Start Stop System

[Farm Boy]

No start stop for me, I use the "KISS" rule as often as I can. "KISS" Keep It Simple Stupid! The best rule I learned in collage!

 

[zelio]

I am just a chick, so I will say it, I just want one because I like the idea.

Um, your a chick. Ve-ry in-ter-es-ting. Hmmmmmm

 

[raybonz]

Um, your a chick. Ve-ry in-ter-es-ting. Hmmmmmm

I wouldn't have guessed it either..

 

[ST13Fred]

Cruise control is a standard system I would like to see on Elio.

My Insight has auto stop and not worth the cost, IMO, with minimal savings.
It will only stay in auto stop for less than a minute and then restart the engine for reasons only the computer knows.

 

[lafrisbee]

I have the chick mind of just give me what I think I waning an average 25 minute commute to work there is an average four minutes o sitting at lights or behind school buses(done by comparing a near traffic lightless run to a two week's average). I do not know the longest light but it FEELS like more than a minute....but I average five stops. So 2.5 minutes x 2 x5 x 46= about ten hours a year of idling in gas savings.... Now someone else with some engineering or Motörhead sense will have to figure out how many gallons would that be. Then they or I could multiply it by the price of a gallon. Then take a logical assessment at how much other time it would spend idling..then compare it to the cost of the option.

 

[zelio]

I have the chick mind of just give me what I think I waning an average 25 minute commute to work there is an average four minutes o sitting at lights or behind school buses(done by comparing a near traffic lightless run to a two week's average). I do not know the longest light but it FEELS like more than a minute....but I average five stops. So 2.5 minutes x 2 x5 x 46= about ten hours a year of idling in gas savings.... Now someone else with some engineering or Motörhead sense will have to figure out how many gallons would that be. Then they or I could multiply it by the price of a gallon. Then take a logical assessment at how much other time it would spend idling..then compare it to the cost of the option.

Or not!

 

[Brainmatter]

I have the chick mind of just give me what I think I waning an average 25 minute commute to work there is an average four minutes o sitting at lights or behind school buses(done by comparing a near traffic lightless run to a two week's average). I do not know the longest light but it FEELS like more than a minute....but I average five stops. So 2.5 minutes x 2 x5 x 46= about ten hours a year of idling in gas savings.... Now someone else with some engineering or Motörhead sense will have to figure out how many gallons would that be. Then they or I could multiply it by the price of a gallon. Then take a logical assessment at how much other time it would spend idling..then compare it to the cost of the option.

I think you'd be better off just hypermiling the thing. Accomplishes the same task and lets elio off the hook for cost and liability.

 

[Brainmatter]

I've had start stop for Many years in my Honda Insight Gen1. Never had any issues and I am certain it has saved many dollars over the years. There is no need for Super size alternators or fears of lost brakes its all basic software. My car shuts down at 20 miles per hour on decel and starts up on its own. If the system identifies the use of heavy voltage like using the AC it simply bypasses the start/stop function. Same goes for the brakes, all brake boosters have at least 3 good stops in them for all cars should someone accidentally turn the car off. If it senses you trip the brakes multiple times it fires the engine back on for new vac pressure. All of this said I see no need for Elio to invest time or money into stuff like this. Simple and safe. Hit your target estimates (all four) plus minus 10% and I will be a happy owner!

Dave #61

There is a lot more going on with your Insight than you realize. I had a Honda 2003 Civic Hybrid which is basically the same tech. I am intimately familiar with that vehicle. Currently I have a Honda CRZ hybrid and a Lincoln MKZ hybrid. The CRZ is just a little bit better version of the IMA, but it is still Honda IMA.

