I have a 2008 Prius and the AC REALLY taxes the HV battery. I know it will go out at some point, but it really is a waiting game for me, and I'm more than happy to replace it. However, I do long drives between northern and southern Ohio, and was curious. What if my Prius throws all the warning lights indicating HV battery failure when I'm beginning my 200 mile drive. Would I be able to make it to my destination on my weak battery. I know bad MPG would result and I would get it replaced as soon as I got into town, but I just want to make sure I can get there. Symptoms of my weak HV battery are as follows: 1) Engine shuts off at stop, but if SOC is at 50% or half way down on MFD, engine kicks in as soon as I let off the brake. 2) SOC drops from full blue bars to 2 or 3 bars by the time I get the the bottom of parking garage. 3) SOC loses a bar at the rate of one bar per ~7 seconds with the AC on. Side note, 12v batter was replaced in January.
If you start maintaining the battery now, you can very likely avoid having to replace it. You weakening battery symptoms are exactly where our products can deliver the best value. It's not too late for your battery yet. Hundreds of Prius owners have used our products to restore and maintain their batteries: What causes hybrid batteries to degrade and fail? - Hybrid Automotive Here is a review from another Prius owner and member of this forum: HybridAutomotive.com Charger Impressions | PriusChat
[QUOTE="What if my Prius throws all the warning lights indicating HV battery failure when I'm beginning my 200 mile drive. Would I be able to make it to my destination on my weak battery..[/QUOTE] You may be able to make it to the destination, assuming there is no long or steep hill to climb. However, it just going to take a very long time. When my HV battery abruptly went out without warning last month, I was only able to drive around 20 MPH max on a flat road, and 5 MPH max on a shallow inclined hill. I drove a total of 20 miles in that limped condition and it took around 2 hours.
It will depend on the codes thrown. I got the PA080 (replace pack) due to a bad module and that code puts the car in turtle mode using only the ICE to power the car which it wasn't designed to do by itself. Maintaining hwy speeds, going up hills, etc? Nope.
No, engine appeared to work normally, not any louder than usual. It just does not provide much power to move the car at any speed.
Individual module only replacement is NOT recommended since this kind of HV battery repair can NOT insure trouble free performance for an extended period of time. Basically USED modules, including the newly replaced modules, within the entire battery pack probably have mostly exhausted their useful life.
Since everyone is sharing different versions of reality in this thread, I'll add this: Why spend ~$1,000-$1,200 for a used battery with an unknown history when you can maintain your own battery (that you know the history of) and keep it operating in good condition for a much lower cost. Hybrid battery reconditioning is not a one time event. If done once and never again, the benefit will only last 9-15 months. Buying a used battery and not having any way to service it is not a long term fix and the vehicle owner will soon be back to square one with a failed battery. Once purchased and installed, Prolong Battery Systems enable unlimited ongoing hybrid battery reconditioning for the rest of the life of the vehicle. Significantly, this is done without ever removing the battery from the car. The technology that enables this is unique to our products and is where our patents are filed. Our products enable one to maintain the hybrid battery along with the rest of the car so that its service life can be extended to match the rest of the vehicle. In the same way you change your oil to extend the life of the gasoline engine without a tangible before-after difference, our products work to keep a healthy battery healthy and significantly delay degradation such that the battery lasts as long as the rest of the car. The sooner one starts to maintain their hybrid battery with our products, the more benefit they will receive.
