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

It’s lovely this time of year .

 

With little effort, I found several dealers who will sell to DIYers at a sub $1650ish prices on the west coast, east cost, the south and the north. Google a bunch of your local dealers and you, too, will quickly find a decent price. And then wait for the semi annual 15% off all parts coupon.

 

Might want to call ahead and confirm that they will sell the battery to an individual. Just because a dealer has an internet presence and lists the battery info doesn't mean that they'll sell it to you. Some are afraid that an unqualified DIY person could screw it up and cause more trouble than the dealer wants to experience. It's all up to the parts manager or counter person or or or...

 

That would be quite a drive from Wellington

 

It would, and hopefully a long while before I have to consider it. I be sure to call head before I set out.

 

With a problem battery?

 

I don't think anyone will be able to answer that question until we start seeing failures. I rolled the dice 2 months ago, and so far, I am happy. My car works perfectly and my fuel economy has increased by about 10 mpg. The new modules and accessories look to be very high quality. Installation was easy for me but may be difficult for some people. Installation mistakes made by DIY people could be the make or break issue for 2k1toasters business. I am considering doing installs in my area.

Shame on Toyota for this. It's not like they are going to "rebuild" and resell any of the components so why would a paint job matter? Are they simply punishing us for being disloyal? How dare we look for a cheaper alternative like a rebuild! $10 core would be about right. Certainly no more than $280, if you were to put a $10 core charge on each module. And you should be able to just turn in the module cores minus the case and electronics! Shame on Toyota!

Hurray for people like 2k1toaster and all of us who are taking a chance on his product! Even if it doesn't last 10 years I will still feel good about helping to develop an alternative. I suspect Prius is not the only car that will need new batteries, and high dealer prices will mean these new batteries will see duty in other hybrids as well, providing of course that they go the mile. I suspect they will.

I am also hoping to see 2k1toaster do more volume which may allow him to lower the price.

 

Thank you for the update.

We need to be on the lookout for fakes though. CEBA Battery registered here and tried promoting their inferior new cells. I see the mods removed the posting, but we need to be watchful. Their product looks similar because 2K1Toaster uses the same brackets, after helping them improve the design.

Here is the user profile here. CEBA Battery | PriusChat

 

What do we know about the toaster cells though? Do we have the cell datasheet? Do we know the manufacturer? Do we know about quality control? Do we know how the cells are matched? I've read this thread but not in while so maybe those have already been answered.

In my professional life, the vehicles I work on have active battery management systems that continuously balance the cells. To my knowledge, the Toyota BMS simply monitors voltages and attempts to regulate temperature through forced air cooling. That means that the cells need to stay balanced on their own over many years of service. So it's not only about retaining sufficient capacity over an acceptable number of years. They must retain capacity AND stay balanced on their own.

One of the toaster owners said he was wasn't worried about endurance because he wasn't going to keep the car that long, but what's the obligation to the new owner? Will he tell the owner about the replacement and how will that affect the value? Besides that if the replacement pack fails much sooner than anticipated but beyond the short warranty, then the problem will indeed land with the current owner.

As a current Prius owner and former Camry Hybrid owner, I am thrilled that a third party new pack is available. I am also thrilled that some of our members are using it. My questions don't require answers and they definitely aren't accusations. They are just the question rolling around in my head and the reason that if I had to buy a pack today, I would still buy a Toyota pack. My questions become irrelevant with time but it's going to take a LOT of time for me to be convinced.

I do care are about the longevity of my cars. Besides the Prius, I have a 06 Odyssey, and 04 Camry, and an 83 Camry (the one used in Stranger Things) and I plan to keep all my cars running as long as I can. I'll be watching this thread so see how it goes and I'm rooting for the success of this new option.

 

I am expect @2k1Toaster would be willing to share but you may need to PM him. I know he has tested that the cells meet the specifications he requested. He mentioned the specs in a post or 2 here and stated his testing of the CEBA cells proved they were inferior.

This image from post 1 here gives some information.



Testing image here. Prius Battery Replacement Kit (GenII/GenIII) with NEW custom cells | Page 3 | PriusChat

More specs compared to OEM. Prius Battery Replacement Kit (GenII/GenIII) with NEW custom cells | Page 6 | PriusChat

 

Questions like this come to mind for me, reading here. How about owners that cavalierly dump in various "better" fluids in the transaxle, for example. Or routinely tow.

 

I have a 2004 with 140k miles that still is getting good mileage but the capacity of the battery seems reduced. It goes into the red when I go up our hill and running the AC which it never has before. So, one day soon it will probably bite the dust. I was at the dealer today (bought a 2017 Prime) and stopped by the parts dept and he said it is $3900 plus $1300 for the core. He didn't know if it was brand new or rebuilt. So, maybe by August I'll be ready for one.

 

That sounds inflated; aren't they supposed to be around $2100 now?

 

Close $1950 MSRP The price was lowered in January 2018.
(Base was my only trim option. The battery is the same anyway.)



From 2004 Toyota Prius Parts - metrotoyotapartsnow.com

 

The core charge is close to the battery price now.

 

Yeah. That is in Ohio.
They show the Prime battery at a real bargain with MSRP at $0.00.

 

Third gen battery came in around $2400 on that site, plus the $1350 core charge. In US dollars. Shipping "to be determined", for the Great White North.

 

They ship things north of the 49th parallel ?