One very smart way to get more people to buy these types of cars is to pre-engineer in them the ability to "upgrade" battery packs to future versions and benefit by the normal improvements we all expect in batteries. Even better would be to agree to industry standards battery interfaces allowing the purchaser to order a new car without the factory batteries and immediately put in what they perceive would be a better aftermarket option in a thoughtful way that would not void warranties or step on the software that manages the batteries. I would hope that batteries become no more proprietary than tires.
ReInVolt (Sanford, NC) a good hybrid battery refurbisher (I have one of their refurbished batteries in my 2004 Prius) is working on substituting LiOn modules and their own design of battery ECU into mainstream hybrid cars. Their first target is the Civic Hybrid which has a history of battery problems. They plan to repeat the effort for Prii when they finish the design and testing for the Civic upgrade. JeffD
ReInVolt also currently rebuilds Gen 1 Prius batteries using Gen 2 cells, so existing owners CAN upgrade!
Tesla's Model S has an upgrade path for the battery pack. Will a different chemistry be available in that form factor someday? Nobody knows. We don't have universal 12v battery standardization so I'll say traction battery standardization will never happen. Insight batteries have been rebuilt with Prius 2nd Gen cells so if there is a demand there will be a supply. We'll see what happens 10 years from now.
But to answer the original question, NO. No manufacturer would ever want you to keep your car longer than normal. To do otherwise would cut into their sales.
If I remember correctly, short before the luanch of the Gen3 Prius one of Toyota US officials said (in answering a question) that the car is pre-engineered to be "Li-Ion" ready.
I seem to recall Nissan talking about upgrading the battery on the Leaf (for existing owners) when new technology makes that possible, but I don't think it's at the level of an actual plan yet.
:mod: I moved this thread from "news" to "FHoP" because it's not technically news and it relates to every battery-using vehicle so it technically belongs in every sub-forum. In the end, I decided to land it here.
It's not clear yet that existing Li-ion batteries are an upgrade :_> I'll wait for Toyota come out with an obvious improvement in new product, and then for someone like ReInVolt to work that into a retrofit.
But how different are those batteries? The square cells have better thermal management. Maybe differing charge and discharge rates. The squares are superior cells, but they are still the same chemistry, and that is what dictates the conditions needed for efficiency and product life. Which is controlled by the software. Building batteries for gen 1 Prii and Insights is straight forward. You just wire the new cells up into the right size group and stick them in. If you wanted change the number of cells per group in the Insight(one of its weak points), you have to change the software. Changing chemistries requires more programing, and possibly hardware upgrades. The PHV Prius is going to have lithium. As an option to the regular Prius, it made sense to just have all the cars support them. It adds little cost to the car, and diffuses a small part of the plug-in option cost amoung the entire production. I can see a manufacturer offering different size packs, and even a couple of chemistries, in EVs to meet individual consumer needs. This way an EV can a range a person needs, while expanding potential market for the car with a wider price range. The ability to upgrade range with life changes also lowers the hurdle for a buyer to take a plunge on a new car. As pointed out, it doesn't make business sense to make a car that can be upgraded to newer technology, though. There is also the pratical angle of what future battery tech to support. The more they decide to do, they more R&D costs rise, and they still might miss the on their guess. Then there is the question of how many customers would be willing to pay for this ability. Most would likely only think of upgrade when the original is approaching the need of replacement. At which point the cost of other repairs, resale value, or its simple age would have most likely passing the expense of an upgraded pack.
Ron from Hybrid-Battery-Repair has NEW batteries for the Insight and Civic that are better than the "new" ones you get from Honda. Plus they are cheaper!
