Trollinsight Modding Thread (2000 Honda Insight)

[HyperMileQC]

Did some work and progressed with the wiring. Got some pictures .

[HyperMileQC]

Beated my previous morning trip highscore of 96.3 mpg today! Did 99.4 mpg. Now I know that 100+ mpg is possible on my morning trip + my futur grid charger .



Did 115.2 mpg on the returning trip. 107.3 mpg AVG.



Update : I also worked on my grid charger, I opened the Battery Module :

[HyperMileQC]

First of all, I want to thanks my father for all the help he provided on this project. He his the base of this project and I could not do this if my father wasn't an electronic technician .

I also want to thanks Mike Dabrowksi for the Basic Grid Charger schematic.

I worked all the week-end to build my harness and finish my grid charger. The harness is installed and works fine, but the grid charger has some problems that need fixing. The led doesnt work when the battery is charging and the IMA fan isnt starting. So for now there is no grid charging until I get this fixed up this week.

Here are some pictures of the harness :

Harness Overview


Harness Terminals


Harness Plug


Harness Fuse Holder


Harness 12v Fan Connector


Harness Installed

I followed Mike's desgin and used gorilla tape to seal the edge of the IMA fan.

This is how the harness go into the IMA Module. I drilled a hole in the module and fitted a rubber grommet into it.

[MetroMPG]

I never did get my grid charger assembled, despite having the parts for many months.

It sounds like your battery is in better shape (balanced) than the one I had though - so you're doing this for a bit more efficiency, or to be nice to the battery?

[HyperMileQC]

My Insight has less mileage than yours had and my battery was changed in 2007 by Honda. This could potentially explain the more balanced battery.

I am doing this because I have a big problem having good performance when my SOC is low. On the highway it is not really a problem because my battery is charging pretty quickly and it doesn't draw to much power. But when I P&G in city, it is always trying to do background charging while I accelerate and this cause my acceleration to be alot longer than when there is no charging. I tend to not use assist, because it drains the battery to much. When I do a costco commute after returning from a highway trip, my SOC shows 19 bars and it is drained to 4-3 bars in the middle of my morning trip... When the SOC shows 2 or 1 bars, it is always trying to charge while the engine is on.

So this is what I want to change. By starting with a full battery pack that I try (really hard) to not deplete and that way I get MUCH better mpg .

It is also to extend the life of my battery, I do not have 3000$ for a brand new :P

[payne171]

I have tried not to use my grid charger due to the summer heat, as I don't have a fan for it. Instead, I have accelerated slow enough to not use assist. Then I use the OBDII C&C to reset my state of charge when it gets too full to accept any more regen. It seems to have helped, as it always settled to 153 volts when full. Now it is settling to 158. I am guessing it brought a few cells back to life.

Edit: it sounds like you guys need a hot air intake.

[HyperMileQC]

Yesterday I charged my 144v Battery for the first time! It took around 3 hours for the voltage to stabilize. Then, it was time for the balancing process. I let it soak for 10 hours and the voltage went from ~168 to ~171. After the charge I did a MCM reset by pulling the under-dash fuse #18.




This morning I left with 0/20 bars on the SOC display and it slowly gained bars until it reached 19/20 bars and stayed there. There was no background charging during that.

I tried to not use assist as much as possible to preserve the SOC. I didn't build that charger to use more assist. I build it so I can start with a full battery each morning and the car is not trying to do background charging during acceleration.

Did 78.0 mpg on the morning trip. It was cold, around 5°C and I didn't use P&G all the way so that the SOC could calibrate. The SOC stayed at 19/20 bars.

On the returning trip, I did 117.0 mpg, but it was lot warmer, around 20°C. Hit 2 redlights. Did 97.5 mpg average.



When I parked in my driveway, the SOC was still at 19/20 bars, that's what you can call a pack resurection! Before the balancing, When my SOC displayed 19/20 bars, it was depleted on my morning trip...

So anyway, I am very happy with the results. The Insight is way more fun to drive when there is no background charging.

[sheepdog 44]

Fill it up, fill it up! Lets see those numbers on team Honda!

[Insight for life]

are you bump starting for P&G or key starting? it actually uses alot of 144v "juice" when key starting.

[HyperMileQC]

I bump start with the 5th gear any speed above 15 mph, in 4th between 15 and 12 mph. Anything below that speed I prefer to key start. Key starting use alot of energy, but for a very short delay. It takes far less energy than a 5 second low assist. And normally, the car does it all the time and sometime way more than 5 seconds. I never saw a SOC bar change after a key start. I can key start 3 to 10 times depending on how Lucky I am. I find it way more conveniant than a conventional 12v starter .