My Lithium Battery Experience

I'm writing this to share my Project Lithium experience. I found it very useful to look through other folks posts so figure I will contribute my experience and try to update as I get more data with this new technology. To be clear, at this point I'm not asking for any advice, just wanting to contribute my experience on this forum for future folks who have to decide best option when their HV battery dies.

My car: 2012 Prius V trim level 5 with ~165,000 miles primarily driven in Maryland, USA.

Back in July my car first threw the dreaded HV system codes.

I panicked and took it to my nearest neighborhood shop (has a good reputation with my neighbors but I don't think they know hybrids). They charged me $130 and said they found a crayon in the fan intake under the backseat and thought that caused the system to overheat and throw a code.

I drove for another month or so before the code reappeared. I looked for the closest shop with some hybrid expertise to get a diagnosis hope to confirm whether it was indeed the HV battery going belly up. (Should have gone to my trusted shop from start). They charged me like $250 to clear the code and tell me they weren't sure if the HV battery was failing, I should keep driving and drive more often than I currently do and see if driving my time/miles per week would keep the battery happy.

After this less than satisfying diagnosis I finally wised up and bought a VEEPEAK OBD II scanner and downloaded the Dr. Prius app.

Two different longevity tests about 2 weeks apart confirmed that my HV battery was on it's way out. So, I started looking into my battery replacement options. I decided on the Lithium Project because it's much cheaper than what the dealers around me were quoting for and OEM battery and I hope it will perform better than the OEM. I know it's a relatively new option with little long-term user data so there is some risk.

I ordered the battery for Sept. shipment (had already missed the August shipment by the time I was ready to pull trigger). My go-to trusted mechanic said they would install for ~$500. I brought car and battery and they let me know once installed there was a bad cell. Code P0b6f was being thrown. I reached out to Lithium Project via email and phone and got a fast response. They got a replacement cell in the mail same day. They also sent a return label to diagnose the bum cell. They shipped the replacement cell and equalizer cable directly to my shop and once they got the good blade they were able to install and car was ready to roll.

Well, the HV battery was all good, but I did make a $300 mistake by leaving the OBD II scanner plugged in while I was away on vacay for ~12 days. That killed my 12v dead and had to replace that.

Now, I've got a fresh 12v and fresh lithium HV battery and that seems to have solved my problems. Anecdotally I do feel like I'm getting better acceleration, but maybe it's no more than a fresh OEM would get me after having run around with a failing battery.

TL;DR my HV battery failed and I replaced it with a Project Lithium battery installed by my trusted shop. Shop had an issue with 1 bum blade which Project Lithium was very fast to replace at no cost to me with 2nd day air shipping. So far so good but will update if any further issues arise with my lithium battery. Oh, and when I used Dr. Prius app to test new lithium battery result was 110% life.