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Dr Prius Battery Life Expectancy Test

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by psi, Nov 7, 2022.

  1. psi

    psi Junior Member

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    So I finally got my got my OBD bluetooth adapter in the mail.

    This adapter works well (it's from the Dr. Prius recommended adapters page): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32876810879.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.57f41802KMyWsp

    I paid for Dr. Prius basic edition ($13) and did a Life Expectancy test for my and my parent's Gen 3 Prii.

    The results were:
    2013 with 49k miles - 70.88 %
    2011 with 86k miles - 68.85 %

    By the way, Dr Prius recommends force charging the battery by holding the brake and accellerator down together for a minute. It basically won't start the test until the battery is greater than 70% SOC. However it's actually much easier to force charge the battery by coasting down a long hill. I drove up to the top of a nearby hill that's probably 200 - 300 m in elevation. Just by regen braking down it the battery quickly charged from 60 to 80%.

    However I don't really know how to interpret this life expectancy test. My battery is basically 10 years old since date of manufacture. Dr. Prius is telling me I have used up half of the capacity (since replacement is necessary if you test < 40%). Has anyone gotten a similar test and how many years of life did you get after that point?
     
  2. royrose

    royrose Senior Member

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    Bottom line, it is just an estimate and degradation is not linear and can't be predicted accurately. The battery can fail before testing at 40% or after. So, you have to be lucky but giving your vehicles regular "exercise" helps keep the battery healthy.

    I would say that around 70% is typical for 2011-13 Prius.

    My 2010 tested at around 60% with 105k miles and was running well when I traded it earlier this year.
     
    psi likes this.
  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Time for the Prolong treatment.
     
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  4. psi

    psi Junior Member

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    Yeah it does sound like it was an accurate number based on your test and a few other forum posts I've read.

    My Prius did a lot of it's miles in the high Rockies. So it probably has been forced charged to quite a high level based on what I saw on coasting down even a small local hill. Then for a while during the pandemic all I did was start it and let it idle for a few hours once a week. Probably for 1-2 years it barely moved. So it's had some atypical usage.

    Do you think it's worth doing? My issue is that the Prolong system is basically 2/3 the cost of a few year old battery from a wrecked car. I'm thining I'd rather just pay a few hundred more and get some much newer modules.
     
  5. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It has paid off for me. I did the complete cycle just over a year ago.
    And I did another one a weekend ago. It is back to normal charges and discharges.
    No quick jumping. And I'm getting about 4 more mpg.
    If you have the money for the new cells, that would be worth it too.

    Depending on your finances, you could do both. :)
     
  6. psi

    psi Junior Member

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    I'm glad it's working for you! My issue is that it's pretty spendy for something that doesn't have a lot of data to back it up. I've heard a few anecdotes from people that started using it at 10 years and are now at 16 or 17 years and battery still going. But these batteries already last 15 +- 2 years without anything special.

    I can see that if your pack is throwing codes and you recondition, maybe swap a module or two, it'll buy you a couple more years. But will deep cycling the batteries really add longevity to a battery that already seems to last forever considering it's chemistry? Whenever you look up NiMH the expected lifespan is 3-5 years.. but somehow these Toyota packs last 15..
     
  7. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    If you only read prius chat, you'll only get a small portion of people using it.
    You should do a Duck Duck Go search for reviews.
    I have read of several people here that have used it and had good results.
    Mine is a 2010 that is about to turn 285,000 miles in about 30 miles.

    It has definitly worked for me. If the car was at 3 bars the night before, half the time
    it would be at 2 bars the next morning. And it would take a very long time to charge up
    to 3 bars, then quickly get to 80%. And it would drop from 3 bars to 2 very quickly.
    Charging/discharging was very erratic. I could not drive very far in ev mode.

    Last year after doing the 3 discharges and 4 charges there was a huge change in
    the battery and how it charge/discharge cycles.
    The last month or so I noticed it starting ot repeat what it was doing last year.
    I did the complete cycle again.
    I've gone 1200 miles and have goten 4 more mpg.

    I can only speak from my experience with it, and it is worth the money and time.

    How are you going to charge and balance your packs? One at a time?

     
  8. psi

    psi Junior Member

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    I guess I should search for more anecdotes about it. It doesn't help that there are so few reviews on the Prolong site itself.

    My skepticism has been increased due to all the negative reports about Greenbean and other 'reconditioned batteries'. These places basically seem like a Ponzi scheme. You pay $1600 for a lifetime warranty and give them your battery in exchange for someone else's pack that has probably been cycled on a Prolong system. It usually dies, possibly within months or maybe you get a year or two. Either way the company is betting that eventually you sell the car or it gets junked and they stop having to provide you with warranty cores. Their only cost is that of the installation and time to recondition the packs they get for free. People seem to get awful mpg for the rest of the vehicle's life so it's basically just sort of managing to trick the ECU to continue driving on a barely functioning pack.
     
  9. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    My opinion is that these companies get the cheapest batteries and gamble that they will last
    for a long time. The cells were probably bad, or too weak to be revived.
    You can't really judge it by them.
    If you know the cells, you should know if they are savable or not.

    My personal opinion is, if it's a one time thing. Buy a new battery. Then sell the others.
    If you are trying to save some money, try to pick the best cells and run the prolong system
    and hope it works.

    You can always sell the prolong system if you are not happy with it.
     
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