Problem with electric motor or hybrid system?

There are a lot of possibilities. If you have something like a ScanGauge, the Torque app for a smartphone, or the Mini VCI scan tool, you can watch a lot of things as the car runs, such as current in and out of the battery, state of charge, engine output, and so on. Without such a tool, it is difficult to perceive all that is going on with enough specificity to make diagnoses.

It is good to avoid the mistake of thinking only of hybrid-specific problems. The car has some specialized hybrid components, but there is the whole rest of a car attached to them. Even something as simple as dragging brakes will make the whole thing work harder, and the symptoms would be as you describe. All of the possibilities, including the simple ones, are worth thinking about. (Speaking of brakes, are your rotors warm or hot at the end of a drive? I'm not saying it has to be your explanation, but it's really fast to test.)

Regards,
-Chap

 

Since you just bought it, I would recommend doing the requisite maintenance before concluding that the hybrid battery is going bad. People tend to let slip the maintenance requirements of a car that they are going to sell because it is going to be somebody else's problem.

After the maintenance is done, then I would run a couple of tanks to see where the fuel economy stands.

 

I had the same thing happened to me, I started noticing the mileage during the summer was not where it was suppose to be and at 138,000 miles one cell block in battery went weak. $1800 later, I had my battery reconditioned and balanced. By the time of the lower and not expected mileage and battery failure was about 4 months.

 

Its a shame you didn't buy a 100% BRAND NEW Toyota HV Battery for $200-$400 more ($2,000-$2,200), from a Toyota dealer who sells online. You would have to find an online Toyota dealer near you, and make sure they will sell to you, as some dealers are being lame and won't sell to the public; illegal in my opinion and needs to be challenged in court, b/c if safety was a legitimate issue, they should not sell brake parts and suspension components to the public as well.

You would have to DIY the install, or pay someone to do it for you. Swap out the various components the New HV battery won't come with (various ECUs).

There is a member (Kinglew), in my opinion a conspiracy theory nutcase, who believes Toyota sells rebuilt/refurbished HV Batteries, despite the laws distinguishing NEW vs used/rebuilt/refurbished. He/she is the only one who believes this. I encouraged him/her to stand by their conviction, and contact one of the big law firms that sued Toyota in the Class Action lawsuits over sudden acceleration, to start a new Class Action. If his/her fairy tale beliefs were even remotely true, the Law firm would do so, b/c there would be big $$$$ to be made, for the firm and the initial claimant. Alas, all bark from that individual.

 

You need to read fault codes. If you want to do it yourself get the Mini-VCI.

 

the one from amazon.

 

i wonder if something is draining the 12v