Hi all, I am dealing with a possible failure of my 2005 Gen 2 hybrid battery. The car has 190,000 miles on it. I replaced the hybrid battery in late 2017 with a reconditioned 2013 battery from Electron Automotive in Anaheim, and it has done very well until now. I'm not going to do the install myself, so that should eliminate a lot of options. I'm located in Los Angeles. OPTIONS: 1. Going back to Electron. I am not unhappy with the life of my current battery from them, which lasted 8 years. Electron now sells these brand new CYLINDRICAL CELL BATTERIES, which they apparently make themselves, and which run around $2700. Electron claims they are at least as good as OEM, if not better. Any thoughts on this? 2. Could get a Toyota OEM battery installed. 3. Get someone who can repair/replace bad cells in my current battery? (I'm not too inclined to do this). 4. Other suggestions welcome.
8 years is good, I only got 5 out of a round D-cell conversion. $2700 is too much for a round cell conversion, they are usually around $1500-$1700 The best bang for the buck, IMHO, buy this new OEM Toyota battery, the case does not fit your Prius, you're just using the cells, and have a hybrid shop swap the cells into your case. G9510-47063, this is the Toyota part number, search and find a dealer near you, it's around $1600, not all dealers have this price. And it's better to pick it up, shipping is expensive if they even do it. And make sure they take a core like you have, that's been reconditioned.
Ask Electron if they'll put their money where their mouth is and give you a federally mandated new battery pack OEM warranty - 8 year or 100K miles. It is a new pack after all and they claim it's as good or better than OEM; so back it up!!!! Historically cylindrical modules hasn't held up as well as the OEM Toyota packs. Rebuilds has also been a 'crap-shoot'; you've been rather lucky with yours. IMHO; the Toyota OEM packs have a proven track record and will likely be the last pack you put in that car. YMMV
NexPower? I have no first hand knowlegde of these guys but sodium-ion batteries are an option. There's a few posts about this product and I have not read anything negative but prevoius products and the owners customer service has drawn criticism.
