Ordering @2K1toaster’s new HV replacement pack with cylinder modules.

Who you talking about?

If they use the CEBA plastics (like we do) then they work in lots of vehicles. We only stock the Gen-2 and Gen-3 Prius packs plus a couple Camry packs right now for testing. But the batteries themselves are all the same.

 

Not the same at all. Our modules are custom made and we use their plastics.

 

I've just gone through the emails, I see you did contact us, less than a day ago and again early thismorning. It is a weekend, and it has been a day.

The difference is in the batteries. The plastics are the same because you can't really screw up plastics and they make good kits. The batteries are crap. This is well documented. This is why we exist. We buy standard cells from a large factory and weld them together ourselves including PVC wrap and lasering. We MAKE the batteries.

We do have lots of orders, and get more and more all the time. Each month, it goes up. There's nothing to beta test, our batteries have been working for a few years now installed.

But none of this matters for you, because our batteries share absolutely nothing in common with those cheap packs other than the plastics.

 

Sorry if I didn't see it. I try to respond to most messages within a day, but the past few weeks have been less than normal.

There were as of 3 years ago only 2 companies producing Prius capable NiMH packs apart from PrimeEarth themselves. That was CEBA and YABO. They've been around since the mid 2000's. There were a bunch of reviews that came out in the 2007-2010 range from "whoa, this is awesome" to "my pack is dead". Yabo makes the prismatic look-alikes, CEBA makes the cylinders.

When my Prius needed a new pack, I didn't want to buy one from the dealer (PrimeEarth) and I wasn't going to install crap. So that's why NewPriusBatteries.com exists. Since there is nothing you can do about your purchase now, might as well install it and get 2 to 3 years (hopefully more) out of it.

What makes them inferior is the battery itself. Most of them have 2Ah to 3Ah of capacity when brand new. This is in contrast to the 6.5Ah that it should be. They are marked/labelled 6.5Ah (or even 8Ah!!!!) ontop, but aren't. Ours are marked 6.5Ah and ARE 6.5Ah. That's the point. Capacity itself is not important day-to-day with the Prius unless you routinely go down a mountain (which I do actually). But eventually the capacity gets low enough to cause issues. The higher your starting capacity the longer it is before problems pop up that are capacity related.

Ideally, you want infinite capacity but the problem is there are different chemistries available to get different energy densities. The tradeoff in density is cycles. 6.5Ah in the form factor we have, is basically as high as you can get without sacrificing cycles. We could make a 20Ah cell, that's easy. And you would go much much longer before capacity problems make issues. But you will start having series resistance and intra-module cell balancing issues before that.

The balance between cell capacity and life expectancy was figured out by Toyota and it works pretty well. So we stuck to the same recipe.

 

I use a battery capacity and simulation meter, a Keithley 2281S. Nowadays you can get them used for around $2.5k. Using that, yes you would run a few charge/discharge cycles and test the capacity. There is a dude on Youtube who did it with a cheap instrument and posted the results. We aren't affiliated with him at all. His cheap meter read 6.4Ah I believe which isn't too bad for a cheap meter. I believe our more expensive calibrated meter though...

Yes I am an engineer by degree in multiple disciplines, and an engineer in other areas by learning on the go. I have done (and do) work on HEV and BEV vehicles along with the battery packs.

All you have to do is place an order on the website and a battery pops out the other side in a few days to your house. You should get emails along the way automatically. Do whatever makes you comfortable. Either way, it is good to keep another Prius on the road.

 

Well after trying to salvage my old battery i have decided to just go your route. Salvaging meaning cleaning terminals etc and checking if it would make a difference. I am going with your battery from newpriusbatteies Cant wait to get to old girl back on the road.Im sure the battery can be reconditioned and the one cell that's reading lower that the rest i rather just put a new one in and move on to the next project on the list

 

Just a dumb question...what do people typically do with their old battery? Sell it?

Thanks!

 

Those 3 "blocks" are worn out and are not "holding a charge" like they did when new.
Others likely will soon follow.
Totally expected behavior........at some point.

 

you are correct. proper rebuilding by a qualified individual can buy you some time, but not like all new cells if you looking long term with no hassles

 

Yes. Exactly.
But it depends on how BAD they are when you start the process.
If some cells have already gone past the point of just being a little weak to being VERY weak, then the solution might be VERY short term.
The key to a really good result seems to be to start early while everything is still relatively healthy.
But if you do that, you likely will still be in your HV battery warranty period and that doesn't seem like a good thing to be doing either.

 

Well that's about a half or a third of what a new one costs.
For some, price is the ONLY consideration and long term planning means next week.