22legit2quit
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Greetings, please move to correct place if this is the wrong forum. I own a 2024 flash, which I am over the moon at its performance, cost of ownership(outside of the vehicle purchase price), and most importantly the chance of being a part of something that I’ve always found fascinating which is vehicle efficiency without the compromising the drive ability.
While I’m sure that most people here are enthusiasts to some extent, some are probably more than others, I’d be more of the latter.
Because I drive a fairly metered amount to and from work, I felt that with my round trip commute being 60 miles per day of work that translated to anywhere from 210-270 miles per week that I would be putting substantial miles on the lightning. Adding to the fact that ford has now effectively shuttered the lightning in its current form and there’s not a solid plan to reintroduce and what that might look like it was a simple preservation operation at first.
Very simply I wanted to see if we are moving towards progression with regard to efficiency. So for the “tale of the tape” here goes: 2024 lightning vs 2000 Honda insight.
The lightning is unmodified, I have a home charger which I use 100 percent of the time to charge because I have another vehicle for longer trips and that would give me more skewed data than the occasional traffic/weather changes that I experience in my daily commute. My typical average driving about 99% public highway is 2.4 miles per kWh. Which gives me an operating cost (fuel/electric) of 25kw on my round trip each working day. The going rate for charging at home is .10 per kWh, making the effective cost $2.50 each day not accounting for the depreciation, tire wear, etc. I run the climate as needed but in Arkansas usually the only thing you need is air conditioning which the lightning does much better with than heat.
The insight is also unmodified, with the exception of a slightly more efficient and powerful electrical system, I believe 8 ah compared to the 4-6ah stock. Otherwise no other modifications have been made to this point. It’s fairly low miles at 65k, manual transmission, ac, it even still has the factory tape deck in it which also works. I have plans to add certain insight specific devices that will increase its range and will add that to the cost as a bulk increase when that happens. I have been achieving 60mpg (hand calculated), post oil change, spark plugs and a valve cover gasket. Current gas prices here are below $2.50 for regular gas which is what I use, making the insight more economical to drive. The insight also has a lean burn feature that engages when certain conditions exist (it’s more than I’d like to list and kind of depends on where you get your literature), basically it cuts the fuel by about half. I have achieved 80mpg again hand calculated on an extended highway trip.
I am currently waiting on a response from one of the insight gurus on their version of this forum before beginning the data logging. If this goes well I plan to do the following to the insight while continuing to try and tap into the lightning the same as the insight:
Hot air intake ( yes this is a thing)
Nissan leaf battery and drive motor (much later of a modification)
Small solar array 1-200 watts is probably all it can hold
Upgraded egr (allows for faster lean burn)
Obd2cac and ima controller (allows certain aspects of the insight to be controlled by the driver and not the computer)
Better aerodynamics (grill blocks, potentially better springs)
I don’t currently have much that I can do with the lightning other than adding solar panels to get some sort of free charging but would have to add that as an additional cost.
Initial impression:
The insight isn’t as comfortable to drive but that doesn’t mean it’s not useful. The technology in the insight, imo is far more advanced than anything we have or have had. The auto stop actually works like it should as in you can coast with the vehicle off at certain speeds. Cost to cost the lightning was 65k when I bought it, the Honda was substantially less but comparing new to new the Honda would have been about 35k if it was new today(again an estimate). For what you get it is pricey or would’ve been.
Lastly, this is a hobby for me so please treat it as such. I am in no way an electrical engineer or chemist or physicist, just having fun and trying to apply some common sense. I’m grateful for constructive feedback.
While I’m sure that most people here are enthusiasts to some extent, some are probably more than others, I’d be more of the latter.
Because I drive a fairly metered amount to and from work, I felt that with my round trip commute being 60 miles per day of work that translated to anywhere from 210-270 miles per week that I would be putting substantial miles on the lightning. Adding to the fact that ford has now effectively shuttered the lightning in its current form and there’s not a solid plan to reintroduce and what that might look like it was a simple preservation operation at first.
Very simply I wanted to see if we are moving towards progression with regard to efficiency. So for the “tale of the tape” here goes: 2024 lightning vs 2000 Honda insight.
The lightning is unmodified, I have a home charger which I use 100 percent of the time to charge because I have another vehicle for longer trips and that would give me more skewed data than the occasional traffic/weather changes that I experience in my daily commute. My typical average driving about 99% public highway is 2.4 miles per kWh. Which gives me an operating cost (fuel/electric) of 25kw on my round trip each working day. The going rate for charging at home is .10 per kWh, making the effective cost $2.50 each day not accounting for the depreciation, tire wear, etc. I run the climate as needed but in Arkansas usually the only thing you need is air conditioning which the lightning does much better with than heat.
The insight is also unmodified, with the exception of a slightly more efficient and powerful electrical system, I believe 8 ah compared to the 4-6ah stock. Otherwise no other modifications have been made to this point. It’s fairly low miles at 65k, manual transmission, ac, it even still has the factory tape deck in it which also works. I have plans to add certain insight specific devices that will increase its range and will add that to the cost as a bulk increase when that happens. I have been achieving 60mpg (hand calculated), post oil change, spark plugs and a valve cover gasket. Current gas prices here are below $2.50 for regular gas which is what I use, making the insight more economical to drive. The insight also has a lean burn feature that engages when certain conditions exist (it’s more than I’d like to list and kind of depends on where you get your literature), basically it cuts the fuel by about half. I have achieved 80mpg again hand calculated on an extended highway trip.
I am currently waiting on a response from one of the insight gurus on their version of this forum before beginning the data logging. If this goes well I plan to do the following to the insight while continuing to try and tap into the lightning the same as the insight:
Hot air intake ( yes this is a thing)
Nissan leaf battery and drive motor (much later of a modification)
Small solar array 1-200 watts is probably all it can hold
Upgraded egr (allows for faster lean burn)
Obd2cac and ima controller (allows certain aspects of the insight to be controlled by the driver and not the computer)
Better aerodynamics (grill blocks, potentially better springs)
I don’t currently have much that I can do with the lightning other than adding solar panels to get some sort of free charging but would have to add that as an additional cost.
Initial impression:
The insight isn’t as comfortable to drive but that doesn’t mean it’s not useful. The technology in the insight, imo is far more advanced than anything we have or have had. The auto stop actually works like it should as in you can coast with the vehicle off at certain speeds. Cost to cost the lightning was 65k when I bought it, the Honda was substantially less but comparing new to new the Honda would have been about 35k if it was new today(again an estimate). For what you get it is pricey or would’ve been.
Lastly, this is a hobby for me so please treat it as such. I am in no way an electrical engineer or chemist or physicist, just having fun and trying to apply some common sense. I’m grateful for constructive feedback.
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