Brake and Gas Charging

If one was driving fro

That’s fuzzy thinking.

 

Wait, why should I never do this? I did it all the time when crossing the Rockies and my battery would dip down to 26%. Of course I’d pull over and force charge the shit out of it, give it a few min , then continue climbing the mountains….

 

Hard on the battery. Inefficient in general driving conditions (you pay a conversion-efficiency tax both putting the energy into the battery and getting it back out, which you would not pay on sending it straight from engine to wheels while driving).

But then, if you need to do it, in order to maintain traffic speed in the mountains, then that's a reason to do it. You did buy the car to drive, not look pretty.

Yeah, that was fuzzy, thinking. Good to have somebody doing it.

 

I had to do that to try and get the battery fully charged to do my battery life expectancy test ( Dr Prius app )

 

Yeah! This is where I first learned this was doable. Only use it in situations where I really need it , even though I trust the intelligence of the pri and don’t think it’ll let the hv battery completely die 0%, I’ve removed so many parts and Frankensteined my cars together that it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.

 

I have very little experience with the C but a heck of a lot of experience hypermiling. Driving with a foot on the gas and breaks has only one purpose, otherwise it is useless.
On cruise yesterday I maxed out the MPG indicator on a quiet road to a Marina, the ultimate cul de sac, deserted.
I got 60 MPG driving through traffic even including a 4 mile backup east to west on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. Took about 45 minutes to get to the entrance. That in the Echo would have been painful.
My C has 179k miles on it now purchased last Friday.
I also own a 2000 Echo, manual steering and transmission. Consider it the antithesis of the C I have seen 100 MPG on the Echo on another deserted road, but it's a lot of work and concentration. At 72 years age that kind of focus is now becoming detrimental to my situational awareness. One thing the Echo does better is accelerate, much better. 108 horsepower in 1950 pounds will do that but I can average only 41 MPG these days. Tires and a lazy 02 sensor are the probably culprits. My C came with Ecopias and they are great for mileage.
The C's acceleration requires more patience but at least the engine is not running like the Echo.
Drove a 94 Civic VX and got 64 MPG all interstate to DC and back home. 300 miles on a little more than 4.5 gallons of gas. Got 70 MPG on a first gen Insight with CVT on a two day trip with a refill of 10 gallons for 700 miles.
I'll take the slower acceleration. Try driving a 63 Valiant (28 MPG) with the small slant six, bias ply tires (recaps) and a well tuned carburetor (50 rpm lean drop) that would not climb an 8% grade without downshifting AND if you wanted to pass it took much longer than the C and a hundred yards head start to get up to passing speed or you could drive a 58 Volkswagen.