I hear yuh. Really liking the insight, huh? I tried reading independently about that lithium battery swap you mentioned. It sounds involved - I get feeling protective of time investments. Is it treating you well? (the Insight)

Sorry In one of your pictures I swear it looked like your plastic panel was glass and had also shattered.

 

Its been great only filling up once a week and driving a car that doesn't look like a battered fleet car. The Insight is also a car I've wanted for a very long time.

The driving experience is much better with the lithium conversion. The conversion itself wasn't too terrible, but I made sure I took my time dotting my Is and crossing my Ts, and to not shock myself since there is room for error. It was an all day event, but it got done correctly.

NiMH packs only last you about 5-7 years, whereas lithium is estimated to last at least 10. For a cost comparison, I was able to do the conversion under the cost of getting an 8 Ah NiMH pack ($2k before shipping, factory rating is 6.5 Ah @ $1500 I think before shipping) to my house. I did this just in time because doing this now at that cost is going to be a little difficult.

With this morning's temps in the mid-20s, I got 60 mpg on the way to work. It's only going to get better once the temps warm up.

I see where you assumed that. The tape made it look broken. It was not lol.

 

@julianachos I'm still not used to the idea of driving a battery around. Call me Stuck in the 20th Century. When they get Prius batteries down to the size of iPhone batteries, we'll start to see some interesting sports cars.

I miss the old Julian Nachos. The crazy man who was a fiend for the road. Now, Julian talks about 10-year battery life. He's starting to sound like my abuelita, for cryin' out loud.

 

I mean I’m still on the road, just using less gas. The Insight is still drivable without a battery, just a little slower.

 

That's insane! If you have a place where you posted up your story I'd love to hear about it. My mind opened up to lithium batteries as a result of switching to an electronic cigarette contraption For when you have to get better at running, but your natural nervousness makes you a life-threatening danger to yourself and others.
Learned that Tesla cars used 18650s just like my smokey thing. Then realized they're in cordless power tools and the cordless stick vacuum we'd gotten for $20. Figured I'd do myself a huge favor by starting to learn about swapping cells out!

For my first time I didnt want to invest more than the cost of batteries, so solder instead of spot welding!

Now I'm unafraid and just plain interested (though not very savvy yet). Doing a swap on a hybrid's power pack is big league stuff though! For the right price - a DIY install, with MPG numbers like those.. If I can learn about this I'd finally be brave enough to get a CRZ Every time I see one I swoon.. then remember I can't fix it.

MC, the future is electric, and it's now time to start exploiting it! I want a steering controller that slams the rack side to side with a 90° steering wheel input like I'm driving a go kart.
​​​​​​

 

Once you start experimenting, you realize its not that bad. Just don't be dumb about it. There was a time where I was heavily looking into the third-gen Prius until the Fit was offered for sale.

There's an Insight enthusiast that sells a kit (linsight.org) and I purchased one as a beta tester.

I didn't put a whole progress thread about it, but here are some pics on it: https://www.insightcentral.net/threa...5#post-1517902

 

I'm fighting a conventional ground war in Eastern Europe. I'll leave it to you smarty guys to deal with the electric ladyland future.



P.S. The future is autonomous. Where does that leave we who love to drive?

 

@julianachos Agreed, lithium is pretty scary stuff. Makes residential electrical seem tame. I really enjoyed your thread and will be educating myself on the different kinds of battery packs and their accessories in the future to get a better feel for things.

@Mister Coffee Sign me up for ladyland!
I can't deny the beauty of canned explosions, I just want to exploit the tide rather than fight it.

PS: if the future is autonomous, we gotta learn how to shut that stuff off.