"though unlike Honda, which offers an eight year warranty on the battery, Toyota only offers five years. " - the msn article Doesn't the Prius come with a 7 year warranty on the battery? Anyway, by 2012 the (when most of us will need a new battery), it will probably only cost a few hundred bucks. Just look at how fast technology is moving!
It's an Aussie link, the warranty must be different down there. I do think the $7000 estimate is way too high.
I think I'll worry about battery replacement cost, when we start hearing about people having to replace them. Thus far, I still have yet to read or hear of a Prius battery requiring replacent.
actually, the $7000 was not an estimate. i thought it was outlandish at first as well, but they quoted a honda spokesperson as saying that the list price right now on an insight battery replacement was $6840. of course, we all hope they will be less when replacement is actually necessary, but they apparently were quoting an accurate figure right now.
What's this about Toyota outsourcing Battery Recycling? I read in one of their environmental blubs that they have created an entire factory in Japan just to refurbish/recycle Hybrid Batteries. They just have it in mothballs right now because none of the batteries are failing
Several points: As you say, in the US the battery (and hybrid components) warranty is 8 years. That does not mean that the batteries are expected to fail in 8 years. The lifespan depends a lot on how the car's driven. As described elsewhere on PriusChat, the Prius '04 battery packs are expected to drop considerably in price in 8 years -- $1000 is what I usually hear from battery mfgrs. "The life of the car and the batteries is expected to be about the same -- 8 to 10 years?" I hope not. (Have to wonder if that's a misquote; given the misinformation in some of the rest of the article, maybe a deliberate misquote.)
