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Hybrid Engine/IMA battery systemThe hybrid have a very different engine and Battery system (IMA), so this forum is for items related to the Hybrid cars alone.
If they are same as the regular cars, please post there instead.
Here's the skinny of it. I have an 03 hybrid. I'm a ham radio operator. I have multiple radios in said car. The faceplates detach from these radios and can be anywhere I want them to be in the car so the plan is to put the bulk of said radios mounted in the trunk. The problem I'm having is accessing a good 12v source from inside the trunk somewhere. It's this possible? Tapping a trunk light is not an option as these radios pull a fair amount of amperage. Obviously pulling the seat isn't an option being a hybrid. Is there a 12v source buried anywhere in my trunk?
I mean, there are 12VDC wires running into the trunk (tail lights, trunk light, etc), but, like you alluded to, you wouldn't want to overload those circuits. Every 12V source heading to the trunk would likely be a 10A circuit -- trunk light, tail lights. Your absolute best and safest bet it to run power directly from the battery in the engine bay to the trunk (much like one would do for a sound system with trunk-mounted amplifiers). I don't have any experience with the 03 HCH, but after some research, it's really not too different than how I routed an amp wire to the trunk of my 2002 civic coupe.
Grab an aftermarket positive battery terminal that can accommodate both OEM wires and whatever gauge wire you decide to run to the trunk. I'd recommend grabbing an in-line fuse holder for protection. Looks like the HCH has the same grommet as the non-hybrid models on the passenger side that penetrates the firewall for ECU wire harness penetration. You can use that to send a power wire through the firewall. I've personally sent 2AWG through that very grommet. Pain in the butt, but doable.
I personally ran these two JL Audio power "accessories" for my 4x100 and 1x600 amp along with some 20-25 feet of 2AWG amp wire:
Battery terminal: https://www.jlaudio.com/collections/...nnectors-91659
Fuse holder: https://www.jlaudio.com/collections/...e-blocks-91656
Pull the center console (shouldn't be too difficult, like.. 2 plastic pop-rivet things, 4 screws, and whatever you'll have to do to the AT shifter assembly), and use the existing wire harness as a guide of where to send your power wire. Once you get to a place you can send it under carpet, take that route. Fishtape is your friend to route it under the carpet (under the center console is the route I took) to the back seats. Remove the back seat cushions and you'll get to the part that poses a bit of a challenge, getting around the IMA battery.
Amidst my research, I found a penetration into the trunk on the passenger side. After you remove the seat cushions, you should be able to see this nice little (read: huge) hole (you may want to pull the cushions before taking this on, just to make sure the following pics line up with your car):
The fact that you can see the top of the strut tells me that's trunk area, and it's behind the carpeted panel labelled "4" in this pic
Pull up panel labelled "3" (literally grab and pull straight upward to release the 4? clips) and surrounding carpeted walls on the passenger side (as if you were changing tail light bulbs) and find some metal bit for the ground. Terminate both in whatever manner works for your ham radios and you're set.
Gives you step by step to install.. some.. PnP harness of sorts.. but involves sending wires (albeit smaller 14-18AWG wires, but the penetration looks big enough for a 0AWG) from the front of the IMA to the trunk. If you're going to take this on, consider using an amplifier wiring kit. Those typically include enough wire to send power from an engine bay to a trunk, and you'll easily find some rated for like 1000-2000W systems.
Hope this helps!
Last edited by xRiCeBoYx; Jan 31, 2023 at 01:56 AM.
There is a high amperage feed behind the back seats as part of the hybrid system. Should be able to pull about 100 amps continuously from it.
see photo. This device does the 150 volt to 12 volt conversion. Anything on the 12v side of it is directly connected to the battery and you can draw 100a or so.
As I have mentioned previously, running a power lead thru the back seat is not an option. The power source needs to come from the trunk itself. I'm very confident there's proper access to power back there, just not sure where.
