Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Anderson
Al, the Insight's 12 volt battery doesn't run a starter motor. It runs the powertrain control computer (and a few other incidental 12 volt loads). It doesn't need to supply much current at all in order to start the system. Once everything is up and running, the hybrid powertrain's batteries keep the 12 volt battery charged.
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Being totally correct, the Insight's 12v battery does OCCASIONALLY run a starter motor, but only in extremely cold temperatures, or when the 144v battery is flat (generally doesn't happen), in fact, its only happened to me once the entire time I've owned the car (almost 2 years)
The OEM battery for an Insight has about 270CCA, and Al seems to be approximately correct in its rated AmpHour capacity. Its definitely a small engine that doesn't require much oomph to start (995cc, 3cyl, takes a whopping 2.6qts of 0W20 oil to fill it). Honda doesn't even sell the original battery anymore, instead offering up a typical Civic battery, rated for around 500CCA as the replacement part.
I've seen our robot batteries used in an automotive application before on a dune-buggy, running a 4cyl GM Engine IIRC, but I don't think it runs in the winter.
Having looked at the datasheet for the Enersys battery, it seems to show that its operating temperature range ends at -20C. I will definitely see winter temps below that in a given year, so while it might work, its probably not the optimal choice.
Kind of makes me wonder though, what ordinary car batteries are typically rated for in terms of operating temperature range... surely car manufacturers aren't putting MIL spec batteries in our cars...