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Realistic battery life

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Andres V, Sep 27, 2018.

  1. Andres V

    Andres V Member

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    I didn't know this forum before buying my car. I can swear most of the reviews I've found mention these unrealistic cases of Prius going for 500.000 plus miles and nothing happens. Seriously most reviews mentioned "they just last!"

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  2. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    I retract my statement then. Don’t worry, the EGR manifold cleaning surprised a lot of people also.
     
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  3. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

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    Yours is a sad story, but maybe one some of us need to hear to temper our expectations. Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you.
     
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  4. MelonPrius

    MelonPrius Senior Member

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    See, that's the difference. 500,000+ miles is a function of distance. 8-10 years is a function of time. Most of the cars that you read about the hybrid battery lasting a ton of miles, usually do so in a relatively short period of time- like with a taxi.

    I believe that battery life is more of a function of years, not so much miles. With that in mind, yours died early. You said you are the 2nd owner? When did you buy it and how many miles did you put on it? Have you tracked the fuel economy, if so, what has it been?
     
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  5. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    The Toyota warranty for the Hybrid system should give you a good idea of expected battery life: 8 years 100k miles in most states 10 years or 150k the rest of the states. That suggests to me that most people will get more than the warranty life out of the battery and a few will get less.
     
  6. Andres V

    Andres V Member

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    I know about the extended warranty on the hybrid system in the US an Europe. Sadly where I live it's only 3 years. How long it's over there really?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  7. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    That warranty is standard in the US with the purchase of a new Toyota Hybrid, I have had no experience with the warranty neither of my cars (the Prius was sold many years ago) have had any troubles with the Hybrid system.
     
  8. GasperG

    GasperG Senior Member

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    A hilly terrain (more regen power) with thinner air at that elevation for cooling may be more stressful for the battery.

    I had an instance where battery temp was at 60°C, ambient temp was bellow 30°C. It was the down hill regen to 8 full bars, stopping the car in the middle of the hill for lunch, one hour latter battery temp was at 60°C. The car worked, but going up the hill the engine was doing all the work, it was like battery was disconnected from the drive system.
     
  9. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    My sisters 2010 has 250,000 miles and the battery is still working great. The engine almost made it to 200k but it's headgasket blew and it burned a lot of oil. Newish engine, and old battery working great.
     
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  10. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

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    Ok, you've got me beat. When I read @Robert Holt's post about the HV system shutting down at 55°C, I thought I had come close to that (I remembered it as 54°C), but then I looked back at my earlier post and see it was actually 58.4°C. Same situation as yours, we had climbed most of the way up Mount Charleston (near Las Vegas, NV), we stopped at a viewing area, so I turned off the car as we walked around for an hour or so. When we got back to the car, I powered it up and the HV battery fan roared to life. (I had never even heard it running on any occasion before nor have I heard it since). I pulled out my OBD2 reader, and saw 58.4°C for the middle sensor on the battery. That scared me. I believe if I had left the car powered on for the hour or so we were there, probably nothing would have happened.

    Our car now has 267k miles, still on the original HV battery, apparently going strong even after the above-described abuse.
     
  11. Andres V

    Andres V Member

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    It pains to keep reading good reviews on this car, I know it will last for even more miles but as of right now, my plan is getting my hands on any used battery and sell it as soon as possible. I'm not buying another hybrid, worst, and electric car untill I see some alternateve service around here. Toyota can't just spit in your face a quote for half of the value of my car right now. I know that's the law of demand, and they seem to be the only providers of these services and products in Mexico right now, but that's abuse for me. I found some relief today speaking to a company that regenerates and re-manufacturs forklift batteries http://www.sergom.com.mx, but those are acid-lead based and they say their regeneration systems will probably bust my battery. The good part is they are looking to get into the hybrid and electric car service market, that's really good to hear for the future, but for the moment I'll keep being stuck with this expensive toy.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  12. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Also the two things that kill Prius batteries are heat and mountains. You don't get super super hot, but you are most likely doing some up and down.

    Well my kit is only $1600USD and is brand new...
     
    #32 2k1Toaster, Oct 2, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  13. jack black

    jack black Active Member

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    Interesting. Would you say that's comparable to OEM or better? I assume same Ni-MH technology?
     
  14. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Same.
     
  15. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    So why don't YOU start a hybrid battery service? Be the first to start it in mexico.
    I'm certain you could make a good business out of it and probably make good money.
     
  16. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    With any older car you face this dilemna, sooner or later. I agree the prices are too steep for many items, but they are what they are. Nobody is trying to insult you, it just at some point you have to let go of the car, move on.
     
  17. MelonPrius

    MelonPrius Senior Member

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    3 year warranty on the original Prius hybrid battery in Mexico? Wow.

    Andres V, did you buy the Prius with rapidly declining hybrid battery? Or did it work fine for a while before you experienced problems?
     
  18. Andres V

    Andres V Member

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    Problem started a month ago, "Check hybrid system" message showed up and the electric engine disconnected. Took it Toyota, cleaned the fan and everything worked except that the check engine light was still lit. I protested and asked why is there that light still on and they say I'll have to take it in again to re-check, at that moment I got angry and told them if I'm going back I'm not paying for diagnostics again when they had the chance to do the entire job in one visit, but since I was without another car I agreed to come back. 2 weeks ago or so the error message appeared again, took it to them and gave me the P0A80 error message. That is the only issues I had till now.
     
  19. Andres V

    Andres V Member

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    I'm seriously thinking to change the cells myself. I've been watching a lot of videos. Yeas it's log and there's a ton of bolts, but overall I just need a voltmeter really and look for the cell with a value for less than 7 V and change it.
    Is it that easy for real?
     
  20. MelonPrius

    MelonPrius Senior Member

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    1. How long have you owned this Prius?
    2. How many miles did you drive it before experiencing the problems?
    3. What was your previous fuel economy compared to now?