how long do batteries last?

[Merkin Muffley]

are the new cars batteries longer lasting and cheaper?

[alfon]

Originally Posted by Merkin Muffley

are the new cars batteries longer lasting and cheaper?

The warranty on the battery for the 2010 Prius, if you live in a C.A.R.B. stated like Oregon, is 10 years or 150,000 miles.

So, as you can see, I would imagine battery life may exceed 200,000 miles in the 2010 Prius. Lets face it, by that time the plug in hybrids will be widely available in all makes and models.

alfon

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by Merkin Muffley

are the new cars batteries longer lasting and cheaper?

Are you talking about the HV traction battery or the little 12V accessory battery?

Tom

[Mike Dimmick]

The 2010 Prius HV battery is exactly the same as the 2004-2009 HV battery. Same modules, same number, same assembly. However, the battery cooling is different and the maximum draw has been upped from 25kW to 27kW, so there will be a change.

We'll let you know once someone's managed to drive 200,000 miles whether they're lasting longer or shorter than before. The Gen 1s that have had replacements out of warranty have tended to have them at 150-180k, but there have been very few Gen 2 replacements - I've heard of several Gen 2s with over 200k and no replacement.

[Indyking]

Originally Posted by alfon

Lets face it, by that time the plug in hybrids will be widely available in all makes and models.

alfon

According to wikipedia, the plug-in Prius, estimated to be available for regular costumers in 2012, will cost US$48,000.00????

That's twice as much as I paid for my 2010 model III? I hope it is wrong, otherwise Toyota may start giving up the project right now...

The Nissan Leaf is supposed to sell bellow the 30K mark for the basic model and that car ain't burn a drop of gas.

Another Hybrid I'm really interested is the Elantra hybrid, coming in 2010 or 2011 I’m thinking. Major details have not been disclosed but it will use Lithium battery and judging by the FE I was getting with my previous 99 Elantra, I think this one has a strong potential to beat the current Prius in FE.

[DeadPhish]

There are 6 data points that are readily available to anyone that wants to do a little work.

1. The warranty for the non-CARB states is 8 yrs / 100,000 miles
2. The warranty for the CARB states is 10 yrs / 150,000 miles
3. Toyota has bench tested hybrid batteries to 180,000 miles
4. The DOE is checking the longevity of all hybrids through Idaho Natl Labs in real world testing up to 160,000 miles
5. Toyota was asked by BusinessWeek Online how many batteries it had replaced here....the answer was 0.003%....IOW about 1 in 40,000
6. Taxi's in many cities are using hybrids that go up to 300,000 miles.

IOW the battery should last as long as you own the vehicle.