when you replace the battery

[tochatihu]

Conventional automatic transmissions are ingenious and complicated devices. However they do require periodic maintenance and have a non-zero failure rate. As John1701a points out, an entire secondary industry has developed to keep the US's 170 or so million of them on the road. The tricky part is to develop a reasonable extimate of what they cost on average in cents per mile. I have tried, claim that it is in the range of 2 to 4 cents per mile, but remain very open to improved estimates. I'd really like to know because...

In some sense, this slightly fallible component has been substituted in Prius by the HV battery, another slightly fallible component. Here we can say that assuming that everyone needs a new one at 200k miles and that it costs $3000 dollars, this is 1.5 cents per mile.

My expectation is that the average service life of Prius HVB will be longer than that, so I would cost the battery a bit lower. But lacking a conventional auto trans makes me very happy. Because I too have had bad experiences with those in previous vehicles.

[patsparks]

Not that you will be with us long Matt, I suspect you will be bounced soon, but have you ever seen a supercharger blow up? How about a clutch explode from the bell housing? Have you ever seen a V8 spit its guts out? I have and it ain't pretty. That's why in drag racing parts of the drive train need to be covered with shielding and balistic blankets and webbing straps.

I've also seen a lead acid battery spit its acid all over my boss in a past job. It couldn't have found a better target! Stupid fool shorted across the terminals right after disconnecting the fast charger. Prius has been around for about 8 to 10 years now and I've never heard of a battery blowing up.

Did we come near a bridge? I smell something.

[David Beale]

Further, just to be picky, IF the "traction battery" ever did vent, it would be a base, not an acid. It's Potassium Hydroxide with a little Sodium Hydroxide in a solution with water. It's in a fully enclosed steel container, vented to the outside of the car, so I doubt you would ever know it happened, except the dash would light up with warning lamps and probably a buzzer would sound.

I'll bet we never find out. It's so well managed by the computer systems and protected by a ground fault system with relays and fuses it's unlikely you could damage the battery enough to cause it to short.

[mattpopp]

We are near a bridge and i do smell something as one fellow has posted above me. What i smell is still a good ole fashion Diesel engine burning. Diesel is expensive. I do own two of them. Which one gets about 22mpg on the high way as the other one gets 18 mpg on the high way. I have read alot about these little cars. I have been very curious about them for a long time, as yall may noticed i know nothing about them but there is alot i could tell you about a Cummins engine.

I see these little things on the high way and think nothing of it and of the person inside it. What i don't get is that everytime i have passed one and if i am able to catch the driver looking at me they are giving me a dirty look. Mind you this is the Houston area, is it so that if you drive a Hybrid that makes a person better then us who dont. I have been wondering about this for a while. A hybrid will not save the planet, replace every car in the USA with a hybrid and that still will not save the planet. If our world dies because of pollution, if everybody in the USA started to drive a hybrid tomorrow that just might buy the planet two more days.
So other then the 40 to 50 MPG there is not more then a personel choice. A Jeep Cherokee Diesel gets 40 Mpg. The big advantage i see in that is the safety of the passengers. I just have a hard time putting my family in the little car. The pruis is a pretty light car, they had to cut back on weight for the MPG, that also cuts back on safety, safety is number 1 in my book.
So at the end of the day I have just been wondering what is it that sells these cars, why?

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by mattpopp

So at the end of the day I have just been wondering what is it that sells these cars, why?

Originally Posted by mattpopp

So other then the 40 to 50 MPG there is not more then a personel choice.

Personal choice sells Porches, Mustangs, Audi TTs, etc.
Personal choice is what drives a lot of things.
Personal choice is not quantifiable.
Personal choice is everywhere all the time.


You have already provided your own answer. You just refuse to accept it.

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

Originally Posted by mattpopp

I am just wondering as i am wondering if a hybrid is right for me. It would be a life changing experience for me to own one.
I am pretty good with a wrench

By "life changing experience" if you mean retiring your wrenches, YEAH, the Prius would be a life changing experience.

If you decide to purchase a Prius or another hybrid, it's no longer like you are blazing some trail with some unknown quantity.

Over 1,000,000 have been sold, and Consumer Report has nothing but glowing remarks.

If you really don't want to retire your wrenches and want to spend your free time fixing cars, fix other peoples' cars and at least get paid for it.

[mattpopp]

Originally Posted by TonyPSchaefer

You have already provided your own answer. You just refuse to accept it.

My answer is it is a personal choice, that is exactly what it was in the beginning. I was just wondering if there is some underlining meaning that I do not understand about Hybrid's. The only benefit is none in my eyes and 99% of the population.

Hybrids break down, just like any other car. The only problem is that no shade tree mechanic like myself can work on them. You have quit a few threads about fixing broken Pruis. So that thought is out the window.

I have a 96 Dodge Diesel that has 134k miles and to this very day has not had one part fail on it(knock on wood). Parts have wore out but they where design to. its 12 years old. Its a great truck.

The biggest Answer that I seek is why the dirty looks on the HW to us that drive big trucks and SUV's. I only get them from Hybrids. We have talked about this on my forum. Nobody has a good solid answer why?

Also what are the statistics on the Pruis's and surviving a wreck. Somebody mention that 1 million have been sold. I assuming that is HyBrids in general. So that is really not that many. But I would love to see some solid data on that. The chances of a wreck with a Large vehical are much better then a small car here in the south. Probably not that good. So how could saving a few dollars at the pump be so important, more so then letting your child ride in a tin can(no pun intended).

[Jack66]

Matt, I for one do not give trucks and SUV drivers dirty looks. Most of the people I know that drive Prii wouldn't give them dirty looks either.

One aspect of the issue you and many others have a problem with is the magnitude (size) of things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have a birth defect or anything like that. I'm saying that most people don't truly know what BIG and SMALL are. One of my jobs is to work with statistics -- display the numbers one way and a small problem looks big -- display them another way and a big problem looks small. For example, what is the effect of adding 2 MPG to every vehicle Americans drive? The answer is millions of gallons saved in a short period of time. Millions with a big M. Just from getting two measely MPG more from our vehicles.

You can look at it a few ways: the oil being pumped out of the ground would last longer so we could keep our trucks and SUVs longer and/or we wouldn't have to go crawling on our knees to the Saudis to pump more oil. My example had nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with kicking the major oil producers out of my wallet.

Have a good time spreading your knowledge, but also understand that we don't know what kind of knowledge you are trying to spread and it makes some folks jittery.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by mattpopp

The only benefit is none in my eyes and 99% of the population.

And I'm willing to bet that 99% of the Prius owners on this forum are fine with that.

[pdhenry]

Originally Posted by mattpopp

Also what are the statistics on the Pruis's and surviving a wreck.

Well, here's the IIHS rating for the Prius:

IIHS-HLDI: Toyota Prius

Originally Posted by mattpopp

Somebody mention that 1 million have been sold. I assuming that is HyBrids in general.

Actually, it's one million Priuses:

One Millionth Toyota Prius Sold