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Lithium Pack worth to switch?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by abdullah arslan, Jan 28, 2022.

  1. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Think about how much it costs you each time you fill up. I'm thinking it's about $24 each time I fill up (about $3 a gallon)

    How many times a month do you fill up? Let's say every 2 weeks since I mostly use the car just for driving to work and let's be conservative and say I average 45 mpg with my Toyo battery with 2003 manufacture date. (but I'm really around 43 in the winter and 53 in the summer)

    Now multiply that by the year and you have your answer. That would put me at 26 fill-ups per year. or about $624 a year. Are you saying I'll save $624 a year if I had a lithium battery? That would be awesome.

    I wonder if it makes a difference using a lighter newer pack versus a decade old heavier pack?
    A difference in what regard?

    Hmmm....yea I think it does, yea you come out of pocket the $2k but you start saving right away versus paying more annually using the beat up OEM pack until it dies.
    How much do I start saving right away?



    where's my popcorn?
     
    #21 TMR-JWAP, Jan 31, 2022
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2022
  2. bettergolf

    bettergolf Active Member

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    Extra 10 mpg at 10 gallon tank adds 100 mile per tankful or at 3 bucks per gallon saves $6 per fillup. IF he dives it to empty and IF he fills up every week for a year he saves $312 a year on gas. (52 weeks x $6) So it would take over 6. years to save enough on gas to pay for the new battery. ($2000 divided by $312 + 6.41 years). Meanwhile during that 6 years, with the with the age and mileage of the car it's likely some other expensive repairs will be needed during that time. If he bought the battery he would need to be committed to keeping the car and spending money on it rather than giving up on it if say, a head gasket, or an inverter, or brake booster or a/c went out. ...or just lose out on the $2k he spent on the battery.
    To me it just doesn't make sense to discard a perfectly good battery to get a better one just to save a little bit of money on gas,
     
  3. drbtz

    drbtz Member

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    The above statements are ultimately what I'm trying to get across here. Purchasing the battery pack is not net-positive and will take a long time to even be net-neutral. Purchase the battery if planning to keep the car for the long haul and commitment to other possible issues.
     
  4. abdullah arslan

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    upload_2022-2-1_10-31-31.png
    Here is a calculation for savings over the years with a gas price of $3. Considering gas price fluctuations it ll take 150k-200k miles to get the money back, and of course, the duration depends on the owner how much miles making per year
    Making a summary for pros and cons JUST related to battery NOT to other issues like egr, head gasket etc..
    Pros
    New-gen lighter battery with better MPG
    More powerful ride
    Less worries about the battery when it'll die
    Cons
    Commitment to car
    Long term compensation
    Taking risk against possible issues (already throwing 2.1k out)

    There is one more thing I'm wondering. What about resale value with Li-Ion packs?
     

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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    To gain back most of the money's on a Prius that one spins and does you won't have to sell to a like-minded individual looking for similar so that narrows your market and then their bargaining tool is well other people aren't going to pay it or should I and back and forth I never do anything with the intent to sell now I'm going to wear it out and kill it transfer other parts to the next one
     
  6. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    And of course......is there actually average 10 mpg improvement? I would venture this is mighty optimistic. Mighty.
     
    Mendel Leisk and Tombukt2 like this.
  7. AzusaPrius

    AzusaPrius Senior Member

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    Resale value is there if you know who/how to sell it to.

    Yes there is a 10mpg gain.

    I was getting 60-65 mpg at the end of summer.
    Now in this cold weather I am getting 47.3 mpg.
     
  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Break even after 200,000 miles?! Mendel’s Prius is pounding the sand.
     
  9. drbtz

    drbtz Member

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    Commitment to care is all that matters. It's generally cheaper to commit to fixing a vehicle like the prius than to dump it. However what is far more important is if you are HAPPY committing to your prius. Do you WANT this same vehicle 5 years and 100K later?

    Resale? It's no more or less unless you find someone willing to pay for the li-ion. The average consumer won't care and they'll treat it like a normal battery.

    Long term compensation? A vehicle is never an investment. It always loses value, always. That's why you upgrade for convenience and longevity, not savings.

    Your pros are great reasons alone to get the li-ion. At the moment a fair amount of members have them and are reporting good long term results.
     
  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Long term results for most the cars a distant memory. We bought that and it did really well . We sold that car to buy the Camry hybrid. So that part was used 30K got rave reviews . But non that matters till near 200K miles or close to be comparable to new . A Lil more performance in a Prius is subjective at best. I don't ride much with apps running to monitor a battery hale my gas gauge been out years .
     
  11. michael myers

    michael myers Junior Member

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    Thank you for posting the info. I've been wondering about this. We have a 2015 Prius V with 165K miles on it.