[robardin]

I think I shared versions of these pics in another thread, that had a different title about the "space filling box" in the tire repair kit cover.

What I'm talking about is what's under the entire hard plastic spacer that encompasses that "space filler box" that plugs the little well, at the bottom of which is the air compresor/tire sealant kit. That spacer can be removed rather easily, it just clips to the fold-down flap on two sides.

I found there to be quite a bit of empty space there - this is where the spare tire would go in a "regular" CR-V, but where the battery in the Hybrid model sticks back too far to allow for it, as I understand it.

So what I'd like to do is to use that empty space for other things, such as storing winter emergency stuff like jumper cables, a snow brush/shovel, ice scraper, tire treads, and so on (yes, I've come back and found my car stuck parked deep in snow/ice around it too many times in my life). I'd rather not have them rattling around in the cargo area, tucking them under would be great.

But I see two things that give me pause, and the parts department of the dealership that sold me the CR-V Hybrid don't even have a diagram of the parts for this car yet and cannot identify their purpose over the phone. (They told me to bring it in and leave it with them so they can "figure it out" - no thanks...!)

These two things are:

- A vent-looking thing that seems to come from the direction of the battery?

- Stuff tacked into the back of that hard plastic spacer to line up with that vent, that is large, white, and a kind of papery/fluffy material, as if it were insulation (for heat? Maybe sound?)

As a test I took the spacer out and drove around, and it could be my imagination but it seemed like it might have made my fuel economy worse. Then again that could have been due to any of a number of other unknown factors and it's just a coincidence.

If anybody has guesses as to what that vent is, or what that material is that appears to be intended to block it (?!), I'd love to know.

 

[Charlie1960]

This is what we have in the UK version. A polystyrene tray sitting in a plastic insert with a selection of tools to jack up the car and replace wheel or repair with gunk. Pretty good kit shame there's no spare wheel.



With polystyrene inset removed.



With boot floor removed. Looks much the same as yours with vent outlet.



The underside of the plastic insert. Showing a slim alloy foil cushion, about a 1/4 inch thick, attached to the underside of the plastic insert which lines up with the vent.



Close up of the slim alloy foil cushion.



We don't have the white pillow but we have the foil cushion which is definently not a filter. Doesn't provide any answers but confuses matters even more as to what that white thing is and does.

 

[robardin]

This is what we have in the UK version. ...

With boot floor removed. Looks much the same as yours with vent outlet.

View attachment 140419

The underside of the plastic insert. Showing a slim alloy foil cushion, about a 1/4 inch thick, attached to the underside of the plastic insert which lines up with the vent.

View attachment 140420

Close up of the slim alloy foil cushion.

View attachment 140421

We don't have the white pillow but we have the foil cushion which is definently not a filter. Doesn't provide any answers but confuses matters even more as to what that white thing is and does.

I like your tool set and insert much better than our "compressor and sealant kit in a well"

If you have a foil square where we have a white fluffy square, it really seems like it's heat insulation...?

Maybe the battery vents heat and this is supposed to trap/absorb it so the cargo space doesn't get hot?

 

[robardin]

Aha, I just realized that since the UK got the CR-V Hybrid in 2019, you might have a parts diagram where we don't yet for the 2020 Hybrid at a standard site like hondapartsnow.com ...

And here it is... from parts-honda.uk!

20 MID 2019 CR V HYBRID Honda cars # HONDA CARS - Genuine Spare Parts Catalogue

www.parts-honda.uk

Now to try to find these parts on that massive diagram

 

[Slvr7]

The vent is the exhaust for the hybrid battery cooling fan, the white stuff, is indeed insulation. If you use that space, don't block the vent, or pack it tightly.

 

[robardin]

The vent is the exhaust for the hybrid battery cooling fan, the white stuff, is indeed insulation. If you use that space, don't block the vent, or pack it tightly.

But why is there insulation there then that blocks the vent? Shouldn't there be the opposite, like more spacing material to give the vent room to... Well, to vent?

