I know its not a hybrid, but... - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Sheikz2 · 07-27-2012, 06:21 PM

Idk if I missed something about EOCing but I've been getting great mileage from coastimg on long hills and FASing at lights and today my battery died at work. :O I didn't think it was having any negative effects because it started fine and ran smooth, and i had just filled the tires to the max wall, so I was all excited to hit 50mpg. Is there anyway to ensure the battery handles the engine being off?

nemo · 07-27-2012, 06:59 PM

Did it fail or was the battery just run down? What is your commute like and how often are you restating you car?

Sheikz2 · 07-27-2012, 07:30 PM

It was just run down, like if the lights were left on. My commute's only about 5 miles, and there are a lot of lights and hills in between.

Daox · 07-27-2012, 08:53 PM

If you're doing a lot of engine off you can run your battery down, especially if you have such a short commute and it doesn't have enough time to charge back up. You might need to top off the battery now and again with a battery charger, or put a small solar panel on the car. If you end up having to replace the battery it would be a good idea to go with a deep cycle since they're made to be run down more without damaging the battery.

user removed · 07-27-2012, 09:14 PM

If it is the original battery and it's 4 years old, it may be time for a replacement anyway. Maybe an upgrade to handle the engine off operation.

regards
Mech

nemo · 07-27-2012, 09:15 PM

If you have DRLs that won't help either. If you go with a solar charger don"t go too small. Three or five watt not the 1.5s and lots of sun. Did you have the battery tested? Four to five years is what I expect from OEM here in So Florida.

Sheikz2 · 07-27-2012, 09:51 PM

Alright, I was just wondering what was causing it. I'll keep that to a minimum now. What's the best length to be doing that? And what about at lights? I can get on the interstate for certain trips but it's no more than 20 miles at a time, if that puts things in perspective.

Also, what are DRLs?

Ryland · 07-27-2012, 10:56 PM

Any time you run your battery dead or even to where it is cranking over slow it's a good idea to put it on a plug in battery charger to make sure it's charged up 100%, having a battery that is half charge will mean that over time your battery only can hold half a charge at best, so you will slowly kill it, charge it up and even a battery that is 5 years old can have years more of life.