[neophytenoel]

Yes, I did purchase the Lithium batteries. They are in transit and I plan to do the swap myself when they arrive. I just pulled out the back seat and cleaned the blower fan to minimize downtime.

I checked my battery and it's at 49% health, which is pretty poor, the difference in voltage between blades is quite high. I expect to get a CEL soon and cant imagine what a strain it has put on my ICE. My options were to replace the bad cell (the #7 blade) and rebalance and hope the rest of the cells last a bit longer, rebalance the whole system (takes 3 days and costs @ $500-900), purchase new NiMh, or upgrade to LiFePo4 (Nexcell). I chose the last option. Why, because LiFePo4 is half the weight, more energy dense, and newer, cleaner technology(from manufacturing to use to recycling). It also has no off-gassing of hydrogen like NiMh. Quite a long list of pro's.

Any updates on this mate?

 

[neophytenoel]

Yep, so the dash long-term mpg went from 37.1 to 44, keep in mind my battery health was at 49%. Not an exaggeration to say pretty much everything is better, seems to jump off the line at a green light now, handles better, brakes better. Drives more like a normal car than a hybrid, lugging around a heavy battery.

Using hybrid assistant trip mpg hits 56 pretty consistently. I did notice the electric motor runs hotter because its actually being used and taking the strain off of the ICE. Just keep an eye on the temps, for both, get an app and a Veepeak Mini Bluetooth OBD2 Scanner.

So if you're thinking ROI, like me, a 37.1 to 44 is a 18.5% increase in efficiency. SO basically every 5th fill up is free(at 3 fill ups a month that's 210 per year in savings). Add that to the less wear and tear on the ICE, suspension, brakes and then reduce the 2100 (battery plus shipping) minus the cost to resell the NiMH blades (@500 quick) that's basically a few hundred dollars for a much better ride feel and higher efficiency. It wont turn it into a Golf-R or a P90 but its a big improvement.

I will definitely add this to my upgrade wishlist! thanks for your input!

Your next mod must be Gen 4 engine swap but that's a long shot. Just saw a vid at youtube days ago.