Battery Pack

Hopefully, the question won't be "how much does one cost now" but "how much will one cost 8 years from now?".

I imagine by then it will be $500 and give you twice the battery life.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who plans on keeping this Prius a good long time...

 

I think currently the battery costs a couple of thousands to replace BUT I haven't read of anyone actually having to replace their battery yet. I think the battery could last the life of the car.

Hopefully years from now batteries will be cheaper. If nothing else a good used battery from a crashed Prius might work.

 

The battery pack has been tested for 180,000 miles with no deterioration. Some cars have over 230,000 miles with the original battery pack. If it does start to deteriorate, it doesn't need replacing. The car just won't deliver quite as good fuel economy.

I'm planning on keeping mine forever too.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eberrong @ Jun 14 2007, 06:07 AM) [snapback]461439[/snapback]</div>

First, My 2004 has 86,000 miles and the battery shows no noticeable degradation. I am not concerned about battery life since:

1. A new battery is currently $1100 wholesale $2200 retail (down from over $3000)
2. Salvaged batteries are currently available for $500 to $750
3. The number of reported "failures" is quite small (about 10 have been reported on these discussion groups),predominantly in earlier designs with most due to known failure mechanisms that are unlikely to occur in a new Prius.
4. The "second generation" Prius (2004+) babies the battery, giving it an expected long life.
   • It limits current flow to about 100 amps - well below the maximum current handling capability of the NiMh cells.
   • It keeps the State-Of-Charge (SOC) between 40% and 80% - no deep cycling is allowed.
   • If the battery temperature rises, the use of the battery is limited so as to not stress the battery.

Just as an aside, I have had to rebuild transmissions in other cars. It typically costs $2500 and in a Prius the transmission is simpler and less likely to fail (some failures in classics have been reported, change your ATF every 60,000 miles - 15,000 miles in a classic - to minimize the chance of a tranny failure).
An engine (ICE) rebuild is also expensive, but a well maintained ICE failure is unlikely to occur in a Prius as the ICE is never stressed by the computer and only runs a percentage of the time.
A car is a complex beastie and things do fail. A Prius is more complex in many ways, but less complex mechanically than most modern cars.
Always remember, it is a Toyota so drive it and enjoy.

JeffD

 

Thanks for the insights!

 

My 2004 is nearing 90K. I haven't done any maintenance except what was called for explicitly in the warrantee book. I have started wondering about the battery since I am rapidly approaching the 100K mark. So far, other than the seat and the fuel tank, I have had nothing but LOVE for this car!

 

Don't forget the battery is warranted for 150,000 miles in California and the other CARB states...it is expected to last the life of the car. Would you expect a conventional car to break down as soon as it's out of warranty? I plan on keeping mine until it drops (and I expect over 300,000 miles out of it...). Over on John's website http://john1701a.com/ there's a picture of a Classic Prius' odometer showing some 240,000(?) miles, but I don't know whose car it is. Prius taxis also pack on the miles, and are still going strong.

 

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Jessie's Prius

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Yup, that's the one, John!!! Thanks for posting it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mmoncur @ Jun 14 2007, 07:23 AM) [snapback]461462[/snapback]</div>

Speaking of battery packs - I have a question. Where does the battery pack vent out the air that enters thru that small grill on the rear seatback on the right side?
The reason I'm asking is that I am thinking of having that zeibart rubberized undercoating sprayed on underneath to cut down on road noise. I sure don't want to cover up the battery exhaust vent with undercoating. I'm sure Zeibart undercoats very few of the cars and might just spray over the opening.

 

a bit difficult to see but you can feel it on the right hand side of the car behind the wheel up under the side of the bumper. Lay on a mat or piece of cardboard and look up and you will see it on the metal portion of the body.

 

How about hoping that in 5 years time Li-ion battery replacements will be $3k with a higher efficiency

 

My Main Battery was replaced with 6 week cells "bad" with only 49,000 miles 2001. Cost shows as 2089.59(main Battery) :blink:
also kit $89.51 and the computer 633.41 plus 10x $140 ..labor maybe.. total bill showing $4413.64

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wetnabber @ Jun 16 2007, 07:25 AM) [snapback]462962[/snapback]</div>

Attached is a cutaway of the battery vent system.

 

Any technology can fail prematurely. On the other hand there is a report of a taxi in Cairns, Nth Queensland which has done 600,000Kms (372823 Miles) and is still going strong with the original battery.

 

The first exported "Gen1" Prius (2001-2003) had less robust battery modules than the ones in later Prii.

The computer was probably not required, but at that time there was little experience at dealers replacing HV batteries. Prices for replacement batteries (new) have fallen a bit since then and now there is the option to get a rebuilt Gen1 battery using the more robust gen2 modules (38 of them). The labor cost now would be 5 hours not 10 at a dealer even less at a battery re-builder site. See http://www.ReInVolt.com for a good example of a battery re-builder.

I am not associated with this ReInVolt, but am a satisfied user of one of their rebuilt batteries in my 2004 Prius. My original HV (Traction) battery failed at 194,000 miles and was replaced for under $2000.

JeffD