will the battery in a 30 k 2012 PIP hold up as well as the nimh ones in the regular prius

No one has a PIP older than 2012, that was the year they were introduced. So we will all learn together.

On the other hand, they have the same warranty, 8 years and 100,000 miles whichever comes first.

The Trace gets great mileage!

 

Hi Bob,
During the time I was looking to get a PIP, I wanted the newer battery technology. The larger battery in the PIP will allow you to go up to 62 mph in EV mode. IMHO The PIP is the the best choice. Good luck and enjoy.

 

No one knows for sure, but it seems likely that even if the PiP battery degrades by 30% over 15 years you would still be able to drive it 7-9 miles on a charge. Even if you stopped bothering to plug it in after 20 years, it would still have more energy capacity and probably about as much power output and brake regen storage capacity as a new non-plug Prius battery. So, my guess is that PiP batteries will last longer than non-plugin NiMH Prius batteries for hybrid driving.

A possible downside is that if you ever did need a new battery for some reason it might be harder to find a replacement since there are so few PiPs sold versus regular Prius cars. But that's probably a long way off.

 

i think the highest mileage pip is around 100k or so, there's a thread here. not enough experience to know for sure, but so far so good. no appreciable degradation encountered, and no batteries replaced yet.

 

all the best, i think you'll love it! give it a good test drive, make sure they put a full charge in it, and see how far you can go in ev.

 

I expect the PiP battery to last longer than NiMH.

The best use of the battery in EV mode is at slower speeds. 50 is a little fast, and you won't get nearly as far on electric than if you were to travel at 40 or below. Also use EV mode when descending even a slight hill. Going up hills and traveling at faster speeds you will want to use the gas engine.

 

Will that happen semi-automatically when driving in EV mode, ie: descending a hill it'll charge, climbing a hill it'll sense increasing gas pedal and kick you momentarily out of EV mode, fire up the engine?

 

no. if in ev mode, it does not kick into hv unless you floor it into the power zone. then when you crest the hill, you have to hit ev again. if you're in hv mode, you can keep it in ev, but the computers will run the engine at some point to make up the miles, which is inefficient.

 

The problem is that once the engine is started for the first time, regardless of whether it was due to pressing the throttle too far or switching to HV mode, it will continue to run until the coolant reaches 130 F. Pressing the EV button does not cancel this warm up cycle that can take anywhere from 1-5 minutes depending on ambient temperatures and driving conditions. The only way to cancel the warm up is to stop the car and press the power button off.

While it's perfectly fine to let the Prius decide when to use EV and when to use gas, we can do a better job since we know the route and terrain. The Prius by default starts in EV mode and stays there unless the throttle is pressed about 3/4 or more, or the EV battery is depleted.

Bisco- Your car should switch back to EV mode after temporarily engaging the ICE due to excessive throttle use, assuming it's up to operating temperature.

 

hey we have a black 2012 for sale PriusChatter on Long Island MrBigh $16.3k and it only has like 25000 miles so you'd be good until 100k miles. See his posts. Is this the car? If not consider it sounds like a great deal.

We have no reported issues with PiP Li batteries, but we also have almost no Gen3 NiMH batt issues yet. These issues don't crop up until 8-10 years so we are all wondering too.

 

Or 10 yrs/150k miles in CARB states.

 

Doesn't the PiP actually have two batteries? The standard NiMH in the back & the Lithium in the center console? It seems to me the NiMH would have exactly the same lifespan as the NiMH in the normal Prius.

As for the lithium, even if it died, wouldn't the PIP continue to operate like a normal Prius? i.e. A PiP with zero EV range?

 

PIP has 2 batteries - a 12 volt and a lithium. The lithium replaces the NiMH in a non PIP. As the lithium battery ages, storage capacity is reduced and it should operate more like a non PIP, but nobody has owned/driven a PIP long enough to find out.

 

The PiP prototype had two traction batteries, but the production model has always had only one traction battery (and the 12v accessory battery). The multifunction display makes it look like there are separate HV and EV batteries, but that is only an artifact of the hybrid management software.

 

As for Troy's last question, the Prius cannot operate at all with a dead traction battery; NiMh or Li-ion. Some hybrids such as the gen1 Insight can continue operating in gas only mode when the traction battery dies. In the hands of a skilled driver, the Insight can continue getting close to normal MPG despite the failed electric drive system.

Hybrid technology doesn't improve MPG much; rather it mitigates the poor driving habits of the licensed apes operating them.

 

"the trace" is where i test my cars for mileage and just for fun. i live in nashvlle and get on in franklin. cant wait to test my "new" 2012 pip when it arrives at carmax in a few days (2012 17000 miles $16999)