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

2k1Toaster - is there a recommended aftermarket 12v battery approach for the Prius 2nd gen that might be of particular advantage when in line with your HV battery? I had determined to go with a new, stock Toyota battery but then, why not ask the question. Closest (WRJ Toyota) parts guy said 220.

 

Installed on Dec 1 2017. Was hoping it would last longer. Throwing code P0a80, pretty sure one pack of the 3 is probably bad. I'll know more when I disassemble the battery pack.

Looking into rebuilding with Gen 3 or Gen 4 cells.

 

One of Toasters packs? That would be disappointing and unexpected. Keep us posted as to what is wrong exactly.

 

Dealing with COVID mileage cars I noticed something significant. If I keep the 12 V on a charger/maintainer the HV battery charge level stays constant for a very long time, especially when doing some ECU programming. If I don't the charge level of the HV battery can drop at a significant rate. Better keep those 12 Vs healthy/happy...

moto g(7) power ?

 

My understanding is that the 12v battery circuit is not connected to the HV circuit when car is off. The HV battery rate of discharge should not be affected by the 12v charge status.

 

I was one of the first in the beta testing. It was honestly a great alternative to the playing the whack a mole game with using old gen 2 cells. I drove the car all around the state of Tx, even been to Colorado. I did notice the last few weeks when I park the car the battery was up in the high blue range. When I would take off the next day, it would drop to pink pretty fast. Yesterday, I drove to the store and when I was backing into the driveway, the Red Triangle of Death appeared. It's been raining like crazy here, when it drys up I'll tear the pack down and see what is going on. I wouldn't know where to buy any of the cells in a 3 pack.

 

Programming is done with Ig-ON but READY-OFF. Try leaving the car with Ig-ON with or without something charging the 12 V. You may be just as surprised as I was, and I have a LiFePO4 12 V that can handle abuse...

moto g(7) power ?

 

More of annual trips. I only drive the car less then 8,000 a year. I use a AC Delco digital torque wrench and torqued the bus bar nuts to 50 inch lbs. My prius is an outside car and the sun beats down half the day, during the evening it's tree shaded. I don't mind paying for another cell pack if that was the problem. I'll know more when I have it taken apart and for lose nuts, corrosion and check voltages ect.

 

I was able to get the battery pulled, all the nuts were still torqued nothing loose. Absolutely no corrosion(high quality bus bars). From the ECU going back #9 voltage was 15.89 all other cells were 16.00v. I assume the one that is measuring 15.89 of the 3 cells are bad or weak. How can I purchase 1 single 3 cell pack to replace the module and how much will it run? These are my finding let me know what you think?

 

I have about 10,000 miles on mine, Installed just about 2 years ago in July 2019. Weather here goes from 0 F to 120 F and I drove it mostly on 5 mile trips, a few 200 mile trips, and during Covid only once a week or so for short hops. I have been recording data on my batteries at Vehiviz and the latest data looks pretty much like the data I got back about two years ago. Voltage difference of 0.1 between lowest and highest is pretty normal. Actually I don't think I have ever seen all the battery blocks at the exact same voltage, they are all off from each other by about 0.01 ... although this will be when the car is "ON" since It's measuring through a BAFX dongle using the Torque Pro app

 

I installed the NPB pack yesterday and found the installation easy and straight forward. This was my first time doing a Prius pack, but the instructions Nick provided were clear and concise and the job was completed in about 5 hrs. Of course it was 100F and I took quite a few breaks, but it was not difficult.

My old pack never reached the point of throwing any codes or RTOD, but going up long, steep grades was a problem. It would go to 2 bars, starting from 6 bars, and the ICE screaming to get up the grade with A/C off at 60MPH. I've done the same drive with the new pack and it was effortless driving at 72MPH with A/C on Auto (mostly running at MAX) in 100F heat. The pack went from 6 bars to 4 bars during the climb with the ICE running at much lower RPM and max battery temp was 109F. I had to keep easing off the accelerator or the speed would just continue to increase even with the steepness of the climb.

I do need to recalibrate my foot now since it take so little throttle angle to achieve the desired speed. I find my self having to watch my speed closely now to avoid speeding. I know, first world problem, but it does say a lot about how a new battery can dramatically improve confidence and drivability of a old Prius (07MY).

For me this was a very good upgrade and I finally have confidence in the car. I was so unconfident I upped my AAA roadside assistance to cover 200 mile tows, just in case, because of the old pack. If I didn't have that long uphill grade several times per week I probably wouldn't have changed the pack until it started throwing codes, but now that it's done this is a significant upgrade and I'm really pleased with the results. BTW, the original modules all had the date stamp of 5/19/07 so it looks like it was an original pack for the car and not some reman'd pack. I've only had the car since 12/20 and never had the cover off the pack, so I always wondered if it was original or not and now I know.

While I would have liked to see the results of Jack's lithium pack before a purchasing decision (non beta tester results), the timing just didn't work out for that with the multiple delays in bringing it to market. No blame on Jack and his company. Its got to be very difficult to get product during Covid times and ramp up a new business. All in all I'm quite happy with the NPB results and will drive happy for the foreseeable future with a new pack. Anyone with a marginal pack, even without codes, should seriously consider a new pack whether that's OEM, NPB, or Jack's lithium (once it get into users hands and cars and has proven itself). Just a dramatic difference and a big upgrade. Well worth the $1600.

 

Replaced mine in 2019 with a mileage of 171269 and so far I have had not one problem, mileage right now is 212362. I am pretty sure that if I do that I will be a returning customer I am not expecting to do so though

 

Maybe you could source those pre-set, T-handle torque wrench, tailored for the terminal nut size/torque, include one in each kit? Or they're too pricey to throw in? Anyway, something like this:

 

I think you’re forgetting that the new guy is the one KEEPING the tariffs. He could remove them immediately if he wanted. But let’s just blame the other guy. It’s so much more PC.

Moreover …
Is it really too difficult for a manufacturer to build them in the USA? Probably so once one has to deal with pesky nuisances like pollution, OSHA and unions. Much easier to hide those costs by foreign sourcing them.

 

Hey 2K...the link in your signature is giving me issues. Might want to check into it when you get a chance.

 

I believe the main impediment to building more batteries in the US is the availability of minerals needed. In order to build more batteries, we would need to make a concentrated effort to mine more of the rare earth metals. While they’re found all over the world, most of the mines for them are in China.