Time for a new traction battery

When the plug is out Dr. Prius puts up battery voltages even though the red triangle is lit. Two of the modules look odd, but I don't recall if they were zero voltage, greyed out, or what. Nor do I recall which two modules were affected.

 

Do you have a contact number and link to share. I'm in the same boat....looks like $1800 for refurbished 28 cells with a 4 year warranty. Or $1,800 for new Alibaba. cylindrical cells from China. But new. Not sure how much longer we are going to keep this old 2008. Hmm let me know how the process goes. I'm not worried about install as I've rebuilt these batteries about 4 times now. I'm leaning towards new.

 

there have been a lot of problems with nexpower, you're lucky you got two years

 

That would be the highest risk option. You have no idea who actually made those sticks and what their real expected lifetime is. I took that gamble with our 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid, mostly because there was no source of new OEM sticks for it, and because it was all checked out first by a battery rebuilder in the US, and lost. It was great when it was new, but it did not last very long.

 

Good to know...Hm. OK

 

I think I will be going this route when I have to rebuild. Maybe this fall project.

 

What are you doing with the old Nexcell modules that you pulled? Seems like they would be a recycling nightmare?

 

ship them back to jack, with a nice thank you card

 

The local e-waste collection site/event will probably take them. I have disposed of several laptop lithium batteries that way. The one we usually go to has a weight limit for the trip for all items of something like 125 pounds. That's because it is supposed to be for household waste, not industrial waste. I don't think they actually enforce it though, but like to have it "on the books" in case a person shows up with 500 pounds of car batteries in the back of their pickup, or something like that.

 

I'll give them away if anybody wants them. I'd rather somebody get some use for them...rather then end up in a landfill.

 

I posted my own hybrid battery story (also defunct NEXcell pack) over here. I went with brand new OEM pack instead. I had originally considered obtaining up-cycled modules from 2nd Life before discovering the old pack in the car was not an original pack but had been previously modified with the experimental lithium battery. Unfortunately there was no way of knowing when buying a used Prius what battery could be hidden in the back.

 

That's not entirely true, at least if buying it in person. For starters you can always ask the seller, who hopefully still has the paperwork if the battery was changed during their watch. Also, it isn't hard, and no tools are needed, to pull out the rear deck cover and look over at the battery pack. I put this in the "looking under the hood" level of inspection, and if the seller won't allow it, walk away. If the pack is painted then you know it wasn't the OEM battery the car came with. It is at least a refurb. Dorman paints its name on the sides, some others may too.

If it is the standard unpainted metal though, and doesn't bear any identifying marks on the visible part, then short of taking it apart in the car, there is indeed no way to know what is going on inside.

 

Very true. First time owning any Prius and about the only thing ai knew walking into a private sale was about testing the hv battery using Dr Prius at the time. The seller was either very unknowledgeable or dodgey enough to hide their knowledge at the time. It even fooled me initial pass when I had the rear deck opened months ago before the RTOD to clean the cooling fan that I assumed the HV battery was stock based on the top cover.