Here is my story from my 2012 Volt, bought used in 2020 at the 8 year/100k mile mark: Being in this exact situation with a previous hybrid I've owned (2012 Volt), this is definitely a sore spot like many on this forum said (yes, I did a search). I spent $10k+ to have the dealer replace the hybrid battery just to find that the reman packs don't have as "tightly balanced" cells as the OEM pack, even though both were from the same manufacturer (GM vs. ACDelco). So range wasn't as good as the OE pack, I had to pay the tow bill ($250+) when I got the dreaded CEL + limp mode of death (not gonna chance it driving 100+ miles to my dealer at 5mph especially in the snow), and when all was said and done, I paid 2x for the price of the vehicle just to have more problems down the road. I think there are reputable places like Greentec who will rebuild packs for less, but I was in a bind (had to get to work), so just went with the closest option. Looking back, I'd probably be better off if I scrapped the car, but I had just bought it, it meant a lot to me to save energy, and I'd hate to see my $10k purchase go to waste right after I bought it from the used car dealer. So with that all said and done, what's the chance of a HV battery failure on my 2017 after the 10 year / 150k mile mark? I'm at 9 years and 106.5k, but don't want the 10th year and 150k to creep up fast (I do a lot of highway driving) and not be ready for an HV battery replacement... Just bought this car a few months ago and don't want to repeat history just like my 2012 Volt did right after the battery warranty expired. Thanks!
Toyota has a great track record on their traction packs; as long as they haven't been abused. ie. an extremely low mileage Prius; was it stored properly; per OEM recommendations. IMHO; that traction pack needs to charge and discharge regularly to remain healthy. There's the Dr Prius app that'll give you an idea of the packs status; but it's almost a 10 year old car with unknown abuses in it's history - that's why your getting the discount. Nobody said that being green is going to be cheap. Except; those who are salesman and don't crunch the numbers. Even rebuilt Toyota traction packs gets a bad rap. Think about it; the rebuilt pack is mixing old with older or maybe some newer batteries - that's why they don't last. A Toyota OEM rebuilt pack gets ALL brand new, same age batteries - not a mash-up. Those that has gone with something like the Greentec mash-up reports issues later on. Those that went with the OEM replacement don't seem to have issues later on. Toyota gave 2020+ Priuses a 10yr 150K traction battery warranty. They only give an extended warranty period, because they know the actual failure rate is very low - so it doesn't cost them anything. You can do your own research, but the traction packs that usually fails again are most likely the third party rebuilds. There are others in this forum that would argue that, but the proof is in the longevity of the pack's rebuilders and the warranty they'll give their customers. There are plenty of complains of fly-by-night rebuilders that disappear or won't honor their warranties and start ghosting their customers.
there isn't any testing that I know of, but around here, there haven't been any failures during or after warranty on the 2012 pip. I may have forgotten a one off, or two, and there's always the risk of failure. but overall, they've been rock solid, other than the typical loss of range the first few years. if you want to own battery electric vehicles beyond warranty, you have to be aware of the very small chance of failure. all that being said, I don't think there has ever been another Nissan leaf debacle
House fire; Chevy Bolt - don't park inside and watch it charge was the GM memo. That was those LG traction battery packs. I should've bought one at a steep discount; because they replace all traction packs with new on ALL cars - first gen Chevy Bolt.
Thanks everyone for the great replies. That is certainly reassuring, and I'll hold on to my factory pack as long as possible (charging regularly, not ever using full throttle on EV mode unless I'm about to get T-boned by a red light runner, etc.) I also will try to park the Prius in the garage as much as possible to avoid the elevated temps from summer. Anything else I can do to get good longevity from the HV battery pack? Still sad my Volt died around 8/100k miles and when the new pack went in, it never drove right, had nonstop CEL's and warnings related to the HV system, and I had to sell it shortly after for a $7,000 loss on the battery alone (apparently the rebuilt battery doesn't really add much to resale value, but at least turned it from a scrap car to a running car so I was able to sell the car).
You don't have to "baby" this car; it has a very robust EV system. This car will fire the ICE, if you put pedal to the metal. Just don't expect it to "jump" like an ICE car. You need to be in either sport or normal mode for it to behave more like an ICE car - ECO mode it's less responsive and you'll need to "time" everything, before the car will actually react. Whenever family is in town and they borrow the car; I always switch it over to sports mode - so they don't get T-boned.
I know diehard Chevy volt people that carry an OBD2 in the glove box; so they can erase the codes to get the car out of limp mode. Don't need to actually fix the problem; just keep clearing the codes. I don't believe Chevy is supporting the car anymore.
I’ve seen a few on the Volt forum do the same, but most bought their cars used (like mine) so we don’t know the previous owners’ charging habits, parking habits, or driving habits. Could have been left in 140F Arizona parking lots outside, or driven aggressively. Most so seem pretty happy, it’s those (like mine) that kept getting CELs and warnings post HV battery replacement that really soured the experience. Surprisingly I just posted in another thread about Eco mode; it’s one of the reasons I bought the car. Having owned some “fun” cars, I love that the throttle response in Eco is exactly the same as my Vette - cultured and mannered in the first half, power in the second half. Most 4 cylinder cars tend to give a ton of throttle with 5-10% input, then when you actually need to pass someone or put the pedal to the metal, there’s nothing there. I recently drove a 4cyl Mustang 6spd which I couldn’t take off smoothly - told the salesman I just “might be rusty at driving a stick,” nope - it was the super touchy throttle that revved to the moon with a little bit of pedal travel. I do agree though, most that drive other makes like Honda, Mazda, Ford, and Hyundai 4cyl cars think our cars are “slow” in Eco but it’s just a better throttle response IMO. No way, that must be awful. Mine would throw a code at random every few weeks to a few months. I sold it and had the HV battery heater serviced and HV cooling system serviced right before, even those things didn’t fix all the errors. Just throwing more money that did not really solve the (presumably reman pack build quality) problem.
