Prius Battery Replacement Kit (GenII/GenIII) with NEW custom cells

2k still says it only takes four hours...

 

The donkey kept stealing the tools.

 

2k's first post in this thread still states a genuine Toyota battery costs more than $3000 when the current price is $1600-2000. That post should be edited.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

At this point the post can't be edited by the OP, so a moderator would have to do it. Forum threads are by nature a developing conversation. The information is in the thread, so it is not like it hidden from the reader. And I hope this isn't a veiled attempt at implying a deception.

Which if you did two hours a day would take two days.

When you look at the work involved, beginning to end without stopping, 4 hours seems reasonable, especially if you were doing it for a second time or more. I know that if I was doing this for the first time, I would be extremely happy if I completed it in 8-12 hours.

 

I read one post where the replacement process resulted in much lower mpg after installing these cylindrical batteries. The poster clearly thought his internal combustion engine was running longer after installation of batteries from 2K. Is this an exception, faulty cylinder, or does the car's electronics require a certain learning curve to optimize performance?

 

Was that on PC, because I don't recall that post. Unless there was empirical data to review before and after to back up this claim, I would take it with a grain of salt. relying on memory of anecdotal events is not very reliable.

Another situation could be that the car started experiencing poor performance not related to the battery, but the driver assumed bad battery and changed it. Not surprising then when a new battery doesn't change anything.

It does, but shouldn't take long.

 

I'm not trying to imply that the customer who purchased this solution is biased, but he was very specific. He suspected that his reduction in economy was a result of this replacement.

I knew nothing about hybrid vehicles before I purchased one, so I've documented every maintenance, and invested every member's advice. I know exactly when my economy either took a hit or a gain from an action I initiated.

I'd hate to think that the $2,600 spent improving the vehicle (after purchase) would be soured by an alternative product that didn't exactly match the charging stages engineered into the system.

It's easy to say, if you don't believe then don't invest in a cylindrical battery pack. It's not about that. I read a dissenting opinion and I'd like to know the facts surrounding it. Anyone who's willing to invest clearly is positive about the outcome. This person was anything but positive. Was it his own fault or did he perform the installation wrong? Where the instructions not clear that a mistake was made?

I love my Prius, and I will purchase another 2nd gen. It does everything just right . I'm highly motivated to try this new solution, but I want to hear both sides of the experience.

 

My interest in this was piqued also. Any chance you can point me to the post?

 

My experience after a year of using 2k1's new battery is that the battery display is green far more often than I remember. But then the old cells (that weren't dead yet...) check out about 3.2 AH. So the new ones are about double the capacity of what I was using before the total failure.

 

That is great news. Was there any increase in your mileage? If the capacity is greater, wouldn't the HV battery be assisting the ice more often?

 

Nothing remarkable with the mileage. The car does seem to have more pep.

A friend of mine has a 2002 with the original battery. He complains about getting low 30s mileage, instead of the low 40s that he remembers. I've driven the car and it feels rather low power compared to my 2006.

It makes sense to me that an old battery that still works is still responsible for lower mileage and less power. But the effect develops so slowly that you just get used to it. It would be interesting to get some real metrics of mileage/performance with a new versus decade+ old battery.

 

Will I agree the battery is going to degrade slowly over time, I don't think fuel economy is effected until it gets really bad.

Remember these cars only use a narrow band of the batteries state of charge under normal circumstances; the battery only exists to moderate power from the gas engine to keep it operating efficiently. As long as the battery is capable of storing and releasing energy to the degree expected by PCM, can't imagine the economy would be affected much.

My 2006 has 174K on the original battery, and in the middle of a Minnesota winter gets above 40 miles per gallon with most of that being highway miles. My 2013 was almost brand-new when I owned it, and would not deliver much more than I'm currently getting under the same conditions. Perhaps the battery in your friends 2002 has gotten really bad.

 

In your experience with both Gen 2 and Gen 3 cars, have you found any critical differences between them? Thanks.

 

Honestly it surprises me how close they are.

The Gen 3 is more powerful, but not by huge amount. Otherwise they seem to drive almost identically. What really impresses me is how much my 12-year-old Gen-2 drives like my one-year-old Gen-3 did. These cars seem to age really well.

 

I bought and adapted this kit to a gen 1 Prius. It worked flawlessly but much more DIY than the Gen 2 as I had to solder the interface wiring.

Really Happy this exists.

 

You bought 2 kits?
One kit does not have enough module replacements for a Gen 1 Prius.