Or is that insulation = heat absorption material = absorb the vented heat?

 

[robardin]

Just realized (from experience) what else that plastic spacer/insert is doing: providing weight support for what's in the cargo area... That little fold-down flap is OK for lightweight stuff, but put anything heavy back there and you'll need the support.

So if one does remove that spacer in order to create more storage under-flap (for lack of a better word), some kind of "cross-beam" would be necessary for safe use.

I guess some plywood and glue project is in my future, to design a customized spacer insert that will allow me to keep what I want under there, also incorporate the insluation square for the vent, and just possibly also allow for a subwoofer upgrade for my EX-L!

 

[Schmullis]

Just realized (from experience) what else that plastic spacer/insert is doing: providing weight support for what's in the cargo area... That little fold-down flap is OK for lightweight stuff, but put anything heavy back there and you'll need the support.

So if one does remove that spacer in order to create more storage under-flap (for lack of a better word), some kind of "cross-beam" would be necessary for safe use.

I guess some plywood and glue project is in my future, to design a customized spacer insert that will allow me to keep what I want under there, also incorporate the insluation square for the vent, and just possibly also allow for a subwoofer upgrade for my EX-L!

Gotta say, having the Hybrid and having removed that space filling box, I totally disagree with you for a few reasons;
1 - the space filling box did not reach the bottom and place weight on the spare tire repair kit. It just takes up space, likely so that the spare tire repair kit stays in place.
2 - For that space of the "hatch" top place of the space filling box, for there to be any integrity issue with weight in the cargo area, it would have to a) be substantial and b) be so small that it rested only on that hatch. Again, implausible. Plus there is the carpeted floor area that folds back. Any weight will be displaced over the cargo area.

I recommend to other hybrid owners to take a hack saw and remove the space filling box as I did. Now I have a waffle drying towel for what the car wash misses, an air gauge & shock cords.

Fear not my fellow intrepid Hybrid owners!

 

[djeaux]

I emailed photos & questions to my dealer (finally) yesterday. He's gonna relay them to the regional Honda rep, so may we'll get a real answer.

My best guess is battery cooling. The insulated tube on the right is cool air in from the intake on the passenger side rear door. The left is obviously the exhaust. The middle "box" separates the sides (hot & cool).

That still doesn't explain why we can't store small items - my thought is a first aid kit - in the spacer box.

Also we ought to remember this is a platform that wasn't designed specifically to be a hybrid. Gen 2 hybrids will probably have a different battery cooling design.

 

[Dimitrij]

Here is my reconstruction of the events, leading to the stupid plastic insert:

Honda needed to do something to help it keep up with the RAV4, so it grafted Accord's hybrid powertrain onto the CRV. The CRV hadn't been designed to be a hybrid, and the Accord powertrain hadn't been designed to be in the CRV. Hence a chain of forced and not particularly well thought-through engineering solutions that resulted in no spare tire and the plastic spacer in the rear.

Luckily, the spacer is easy to remove, and I would guess 2/3 of the hole (to the right of the exhaust duct end) can be used to store stuff, as long as it is not interfering with the duct and can tolerate a somewhat higher temperature.

.,

 

[djeaux]

My dealer forwarded my photos and questions to his regional rep...

Basically, the empty cargo bin is set up to discourage loading stuff to provide more "crumple zone" for the battery in the event of a rear collision. Presumably, ramming a toolbox into the battery creates a messier situation than ramming a toolbox into a doughnut spare.

I still tend to think a lot of it is battery ventilation, but that's the word I got.

Remember, the Gen 1 CR-V hybrid platform was adapted rather than built for the application..

 

[Dimitrij]

My dealer forwarded my photos and questions to his regional rep...

Basically, the empty cargo bin is set up to discourage loading stuff to provide more "crumple zone" for the battery in the event of a rear collision. Presumably, ramming a toolbox into the battery creates a messier situation than ramming a toolbox into a doughnut spare.