The Insight uses what Honda calls Integrated Motor Assist. It's basically the crappiest hybrid system in existence (which they are phasing out this year thank god). Don't get me wrong, I actually like them because they get the job done inexpensively, but it is crude. The Toyota and Ford hybrids are leaps ahead of the old Honda IMA systems. Anyway, that IMA system is basically a big giant starter/generator that takes place of the flywheel. So yeah... the whole system is a giant charging system. No need for super size alternators? Wrong. It is one. When that engine shuts down it is using it (IMA system) to charge the hybrid batteries.
If you're trying to equate Stop/Start to your hybrid, you can't. If you are going to make the Elio a start stop, you may as well make it a mild hybrid. Now look at all the redundancy built into your Honda that is not just 'software' and what that cost. If introduced to the elio, the elio is a 15,000 vehicle.
There is a ton of 'extra stuff' happening in you insight whether you realize it or not. A replacement hybrid battery for your Honda costs half as much as the whole Elio for example.
It's just not as simple as turning off the engine and turning it back on. If it were, GM would not be in the hot water they are with the ignition switch non-recall issue.

Stop start or any form of hybrid just does not make sense for this car no matter how you slice it.
Cheap and efficient I.C.E. or a plug-in electric make sense here. That's about it.

 

[Brainmatter]

Not sure where you come up with your info but to each their own. While you may feel the system is crap I would ask you to find a production car that averages 72Mpg from the factory like the insight. Crap is a is using the word Hybrid to describe a $50,000 Lincoln that only get 30mpg (22 city). Amazing system of efficiency that is!!! What I am certain of is that a Hybrid is More than a sticker on the trunk! And for the record, I said it would Not be worth Elio wasting time on this concept. Thanks as always for sharing your amazing wisdom Brainmatter.

I'm sorry, but you are the one who is misinformed. I have no clue where you came up with those F.E. figures but it's way way off. Just use Fusion Hybrid for your research, it's the same car.
I paid $25,000 used with 10K on the odometer. That was Fusion money at the time so why not? Free leather and heated/cooled seats. It's a glorified fusion, but it is what it is. big deal.
If you are interested, I average 42 on the hwy. I have gotten as high as 49 on a long trip, all interstate at 69mph. No drafting. I've gotten as high as 58 in town. Your Honda is opposite... it does worse in the city than on the highway because of IMA. (And don't try to B.S. me about it... it is how it is designed, you cannot get around it in a first gen Insight or any first IMA. I tried every trick in the book with the Civic. ) For comparison The CRZ (NOT CRV) averages 48, but its not a 4 door 5 person car, its a 2 seater, so not as practical as my piece of crap MKfusion... Anyway, it's a hell of a lot better than what I was driving for not a lot more dough.

Crap refers to how crude the early IMA system. You get the economy you do because of how the rest of the car is engineered, which is not crap. It is a lightweight space framed 2 seat auto. The insight was a nifty package for a subpar hybrid system. Insight = good. IMA =bad. You should be pissed because it could have been so much more.
If you want to see how the IMA stacks up in a real world car like the Civic just look at all the lawsuits Honda had over fuel economy and transmission issues. It won't take much searching.
Look, It was not a personal attack. Hondas IMA system was built to achieve a price point. Even honda will admit it. There are and were much more efficient and refined systems available. That's it.
O.k... so now that YOU have your facts straight, let's move on.

The point is, you are trying to say that the elio should be able to do what your hybrid 'system' does. That is just not the case. Your insight is an entire 'system'. But I digress at the risk of sounding like Mike. Probably toolate..
Back to being experimenter me: there are simple ways one could convert the elio to a 'hypermile ready' vehicle and achieve almost what a hybrid or stop/start system does. Wire up an on demand switch that kills the vehicles fuel and ignition system. You can activate it whenever it is safe to do so such as coasting down hills or coasting to a stop (if you are confident enough with your brakes). Just do some research on hypermiling and you'll find there are a lot of neat tricks depending on your comfort level to employ them.

 

[Brainmatter]

Not sure where you come up with your info but to each their own. While you may feel the system is crap I would ask you to find a production car that averages 72Mpg from the factory like the insight. Crap is a is using the word Hybrid to describe a $50,000 Lincoln that only get 30mpg (22 city). Amazing system of efficiency that is!!! What I am certain of is that a Hybrid is More than a sticker on the trunk! And for the record, I said it would Not be worth Elio wasting time on this concept. Thanks as always for sharing your amazing wisdom Brainmatter.

And if referring to my screen name is some kind of dig, well, just read my profile. It's not what you or 99% of... well whatever. Doesn't matter. I just wish you didn't assume so much.