Battery Questions (Warranty & Life)

The cost to replace the engine following a head gasket is MORE significant.
Have her read up on some threads about that....

Correct. (for now, AFAIK)

If it's like the wireless Priuses, a lot of pretty lights will illuminate and it becomes a 3300-pound stationary object until the battery is replaced.

Nope. I do not think so.

That depends on what you use to tow it with....but the impact will be quite significant.

You charge your battery every time you use the car.
That's the "hybrid" part of PHEV, or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
Your car merely has the ability to use an external source to charge it with.
As is true with cordless Priuses, your car's engine, regenerative braking and coasting will put some amps in the can for you, and your power splitter (CVT) will yank them back out as necessary and/or available.

My advice??
Sell the car privately if you think that there is any chance at all that your relationship with her will be strained if the car starts shedding parts and smoke on the road the day she buys it from you.

Failing this, I would give her the "family rate" - and tell her in no uncertain words that it is AS IS, WHERE IS - presuming of course that you will not feel put out by doing so - it works the other way too!

Cars come and go.
Siblings are more of a lifetime commitment.....BUT....I've seen siblings' relationships go pear shaped over more trivial things than a car.


Good Luck!

 

I believe that is correct. The warranty & service manual that came with your car will tell you for sure.

The impact of a dead traction battery is that the car won't go -- warranty or not. So far, I've only heard of two PiP batteries failing. At least one was under warranty, iirc. Most likely, the battery would gradually lose capacity till no longer useful for EV driving although a cell could leak or corrosion set in on the wiring.

There are other options besides a brand new battery from Toyota if it dies after the warranty. The main one would be a used battery from a totaled car. But my guess would be that if the car is still in great shape otherwise, a new battery is very likely worth the expense. Perhaps double the cost of a new NiMH battery in a regular Prius by the time you'd need to think about it? So far, Toyota's lithium batteries seem to be doing extremely well.

 

if she plans to keep it well beyond warranty, i would start contacting dealers now about battery replacement costs.
we haven't seen enough failures to give good advice, but they will surely be coming in the next 5-10 years.

agree with both etc and jerry above. any idea how many miles in hv mode? these engines are blown head gaskets waiting to happen aroun 100-150,000 miles.

 

Yes, subject to the other terms of the California Emission Control Warranty. As @jerrymildred kindly mentioned, see the Warranty & Maintenance Guide (PDF), page 25, footnote 2. The warranty transfers automatically to a new owner, by the way.

It’s difficult to find a current price for the complete HV battery assembly (Toyota part number G9510-47091), but the stack sub-assemblies, despite what’s shown in catalog Figure 82-01, Battery & Battery Cable, are supposedly available. The list price is $2,460 each, and you’d need all four (part numbers G9508-49015, G9508-49055, G9508-49095, and G9508-49135) to replace the Li-ion cells in the HV battery and restore its service life.

 

Are the battery cells the same in the current generation Plug-in (Prime)? My concern is that Li-ion cells have a shelf life - they degrade even if not used - so if the battery does need replacing and we end up using cells that have been sitting on a shelf since 2015 or whenever, then you're still not going to get the same capacity as it was when the car was new.

I'm hoping there will be more third party alternatives by the time the warranties do expire, as the cost of replacing the traction battery (going through Toyota) seems prohibitive. In Europe Toyota/Lexus have extended the hybrid system warranties to 15 years (if you get them checked annually), so they seem quite confident they'll last.

 

maybe not enough pips produced for aftermarket, idk.

another hurdle is the size and weight of the battery. diy will be a lot more difficult than the lift back

 

it's usually a couple thousand to five thousand, depending on where you guy. some just replace the gasket, but that can be iffy if not done correctly. most put in a low mile engine.

first thing to do is check the egr circuit and clean it.

 

Replacing the Traction Packs in either the PiP or the Prime as one unit, probably near impossible without a lot of forethought.
@QuantumFireball guessing that the cell configuration is different in PiP and Prime
Pip traction pack has 4 banks of cells at 4.4 kWh
Prime traction pack has 5 banks of cells. 96 cells total at 8.79 kWh and I believe the case is higher/thicker than the PIP's case.
Prime 5 stack sub-assebly Part #'s are
No 5 G950C-47030
No 4 G950B-47030
No 3 G950A-47030
No 2 G9509-47030
No 1 G9508-47230
retail price is $3336.51 each.

Since there is a question regarding the Traction Pack of the 14 PiP from daughter, and there is such little real world data to share presently, another option perhaps could be looking at trade in or sale value before there is any mention of traction pack issues.

None of us really knows much about what will be available in a few years from now.

2014 Grade A (not sure how that is determined) PIP battery assembly $750 San Jose


and there are 6 in Stockton 2012 - 2014 grades A and B prices ranging from $575 - $410