This gives me an additional low-grade worry about the implied vulnerability of the battery. In RAV4 the spare wheel is nested between the battery and the rear bumper, which means that should the car get rear-ended hard enough the donut would transmit the energy of the impact from the bumper to the battery. If Toyota seems to be OK with the risk of this occurrence, why isn't Honda?

I still tend to think a lot of it is battery ventilation, but that's the word I got.

I thought that, too, but then I conducted the "Snickers Gap Experiment" that convinced me otherwise. The Snickers Gap in the Blue Ridge is something like 1,070 ft. above the sea level. Coming from the East, you climb 500-600 feet over 3 miles and then drop 700 feet over 3 miles. I stopped after doing this and checked the temperature of the battery's exhaust duct; not hot at all, 10F over the ambient max.

Remember, the Gen 1 CR-V hybrid platform was adapted rather than built for the application..

Oh yeah, remember that we shall. I sure hope my CR-V isn't loaded with an annoying, or worse, flaw, stemming from the "adaptation" effort.

 

[Selverud]

This makes me happy to know it’s about filling and leveling the cargo area versus giving an option to store first aid/jumper cables. Maybe a slight modification is in order that keeps space for venting and allows for a storage spot for the small emergency things we want.. I’ll be working on that..

 

[Schmullis]

My two cents: It's not a good idea to remove the covering to access the area below the factory floor in the cargo area to get more storage. Honda sealed that off for a reason. Leave it untouched. You could block cooling, mess with wires, etc.

 

[Dimitrij]

My two cents: It's not a good idea to remove the covering to access the area below the factory floor in the cargo area to get more storage. Honda sealed that off for a reason. Leave it untouched. You could block cooling, mess with wires, etc.

I think you might be a little too generous with giving so much credit to Honda's rational thinking in the case of that pathetic piece of plastic Sometimes awkward technical solutions are simply a result of incompetence, complacency, or hurry.. To rephrase the popular IT quip, "it's not a feature; it's a bug".

By the way, did you see what the baffle looks like (I assume it's there to help diffuse the warm air). Clearly not a product of fine engineering.

 

[Schmullis]

I think you might be a little too generous with giving so much credit to Honda's rational thinking in the case of that pathetic piece of plastic Sometimes awkward technical solutions are simply a result of incompetence, complacency, or hurry.. To rephrase the popular IT quip, "it's not a feature; it's a bug".

By the way, did you see what the baffle looks like (I assume it's there to help diffuse the warm air). Clearly not a product of fine engineering.

Well, since Honda retrofitted the Accord Hybrid system into the CR-V (Honda claims the current gen. CR-V was designed with the intention of making it hybrid), I've smized that they had some extra space, needed a place to put the fix-a-flat kit and didn't want it bouncing around so make the space filling box under the "trap door".

 

[Charlie1960]

Well, since Honda retrofitted the Accord Hybrid system into the CR-V (Honda claims the current gen. CR-V was designed with the intention of making it hybrid), I've smized that they had some extra space, needed a place to put the fix-a-flat kit and didn't want it bouncing around so make the space filling box under the "trap door".

Wonder why they didn’t utilise the European design. Far more practical and excellent storage for all the tools required to change a wheel. Shame they forgot to put a spare in.

 

[Dimitrij]

Wonder why they didn’t utilise the European design. Far more practical and excellent storage for all the tools required to change a wheel. Shame they forgot to put a spare in.

Tools-schmools .... just look at that awesome piece of alien technology we have in OUR-V!

That fluffy white baffle, y'all

 

[Charlie1960]

Total waste of space. It’s not as though there wasn’t a better alternative already available this side of the Atlantic.

 

[djeaux]

Wonder why they didn’t utilise the European design. Far more practical and excellent storage for all the tools required to change a wheel. Shame they forgot to put a spare in.

I'd like to see picture(s) of the lid, liner, or filler pieces from a European model. All other factors being equal, it might be worth looking into. [EDIT: Never mind. Found them upthread.]