I'm not sure if this should be in the 3rd or 2nd gen forum but since I'm normally lurking here - I posted here for no better reason than being unsure of the proper forum. Today while installing new tires on my Prius I saw this advertisement by a local car shop to test hybrid NiHM high voltage battery and also to provide a proprietary battery pack conditioning (cycling) service which they maintain will increase the lifespan of the HV battery pack.[1] The vendor claims that cycling the battery pack modules from 0% to 100% state of charge can increase the HV battery's capacity to 95% of a new battery's SOC.. So is there any merit to this? Thanks Walter [1] Currys Auto > Maintenance & Repair Services > The Hybrid Shop
yes, you can buy a grid charger in the priuschat shoppe that will do this. not sure what their 'proprietary and scientifically proven system' is tho, sounds like kiwi from nz. i must say $1,600. sounds like a bit of a scam, i would want a dang good mpg improvement and warranty. 'the hybrid shop' is an international network of professional auto repair shops. ask for a complete list, would be a great sticky here!
$1600 for them to do a service that you could do at home with a $400 grid charger? That's crazy... This practice is commonly called grid charging. Its very popular with older Honda Insights and Civic hybrids, which went through batteries much quicker than the average Prius. Most of the batteries can go from pretty much toast to providing another year or more of solid use. Its still a pretty new thing for Prii, so not many accounts of how well Prii batteries respond.
I doubt you would ever recoup the cost at $1600. I also doubt it is necessary. Keep in mind a brand new battery from Toyota is around $2500 -retail-. Now IT I would be sure would have full capacity.
This repair shop is offering you an expensive service. Also you must think that this service will leave you with out your Prius for at least 2/3 days
Battery cycling is most probably a scam, at least for $1600, in general U can't do much about cell degrading, it's a physical process who is nonreversible. Anyway, maybe I should try it on my replaced pattery pack myself when I get my Prius in order. BTW, I bought my 2nd hand HV-pack for far less than what they want for their 0-100% cycling...
Not enough information. I am OK with: disassembly measure module capacity replace marginal ones based upon leakage re-stack to equalize pairs strongest in hottest area recondition/replace buss bars reassembly As for grid charging without the disassembly, marginal at best. But for $1,600, I'd look at a Toyota replacement. Bob Wilson
It will be very interesting to find out if the modules have changed in the upcoming Prius. It could mean that Panasonic might start selling modules, or if could mean that lightly used G3 packs become a very valuable commodity. If the latter, I'm going to swap out the modules of our G2 Prius this fall as preventive maintenance before the rush if load testing is even slightly suspicious. I thought about it a couple of years ago when good, used G3 packs were under $300 but I got lazy.
Sounds reasonable Bob but I'm unsure about #2, how to measure module capacity and lekage? Are you referring to physical leakage ie electrolyte loss or internal discharge?
You can measure module capacity with a "battery tester". The type that can charge, discharge, and recharge, keeping records of what was discharged before it senses the battery is "almost empty". When done with a single module of 6 cells, it's a lot safer. Harder to severely over charge. I have a few of these devices. One for commercial use and one for consumers. You can see both electrical and physical leakage when you have just one module to work with. The electrolyte is Potassium Hydroxide (water solution). As I posted elsewhere, now that Cobasil's patents have expired, I'm hoping the next gen. will have a larger capacity NiMH battery. I know the current HSD doesn't benefit from a larger capacity battery, but that's because it is programmed for the 6.5 A-Hr cells. Change that and I -suspect- much could be gained with a larger capacity battery. At the very least, operating it the same as the current battery would lower the percentage of capacity it is used over, lengthening its life.
Hi. Does the gen 3 (2010) Prius HV battery suffer from bus-bar corrosion? I have seen a number of posts of corrosion in the gen 1 and 2 Prius. I am thinking about having a look at mine but I have not been brave enough so far to take it on.
Yes, these do have an external corrosion issue, not "problem". At the time when I had my 2004 trough the year 2011, the buss bars where green on the exterior (sulfation) but making contact throughout the batteries chain and with out loosing power.
