Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Honda's fix for prematurely dying Civic hybrid batteries hurting fuel economy, performance?]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/16/hondas-fix-for-prematurely-dying-civic-hybrid-batteries-hurting/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/16/hondas-fix-for-prematurely-dying-civic-hybrid-batteries-hurting/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/16/hondas-fix-for-prematurely-dying-civic-hybrid-batteries-hurting/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

2008 Honda Civic Hybrid - Click above for high-res image gallery

Until the past year or so, the Civic Hybrid had been by far the best selling gas-electric model introduced by Honda. However, the second-generation model introduced in 2006 has not been entirely problem-free. There have been several lawsuits against Honda claiming that the Civic doesn't meet its advertised mileage claims. While those sort of claims are often dubious given their dependency on factors like driving style, climate and terrain, premature battery failures are not.

According to the Los Angeles Times, it appears that 2006-2008 Civic Hybrid models are suffering an abnormally high rate of battery failure at relatively low miles. The nickel-metal-hydride batteries are evidently prematurely losing their ability to hold a charge - particularly in hot weather areas like Arizona and when used in a lot of stop-and-go traffic. The Civic Hybrid has a dual compressor air-conditioning system with an engine driven primary compressor and a smaller electric compressor to keep the system going when the engine is shut during a stop. Using the air conditioning will cause the battery to go through more charge cycles, eventually wearing it down. Read on after the jump for more on why the battery might be failing and how Honda is attempting to address it.

Update: Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky let us know that the software updated for the 2006-8 Civics is based on the changes that were introduced for the refreshed 2009 models. The 2009 models apparently also got an updated battery but obviously that change isn't going into the older cars. The original 2006-8 models would spend a lot of time during hot weather use with the A/C on which apparently caused the charge cycling rate to increase wearing down the battery.

Update 2: Honda confirmed that the battery pack did change from 2008 to 2009 but its not clear exactly what was updated.


Gallery: ABG Garage: 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid

Photos Copyright (C)2008 Sam Abuelsamid / AOL


[Source: Los Angeles Times]

Continue reading Honda's fix for prematurely dying Civic hybrid batteries hurting fuel economy, performance?

Honda's fix for prematurely dying Civic hybrid batteries hurting fuel economy, performance? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>20062006 honda civic hybrid2006HondaCivicHybridbattery failureBatteryFailureCalifornia Air Resources BoardCaliforniaAirResourcesBoardcarbcivic hybridcivic hybrid batteryCivicHybridCivicHybridBatteryhondaHonda Civichonda civic hybridhonda civic hybrid battery failureHondaCivicHondaCivicHybridHondaCivicHybridBatteryFailurehybrid batterieshybrid batteryhybrid battery failurehybrid battery packHybridBatteriesHybridBatteryHybridBatteryFailureHybridBatteryPacknickel metal hydrideNickelMetalHydridenimhnimh batteriesnimh batteryNiMH rechargeableNimhBatteriesNimhBatteryNimhRechargeableMon, 16 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19594826/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/08/16/hondas-fix-for-prematurely-dying-civic-hybrid-batteries-hurting/19594826/article-detail.xml 19594826 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/08/honda-civic-hybrid-1280-07_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/08/honda-civic-hybrid-1280-07.jpg <![CDATA["Road rage" may be result of mental illness]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/road-rage-may-be-result-of-mental-illness/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/road-rage-may-be-result-of-mental-illness/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/road-rage-may-be-result-of-mental-illness/#commentsFiled under:

A recently-released study by the National Institute for Mental Health claims that five to seven percent of the population - perhaps up to 16 million Americans - suffers from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), or what could be colloquially referred to as "road rage syndrome".

Symptoms of IED include multiple bouts of anger that are out of proportion to the situation and which include a threat of violence or actual aggressive action towards a person or property. Said to be related to improper functioning of serotonin in the brain, the average age of onset is 14, with an average of 43 outbursts over one's lifetime. For what it's worth, we suffered from at least that many violent episodes while changing the head gasket on a GM Quad 4, but we're pretty sure that could have been addressed by dropping the car off at a junkyard instead of visiting a psychiatrist.

[Source: Yahoo!]

"Road rage" may be result of mental illness originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>accidentsangerdisorderexplosiveIEDintermittentIntermittent Explosive DisorderIntermittentExplosiveDisordermental illnessNIMHroad rageRoadRageFri, 09 Jun 2006 18:59:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/631407/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2006/06/09/road-rage-may-be-result-of-mental-illness/631407/article-detail.xml 631407 http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/keep-honking_thumbnail.jpg http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/keep-honking.jpg -1 2