still start with the hybrid motor, have the highly efficient DC-DC converter, and have autostop. When the battery is almost completely dead, you'll lose autostop, but the DC-DC converter should still function. You'll probably have a lot of background charging at this point, which can hurt economy.

If you go to the pack and flip the switch, shutting it off, you'll have some 12v problems, as the DC-DC converter will only work when the engine is between... I want to say 1000 and 4000RPM? So, you won't have 12v charging when at idle, or when you're really flogging it to get on the highway. There are workarounds for this, though.

Aside from needing a workaround for the DC-DC converter, an HCH1 will run like a 1.3L, 2700lb car with a really tall transmission. Economy will probably be pretty close to the same, but it'll have a lot less power. You'll also have a CEL, which could be a problem, depending on where you live.

[samwichse]

You can drive an HCH1 with a failed battery. But I wouldn't do it in the CVT version.

*It will be gutless: oh yes. Forget about ever turning on the A/C if you want to pull away from a stoplight, BTW.
*12v battery charging: It will only charge the 12v battery if the engine RPMs are above 1300 and below about... 4000. This sounds fine, unless you live like me where there's lots of traffic (and thus, idling). Idle on the car is around 650 rpms, so if you want your 12v not to die a quick death, you'll have to hold the gas in a bit at idle (and waste a lot of gas).
*Lean burn: Disabled with a bad IMA. Why? Honda: "Because **** you, that's why."
*Power: Very sparse... you can compensate pretty well in a MT with clutch slipping and running up the RPMs. The CVT will still try and shift like the power map still includes the IMA... meaning chug-chug-chug trainlike starts.

Sam

[KrautBurner]

the one I'm considering is a manual (and I don't think I'd consider a non toyota/nissan CVT at all)

[Ryland]

What kills the battery is sitting unused for months on end, so just ask the person you buy it from.
For this reason, a high mile vehicle is a better choice