Not sure how true this is, but I herd about Honda recalling their Civic hybrids to install an update that's supposed to "better protect" the battery by simply, using less of it. What does that do? Decrease mileage, reliability, and power. One man supposedly said "I bought my Civic hybrid brand new in 2006, I got the new software update that Honda said was supposed to "Make the car run better." After the update, I now get 28-34mpg from the 45-50mpg I used to get. Also, the car is horrible sluggish. I am seriously afraid to pull onto the freeway." and he went on about how it was not the same. A girl on YouTube is having problems as well, along with a few other people. This seems to be happening to the HCH-II (2006-present) models. I can see as how the mileage would go down. Basically, Honda made the car use the gas engine more, and I can also see why the car would be sluggish. Think, the Civic hybrid's 0-60 time was 12.5 seconds, imagine taking away some of the torque and power from the electric motor, that leaves the 88hp gas engine to pull the 2,700 pound Civic. Hmmm. Any thoughts?
Yeah. I don't know first-hand but we talked about this on a recent What Drives Us episode. What Drives Us | Alternative Fuel Weekly Podcast It would seem that their definition of "protecting the battery" is what you described: use the battery less. From reports, the Civic Hybrid achieves barely better mileage than the standard. It would seem that they have chosen to screw the owners in order to make sure the batteries last just beyond warranty.
That's really unfortunate. It makes me wonder if they should have used the type of batteries that are in the Gen.II Prius instead of their D-cell type, and also used the 20%-80% SOC spec. That would offer better electric assist range and a longer life of the battery and probably a higher MPG. Oh well, it's not like Honda's listening to me haha. Just my thoughts.
