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Should i buy a brand new hybrid battery for my 2012 Toyota Prius C with 116,000 miles?

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Sonic_TH, Jan 24, 2022.

  1. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    As the tittle says, what do you all think, should i get a new one? my current hybrid battery is showing a voltage difference of almost 1 volt, and block 6 is showing 13.32 volts when the state of charge is 40% or below.
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    It's sad that PriusC was built with less battery power than a regular Prius... Prius C battery packs die sooner than regular Prius because of this. If I were you I'd upgrade to projectlithium.com
     
    CosmicWunderkind likes this.
  3. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    Yeah i have noticed that as well, but i think it is because of the fact that the Prius C hybrid battery cooling fan is closer to the passengers, and is more exposed, it is more audible, and Toyota did not wanted to deal with complains about the noise of the fan, so they probably had to sacrifice fan speed hence better cooling, with less speed and worse cooling, but less noise too.


    I was thinking about getting that one from Projectlithium, but it's quite a new battery, though the reviews seem to be positive.

    Toyota here asks for $2,745 for the hybrid batter, i will install it myself, but that price is very high, and they won't take my old battery.
     
  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    The only opportunity to significantly improve performance of your Prius C is with a project lithium pack.
     
  5. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    Do you have the project lithium pack?
     
  6. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Sonic_TH likes this.
  7. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Better voltage difference than a NiMH and has also run cooler as well... The real value is in mountain climbing and EV mode where performance is doubled when battery drains down to three bars there's still plenty of power and never drops to two or one bar. Also pack recharges up to full bars much faster.
     
  9. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    That's very good. May i asks you how much the pack costed to you?
     
  10. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

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    Did Toyota tell you why? It's odd they won't take your old battery as a core.
     
  11. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    They said that they don't take the core, apparently they don't do that here in Puerto Rico, though it does not makes sense because then there would be a lot of batteries around doing nothing and probably polluting if thrown away. The price they ask is $2,745 which seems excessive, i have seen members here get new hybrid batteries from less than $2,000. I'm thinking if i should get the ones from project lithium but not sure yet, i can't sell the car either because i won't get nearly as much as what i have spent on it already, replacing the bad modules is not worth it at all because first i thought that module 6 was the bad one, but now 5 and 4 started to look bad too, and these modules from Ebay are used as well and likely to fail again.
     
  12. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

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    I agree it doesn't make sense Toyota won't take back the core.

    After a couple tries I managed to keep my original battery in my '01 going for about two years using modules purchased on Ebay, but I probably just got lucky. Went with an after market rebuilt pack after that, which ended up costing me more in the long run than if I just went with the new battery from Toyota.

    My daughter's C might eventually need a new battery, so would be interested how well the project lithium packs work.
     
  13. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    It was a prototype I was doing Winter testing on and no money involved in the exchange...
     
  14. Robin Ulm

    Robin Ulm New Member

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    I want to get a nexpower battery. Does anyone know of anyone could install it for me
    Around Chattanooga or Atlanta that is experienced at changing the main battery?
    Also would like to change smaller battery at the sametime.. I am willing to pay 250.
     
    #14 Robin Ulm, Nov 22, 2022
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 22, 2022
  15. PriusII&C

    PriusII&C Active Member

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    Can you share some data to back up that statement? I have a Prius-C, and would like to get prepared if this is true.
     
  16. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    The data is simply the number of battery modules used in Prius C battery pack is roughly a third less than all other battery packs used in Toyota hybrids...

    Another data point is that It typically takes 10 to 18 years for all other Toyota hybrids to have a bad battery pack... But for years now Prius C with battery packs less than ten years old are showing up here on PriusChat as already worn out.

    Good news is there's no waiting list or outrageous Toyota stealership prices if you buy a Nexcell pack, so you not only save on MPG compared to OEM packs, but you save on price to replace your battery pack. Also if you replace your pack before it goes bad you can recover some of your costs for a Nexcell by selling it, whereas Toyota will force you to put a $1300 on your old battery pack until you return it to them.

    And if you buy a Nexcell with my affiliate link I can offer unlimited tech support: https://projectlithium.com/?ref=9qLPw
     
    #16 PriusCamper, Nov 22, 2022
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2022
  17. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

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    It is due to cooling, the Prius C hybrid battery cooling fan barely turns on, it will only go max speed if your A/C blower is at max speed too. All Prius C cool poorly their hybrid battery, and it gets hot, 40° C+ / 50° C+, unless again you have your A/C on and with the blower at full speed, but even then it takes time to cool it down, the only way to really help on this is to get an OBD2 scanner, preferably an OBD Link LX, and use that scanner and the Dr. Prius app to turn the hybrid battery fan on at max speed, regardless of A/C blower speed.
     
  18. Shahid Uddin Mahamud

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    First see if following symptoms are present then decide to buy new battery.
    • Lackluster or harsh acceleration.
    • Abnormally low MPG.
    • High Delta SOC. (39+ to 80%)
    • Fast charging & fast discharging
    • Frequent ICE on & off cycle.
    • Min. & Max. cell voltage difference: (For new battery-Max. 0.16V, for good used Max. 0.28V and for bad 1.2V to 3.5V).
    • Abnormal noise from engine.
    • Abnormal Win & Wout. (Std. for Prius Gen 3 is +/- 20K)
    • Low discharge rate between engine on/off cycle remains below 2 minutes. But For new or good battery discharge rate remains 4.5 to 5 minutes.
    • High min & max voltage fluctuation, For new battery 15 to 16 volt & for bad battery 14.5 to 18 volts.
     
  19. johnHRP

    johnHRP Active Member

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    Don't monkey things that is not broken. The prius c had lower torque motor and engine since it is new. Nothing wrong about it. Lithium battery is not as reliable as NiMh with Lanthanum electrode. Lithium also have fire hazard unlike NiMh, especially it is unknown chinese battery, not Panasonic.
     
  20. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    pack core trade is a deal breaker for me. The whole used battery industry has turned into a complete rip off in my mind. The industry was formed for the purpose of recycling used packs. All it does now is to recirculate old ailing packs back into the used pack markets.
    YMMV