Winter Storage Question

[CR-Z Canadian]

Hi.

New here, and seriously looking at purchasing a CR-Z, but because of my location, I would have to store it for about five months of the year because of snow (I live 10 minutes from where cars were stranded on a highway for over 24 hours this winter!!!).

I know it is early days for this model, but is there any advice for storing this vehicle, so that I would not have to replace the battery, or have the electric motor removed and baked, every spring?

Judging by the comments on other threads, it sounds like very few of you would WANT to put yours away for long, but I will HAVE to. If anyone has experience with this or other electric assist Honda's, glad to hear from you on this too.

Thanks!

[wicked1]

Originally Posted by CR-Z Canadian

(I live 10 minutes from where cars were stranded on a highway for over 24 hours this winter!!!).

Downtown Chicago?

--Everything I've read about the hybrid system batteries say it's bad to let them go for over a month... If you think you can get out and drain/re-charge every month you might be ok.. Do more research though.. I don't now for sure.

[andrewr]

Yeah I think I saw that in my owner's manual, that you shouldn't let the car sit for more than a month at a time otherwise you risk the battery pack going bad.

Maybe just stretch the springs a bit for more clearance, get tire chains and screw some HID's to the roof, mount a ATV plow on the front and give er hell!

Or, if you have close family living in a warmer climate do some seasonal vehicle swapping. Can't say I know to many families with that kind of trust going on though

[tsh]

There are some people who will install a grid charger for you (and void the battery warranty). It seems that this is useful to keep the cells in the battery all at similar state-of-charge, and pretty much essential if you leave the car un-used even for a couple of weeks at a time.
The grid charger can safely charge at 350mA even when some cells are full. The excess energy is dissipated as heat whilst the other cells top up to full charge. A 150V dc 350mA charger is a fairly scary item though.

I doubt that a once a month top-up drive will be adequate. Once a week might work.

[Ol'Man Driver]

Originally Posted by tsh

...A 150V dc 350mA charger is a fairly scary item though...

CR-Z IMA Battery: 100V

[Ludercrz]

you're kidding right? that stretch of highway (what was it again... 401? 402?...) i live NORTH from it and I'm driving the car in the winter...

what's wrong with driving the car during the winter?

frekin Toronto people freak out when they see snow... they even make fun of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyZcwnO794k

only reason to store your car over winter would be to keep it mint for 20+years

[CR-Z Canadian]

Originally Posted by Ludercrz

you're kidding right? that stretch of highway (what was it again... 401? 402?...) i live NORTH from it and I'm driving the car in the winter...

what's wrong with driving the car during the winter?

frekin Toronto people freak out when they see snow... they even make fun of it:

YouTube - Rick Mercer Report : Special Report

only reason to store your car over winter would be to keep it mint for 20+years

Nope, not Toronto. 402 near Strathroy, and we didn't call out the army to clear snow once this year!!!

Well, my truck is a Chevy Avalanche, 4x4 Z-71, and there have been a dozen times this year when I've had to park her at the end of my 1/4 mile farm laneway and walk in, to get my tractor out and blow out the FOUR FOOT drifts. Plus, a few times that I barely made it through our rural road, and called my wife to tell her not to even try it in her 4x4 Nissan Frontier, but if you think the CR-Z can make it through that, I'll bow to your experience as an owner - LOL. Since we both have to go to work 20 miles away into the city each day, I'm leaning towards the idea of putting a plow on it myself!

It's just that we get a strong North-West wind in the winter, and half of Lake Huron gets dumped into our county. I was hoping to park a truck and enjoy a sporty gas-miser in the summer, but only have two of our three vehicles on insurance over the summer / winter.

I appreciate everyone's feedback though - love the car, but perhaps it isn't the right car for me. Pity, as it really seems a beaut, judging from what everyone is saying on this site. Thank you all very much for this, and if there are any more helpful comments, I'll keep hoping there is a way to make this work.

Cheers (and happy driving)!

[CR-Z Canadian]

Originally Posted by Ludercrz

you're kidding right? that stretch of highway (what was it again... 401? 402?...) i live NORTH from it and I'm driving the car in the winter...

what's wrong with driving the car during the winter?

frekin Toronto people freak out when they see snow... they even make fun of it:

only reason to store your car over winter would be to keep it mint for 20+years

Tried to post once, but didn't work, so if this shows up twice, sorry!

Nope, not Toronto. Your are right - 402 at Strathroy. When we get a strong North-West winter wind, half of Lake Huron winds up being dumped on our county.

My truck is a Chevy Avalanche, 4x4 Z-71, and at least a half dozen times this winter, I've had to park it at the end of my 1/4 mile farm laneway and walk in to get my tractor to blow out the FOUR FOOT DRIFTS. Add on that a few times I've only just made it down our rural road, and called my wife to not even try in her 4x4 Nissan Frontier. I've driven these roads for decades, but if you think the CR-Z will make it through this, I'll bow to your superior knowledge as an owner - LOL! If we didn't each have to drive 20 miles in opposite directions to get to work everyday, It might be OK. I'm leaning toward the suggestion to put a plow on the car!

I was hoping to keep the trucks, park one for summer, and enjoy a sporty fuel efficient CR-Z in the summer, but not have more than two vehicles on insurance at a time. Looks like this might not be the car for me after all. More is the pity - especially after the cudo's people have been giving it on this forum.

I appreciate all the feedback - and if anyone has more helpful comments to add, I would love to hear them.

Cheers, and happy spring motoring!

[hybridrepair]

Originally Posted by CR-Z Canadian

Hi.

New here, and seriously looking at purchasing a CR-Z, but because of my location, I would have to store it for about five months of the year because of snow (I live 10 minutes from where cars were stranded on a highway for over 24 hours this winter!!!).

I know it is early days for this model, but is there any advice for storing this vehicle, so that I would not have to replace the battery, or have the electric motor removed and baked, every spring?

Judging by the comments on other threads, it sounds like very few of you would WANT to put yours away for long, but I will HAVE to. If anyone has experience with this or other electric assist Honda's, glad to hear from you on this too.

Thanks!

My professional opinion is that if you park it for 5 months out of the year and don't charge it up before use (with a grid charger), then you won't get more than three years out of the battery. Non-use is the number one killer of Honda IMA batteries.

[andrewr]

Yeah I put away my firebird for the winter months but all I have to do is pull the 12V battery out and store it inside. You can't charge up the IMA battery without modifying it to accept a grid charger which causes warrenty problems, and even if you did install a charger for the health of the pack you would probably want a way to discharge it once a month as well. It would be a mess. You could let it sit and hope for the best but ah, maybe plan on just doing a 2 year lease cuz thats probably about how long the batteries will put up with it, and don't tell the dealer your letting it sit for extended periods.