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ICE Usage

5K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  pasei 
#1 ·
Our 2019 Insight EX is approaching 50,000 miles (currently at 47,000). I know that a big chunk of those miles are from the electric motor and not the internal combustion engine (ICE). Just curious, in your opinion, in such a case, about how many miles could be attributed to the ICE and how many to the electric motor? Is it about 50/50? It's nice to know that even though the odometer is at 47,000, my ICE is a much lower number. Your thoughts?
 
#2 ·
50/50 has been my guesstimate on overall cumulative lifetime ICE vs Electric run time. But it's hard to tell since it really depends on individual drive conditions (speed, terrain), climate control (heating) and drive mode. For example, more ICE run time in colder winter ambient temperatures, driving on hills, when cabin heat is run, and in Sport mode.
 
#3 ·
You're MPG numbers matter in this calculation. The lower the number, the more your ICE has worked. What the ratio is, I have no idea. Just something to keep in mind.
 
#7 ·
I don't believe the green leaves (part of the Eco Assist system) are related to miles or how long the ICE is on or off.

6093

It's just tracking how long your vehicle stays in the center of the circle which is based on your acceleration/deceleration habits. If it's anything like the Gen2 Insights, it still tracks even if Econ mode is off. It's just more difficult to maintain since there's more punch in the acceleration when in normal or sport mode. I also believe it's tracking points whether you are in EV mode or using the ICE. It's all strictly based on acceleration.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I have 2 thoughts on this.

1. The ICE technically provided the power to move your car every inch it moves. It might have been in shorter more efficient bursts of power that were stored in the HV battery, but it provided all the power. If the drivetrain was normal the engine would spin all the time that you are moving. Probably more slowly and with less throttle input = less efficiently.

2. Then I was thinking that there is the EV mode where the ICE isn't spinning while going down hill in regen mode. In this regen mode only you are not spinning the engine and not using the engine's stored energy. So that = saved miles off of the engine.

So in summary, I'm thinking that the saved miles on the ICE would be the equivalent of the miles that the EV system propelled the car from energy provided only by regenerative braking, NOT energy provided by the ICE charging system.
What is that percentage? I would say it is certainly not 50%. Maybe 10% to 25% depending on driving conditions and style.

Just my opinions, not trying to start a fight, just trying to expand our understanding of this wonderful car. :)
Maybe there is an engineer out there that can expand on these thoughts?
 
#10 ·
I completely agree with you. One may even argue that on the highway, the engine is spinning quite fast because it's tiny, and that may result in more wear and tear that an engine on all the time but at lower rpm, even when you include a few EV miles intermittently. Also in city trips, it takes a while to reach operating temps in the winter = more wear. Add to that the Atkinson cycle, the (lack of, except highway) transmission, etc. So overall, it's probably hard to clearly say the Insight engine has less wear per mile. Maybe looking at data from 1st gen.
 
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