What's the best way to get a battery these days? I do see Green Bean offering a sodium battery for around $2k, but lots of unhappy customers. I do see people selling batteries on EBAY for about $850 "remanufactured". What has anyone done with refurbished batteries and how did they work out? I do remember there was a lithium battery, but it seems that didn't make it. All the latest/greatest batteries seem to have no supply, which tells me they really don't work well enough. Just curious to here perspectives. Assume your battery needs replacement today. What do you do?
I personally would search for a junkyard deal. One good option would be something like my scrapped 2017 Prius Two that had the NiMH battery but was scrapped at 50K miles. The Prius One and Two (not Two Eco) had NiMH batteries. I do not know how that translated to the later Gen 4 Trim names.
I wouldn't go refurbished personally. For new, be it OEM or otherwise, make sure you get at least a 3yr warranty with it.
NexPower sent me an email today. They are now offering the sodium chemistry battery for $1900. One year warranty for a self install. States that Gen 3 requires GT3 solution, whatever that means. I would suspect it means I'd have to pay more for my 2015.
After cleaning my EGR/Manifold/PCV system my mileage recovered. Got 50.9 mpg today. I have a Gen 3 trim 5 with the bigger tires, That cuts 3 or 4 mpg off according to Tampa Hybrid. I'm cleaning my fan and holding off on the battery until I get codes.
greenbean was horrible! They were selling "used" batteries. But they finally got wise and went with Sodium Ion. Which is the way to go. No issues with the heat or cold. Mine was same as a normal day when it was in the upper 20's for a few days. The charge/discharge didn't change and it held the charge during the cold weather. It is something you can do yourself. Lithium batteries are good, unless it gets very cold out. Or they get wet... The sodium ion is a much lighter, stronger, and safer battery.
This is what I do. I have almost exactly the same thing you do - a 2017 Prius battery from a front-end collision with 44k miles. I paid $720.
