Featured General Battery Question

i think they're all the same. i know the hycam is, but 10 years is not necessarily a cutoff point.

 

They're the exact same battery in terms of lifespan but the highlander will be higher voltage and slightly harder on the batteries. Also a highlander pack has lots more batteries so it would be more expensive to replace:

--A Prius is 220v system with 168 batteries in it
--A highlander is a 300v system with 240 batteries in it (2006-2013)

Also Prius are designed for high MPG and Highlander hybrids are designed to make giant SUV gas guzzlers slightly less of a guzzler so increased costs across the board, but probably same payment from customer no matter which car you drive.

 

In general, all hybrid and battery-electric vehicles use batteries with multiple cells, to achieve a battery voltage high enough for efficient operation. The nominal voltage per cell is a characteristic of the cell chemistry; for example, 1.2 V for Ni-MH and 3.6 V for Li-ion, as used in Toyota vehicles.

The Ni-MH battery for the Highlander HV has changed a bit over the years, but from New Car Features (more info), its basic specifications are the same for model years 2006 through 2019: 240 cells, series-connected in 30 modules of 8 cells each, for a nominal battery voltage of 288 volts. This configuration and the physical arrangement, in three module groups, are both different from those of the HV batteries used on Prius cars.

Fundamentally, the wearing mechanism is the same, but there are many factors that determine battery life, and I don’t know what’s reasonable to expect for a Highlander HV. For any decade-old hybrid vehicle with the original battery, though, I think it would be prudent to include the cost of HV battery replacement as one of the likely maintenance expenses when considering the cost of ownership.

 

Did he mention why he wouldn't ride in a Prius? It seems a bit silly to cancel a perfectly good vehicle for getting you from Point A to Point B just because its a Prius.

 

i'm surprised,

i would have thought the uber generation liked hybrids

 

My friend runs a small cab company and he says he gets those complaints all the time... That's why he's going with Camry hybrids instead of Prius from now on.

 

Fair enough. I guess if I were the type of person to understand why someone who refuse to ride in a Prius Taxi, I wouldn't have bought a Prius in the first place.

 

FWIW, a Highlander HV isn't going to give much of a operating cost savings over pretty much anything else. If you want passenger space, find a used Prius-v.

 

To someone that doesn't want to get into a Prius, I don't think they would make the distinction.

 

Not sure I can agree with your premise. Odds are pretty good that you'd never need to do either of those things. But I'm just saying that there's no financial rationalization for going to a hybrid Highlander over a gas powered one. (or anything else)