2010 Prius w/ NexCell Lithium Throwing Codes

Hi everyone!

First, y'all are wildly supportive and thank you for all the information provided so far. I've read through posts that I won't link because frankly, I'm too stressed about this decision to go through a long post. I can edit with details later if folks want more data. I live in the Northeast.

--Short Version--

2010 Prius w/ NexCell Battery V2 (16k 1yr 7mo) throwing P0A80 code every ~5 - 10 min now; was a gradual decline and now trying to decide next steps.

--Long Version--
I have a 2010 Prius with 96k miles that was dealer serviced until 80k when I bought it. Since the car was driven so few miles per year, the hybrid battery wasn't doing so great but it was definitely working fine and we got 49 - 57 MPG depending on driving conditions. One week we went on vacation and when we got back the battery significantly decreased in local/EV driving ability. I checked Dr.Prius and it's lifespan went from 62% to 43%.

I had an opportunity to buy a used NexCell battery from a fellow PriusChat member who is a Toyota Master Technician with the hybrid certification. We met up and he swapped the cells - great experience. He told me the NexCell Lithium had 10k miles and 1 yr on it and with my rose colored glasses I thought it was a great buy. When I used it for the 6k miles/7 months I've had it, it's been great.

Now the car consistently has the red triangle and even when I reset it, it will throw P0A80 even after 5 minutes of driving. The first time it threw the code was in 12F weather so I reset it and figured it was the cold since I'd read about it before. The reset helped for 2 weeks, then 1, then 1 again, then 3 days, and now it's 5 - 10 minute. Dr.Prius does recommend clearing the code then resetting the 12V so I did that yesterday and took it for a 1.5h test drive and no code came up with mixed highway (65mph) and local (30 - 40mph). I read yesterday that driving the Prius with the Check Hybrid Battery warning on is not great - it wasn't in limp mode and my wife and I drove it around with that warning for about 4 hours total over the course of a week. I'm worried this will happen again and while I am handy, I am also an anxious person so picking a solution is worth more to me than mulling it over until it's too late.

--Question/Ask--
Now I'm trying to decide the FAQ:

• How much time do I have before I need to swap so I don't kill the engine?
• Swap back to original NiMH and just drive it until it throws its own code
  • Prolong/MaxxVolt (I don't want to DIY a charger/discharger) to try to restore it?
• Cylindrical Cells
• Remanufactured NiMH
• Sodium-Ion
• Toyota Shop Swap
• Who do I go to for these options?

 

Unfortunately I believe this effort was discontinued when I got the battery.

I couldn't find a number on their website sodiumhybrid @ contact-dr-prius so I emailed them again. The last time I emailed them was Jan 9th but I never got a reply. The code clearing worked until now, I guess! I think it might be a cell that needs to be balanced but I'm not sure how to do it without a tool. I know there are tons of posts here on how to balance but I have other priorities I want to take care of besides taking on the new hobby of rebalancing batteries.

If anyone is in the Northeast and winning to do it to my NiMH cells I will happily negotiate a reasonable rate while I can still use the NexCell!

 

Thanks Jack! I sent over a request with some pictures.

 

I ended up chatting with Jack and sending some screenshots. He confirmed my suspicions - one of the blades has a voltage difference of > 0.2 sometimes up to > 0.7 during EV only load. Since I also live in <30 F temp environments and I got the battery when the temps were in the 70s F I didn't get a chance to see the issue. The other blades seem to be balanced and doing fine though. The compromised blade also has a IR that is much higher than the others - 27 vs 16 - 19. Maybe if I can find another blade I can swap it out but it doesn't change the fact that I am driving in less than ideal conditions for the battery to operate in.

I also found out after reaching out to the seller that I'm actually the THIRD owner of this battery so the 10k miles may actually be higher as that is what the 2nd owner put on it. Justifiably this means that I am not eligible for the out of warranty swap.

Since my Prius only has 97k miles, I'm going to swap in the original NiMH and drive until that throws a code and just buy a new OEM one and call it a day. Thank you everyone for your support. Is there a way to close this thread?