New Member From GA! Gotta question though...

[wu36mcg]

Hey I'ma proud owner of a 2011 Honda CR-Z EX w/ navigation in milano red. I got it with 4k miles for $19k. I have a question about the battery... How much fluctuation is normal in the battery? It normally only has 1 block missing, but sometimes it drops to 2. I can gain it back by driving a couple miles on cruise. I'm just wondering is everyone elses battery reads.

[Tandin]

Depending on how aggressively I drive I get mine down to 3 bars. The little green/blue indicator bar indicates if it's sucking or charging (blue is using battery, green is charging. It also depends on how hilly it is and what mode. Econ tends to use the battery more and with the hills and mountain passes here in the Puget sound area, it can suck the battery dry in half an hour.

[LeeMoon]

It does depend on your driving conditions/style. The battery will be used as needed to assist the gas motor and then recharge during braking, coasting or sometimes (when the battery is low) when cruising down the road or accelerating. You can also force a recharge by idling the car at 3,000 rpm for a few minutes.

[ldpbartlett]

Welcome and congrats! Great color choice. As to your battery question, mine works exactly as you have described yours. I've yet to see my last block full.

You can also force a recharge by idling the car at 3,000 rpm for a few minutes.

@LeeMoon Great info, thank you.

[TwoZs]

Welcome! sounds like you've already got some great advice on the battery, so I'll just say congrats on your CR-Z

[CR-Z Canadian]

Welcome, and congrats on the car.
You'll find lots of battery discussion if you use the search function - but the advice you've already seen here is a pretty good summary.
I fret when mine goes down to 5 bars, but a few good steady downhill coasts will bring it up again. I don't think you said if yours is MT6 or CVT - it has to be in gear to charge (so if you are in the habit of coasting in neutral or with the clutch in, you won't get the recharge).
Good colour choice, BTW.

[gomarlins3]

Welcome to the site.

[wu36mcg]

hey thanks guys. I love this car, only had it for about 10 days. Only thing I got so far was a mirrored acrylic Medical College of Georgia license plate, which is yet to come in. I also have a 8 gig flash drive in the aux usb port. I'm looking for a small spoiler lip but all the ones so far are too flashy... I love the lines on the car, want it to stay discreet.

what did you mean by idle @ 3k? just let the car sit in my drive way in neutral and put a lil gas til its at 3k? or put it in sport mode while idling? i'm kind of scared to let the battery deplete under 3 bars.

[LeeMoon]

Originally Posted by wu36mcg

what did you mean by idle @ 3k? just let the car sit in my drive way in neutral and put a lil gas til its at 3k? or put it in sport mode while idling? i'm kind of scared to let the battery deplete under 3 bars.

Yep, you can sit in neutral/park and rev the engine to 3K. Watch the charge/assist gauge and it will show it charging the battery.

By the way, it's okay to deplete the battery pack - it's gonna happen eventually (long uphill, etc.) so be aware that around 3 bars or less, the IMA doesn't assist and starts recharging the battery. You can feel the power drop while it's doing this (you're running on the ICE which is also recharging the battery.) It's especially noticeable going uphill or accelerating. A downshift (stick or paddle shifters) will generally help out until the recharging becomes less aggressive. I've had it happen just a few times.

[RedefinedCRZ]

WELCOME!

Yeah you don't really need to worry about dropping the battery down too low, it is designed to do that. When I auto-x mine drops down to about 2 or 3 bars is all after 2 runs. Than I just do what they said, put in neutral, pull parking break, and rev the engine up.