Gen III Traction Battery Replacement

By the time it needs replacing, there will be used ones available. I would suspect less than $600 if you are a bad shopper, much cheaper if you are good.

Don't worry about it, this time is many many years (like 10+) and kilometers later (like 200k+). Check out the taxi drivers that use the prius. 300k+ km later and no battery issues.

 

If you live in Canada, which apparently is you do. I checked the price with a local dealer, 3 1/2 thousand dollars plus GST and PST if it applies to your province. Since the dollar is parity with the US, it seems you can get the same battery in the states for $2500. This does not include labor. It's definitely not cheap, and Canadians are getting ripped off.

 

600k km on the most prolific hybrid taxis

 

Yeah for a brand new battery. By the time the GenIII battery dies, GenIV will be out, and as such GenIII traction batteries will flood ebay like usual. That is why I say it will be much less than that. If it dies within the 160k km range, then the cost is free under warranty anyways.

 

The situation today us that Prius are being totaled by insurance adjusters much faster than batteries are wearing out. This creates a buyers' market in good used HV batteries, with a floor of $200, which is the price Toyota will pay to recycle a battery.

Will the Gen III batteries wear out faster than people get in serious accidents? Time will tell, but there is not a great deal of difference between the Gen III and Gen II battery. Somehow I doubt Gen III owners will be a better class of drivers.

 

This^^^

The Gen 2 batteries are generally going well over 200K miles or 300K km without even the hint of replacements being needed. I expect that the real expected life is double those numbers.

However if mine, with 150K miles, craps out then I'm going right to one of the local collision repair shops and making a bid for a battery from a front-end totalled Prius G2. My initial offer will be $300. I doubt highly that it will ever be necessary to do this.

 

While I very much doubt, I will need to replace the traction battery due to mileage. Even though, this theories behind these batteries is that use is what kills them. What I am seeing in the real world, from generation one experience, is that the seals in the battery gives due to time and not mileage. Basically the chemistry of the battery is good enough for the life of the car, but the seals are only good enough for 8 to 10 years. While the generation two of the vehicle, which from the battery point of view is the same as the third generation, seems to have better seals, only time will tell if that is actually the case. Looking at some 2004 models, all indicates that that is in fact not the case. The battery is more sturdier and the seals are thicker but deterioration of the seal material seems to be happening at the same rate. Basically it's the materials used, that is the problem. Replacing the battery from a salvage that is roughly the same age, is going to be a cheap fix that will last about what you end up paying for. So I doubt batteries from a salvage, federal roughly the same age, will last more than a couple years. A waste of money,if you ask me whether it's worth to buy an old salvaged battery.

 

Unless you have significant statistics to support your opinion on the seals of the G2 batteries I seriously question the accuracy of the foregoing as being anything more than an opinion. I've seen nothing nor heard anything from anyone about significant numbers of G2 batteries needing replacement at any time.

But if I did need one in the next 3-4 yrs then I'd look for the latest totalled Prius I could, an '08 or an '09. For $300 or $400 it's a lot better than buying a new battery or a new vehicle. It's almost like normal maintenance.

But since I've seen no data or evidence to the contrary I'm planning on 8-10 yrs and 300,000+ miles. The minimum warranty in many US States is 10 yrs so I'm comfortable in my opinion. Besides after 8-10 yrs and 300,000+ miles I'll probably give up my $1000 beater for a new Prius.

 

The years/miles warranty ends when either condition is triggered.

I don't worry about my traction battery one bit, for the reasons stated above. However, seal degradation *was* a root problem of the G1 Prius, and I think covered most of Toyota's improvements on the G2 battery and later. I seem to remember one of our gurus (maybe Patrick Wong) mentioning that he intends to check seals eventually. So this seal story has some merit, but not enough for me to act on it. I might feel differently if my traction battery had to suffer in a vicious climate.

 

This 2001 Prius went 250,000 miles before the traction battery was replaced for $1,700:

Two of us did it in four hours.

Bob Wilson

 

My conclusions would have been:
1) The more time you drive a Prius each day, the longer the battery lasts.
2) $300 batteries can fail more frequently than $2500 batteries and still save you money
3) If you are not a DIYer, read up on Re-InVolt.com (their installation is $282 USD)
4) By the time your Pius is 10 years old, Ontario may have more used batteries.

But that is just me.

 

My thoughts in BOLD:

The older NHW11, 2001-03 Prius, have a weaker traction battery than the newer NHW20, 2004-09, and ZVW30, 2010-current. Even so, we're seeing considerable variation with the older, less robust traction batteries. If you think of the traction battery as part of the transmission, you'll be closer to understanding traction battery life.

Given the 8 year / 100,000 mile traction battery warranty, it is a decision easily deferred.

Bob Wilson