Best price on new hybrid battery?

What we have learned over the years through anecdotes and data points is that:

Heat kills.
Hills kill.
Sloth kills.
Time kills.
Miles kill.

A hot climate is bad for the car all the time it is hot. If you live where you have a pool uncovered and unheated the whole year, expect an "early" failure.

A large mountain is bad for the car everytime you go up and down it. If you live on a mountain expect "early" failure.

If your car is driven for a bit then parked for a month often, expect an "early" failure.

If your car is 10-15 years old, expect an average failure.

If your car has 150k-250k miles on it, expect an average failure.

So a taxi cab in the Yukon that has 400k miles on it, may be just fine on the original battery for a while longer. Grandma's car that only goes to Bingo on Friday nights in the Florida retirement community should expect an early death.

 

Don't forget cold kills!

 

Cold doesn't really kill. It makes them sleepy. A really cold battery can't be used to its full potential (science pun...) but does no permanent damage. Once it's warmed up, all is well.

When I am saying hot and cold I am talking about normal ranges like -40C to +40C. Of course if you dunk it in a tank of LN2 all sorts of fun things happen that will most likely permanently damage the battery. And now that I mention it and having a large tank of LN2... I am curious.

 

Spend some time in Germany, during winter, use things that require batteries.
They do not last long.

 

Yes the capacity is reduced while they're cold. But it isn't permanent. I've spent time in the Northern Yukon by the Arctic circle where diesel to jello consistency when it's cold.

 

The batteries we used, didn't last long. Cold does reduce battery life.

 

@2k1Toaster works with batteries in his day job. I am sure he has research to back up what he states.

 

whatevveerrr

 

I'm glad to view this thread because I will soon be needing a solution to my project. Not to sneeze at 2K1Toaster, I'm thinking to go with what is least expensive and which yields the most prismatic modules to play with at the end of it all (if I should need to play with the chargers). I don't imagine that wreckers need any core return on a battery, and I might even score one with an extra battery ECU still attached?

So I Goggled "auto wrecking inventory search". It came up with oodles of wrecker batteries, in a wide range of prices. I will need to search which years and models of Toyota have Gen 3 modules that would interchange with my gen 2 modules (now scared of 2015 modules after reading this thread). So my fingers are crossed for a "fresh road killed Prius battery". I am fine with a drive to go chase one down over a few hundred miles since my retirement includes motorsports. The worst case: I sell all the modules on ebay before I try another plan?

Project 166k miles w battery code, order of approach? | PriusChat

 

Hi. I know nothing about hybrid batteries themselves. I do know eventually they will need to be replaced. Everyone seems to point at you. It looks like you offer a new pack for $1600. I've seen a ton of people bash Greenbeanbattery. Can you tell me why? Yes they are $50 less than you but they'll come and install it for free. And I'm capable of installing the battery so I can even live without that as well. But why I don't understand is that Greenbean offers a 5 year, unlimited mile guarantee on their battery. So, even if it is junk, it'd be their problem to handle for five years right? That seems like a fair deal to me but again I don't know anything about hybrid batteries so my question to you is, how long would you generally expect your batteries to last? If it's 6 years or more than I could see why yours are worth more. I'm just learning right now. I work at a local car lot and fix things up. I get to see and conquer all types of projects. But we've never had a hybrid on the lot until a few days ago. I've had a 04, 10, and 16 Prius as rental cars before. I have decided I want a Prius as a personal car. My car I have now is very high maintenance for having less than 70K on it and it's too flashy and nice just to drive home and have it sit. So I'm planning to find a Prius with a bad hybrid battery and then buying a new battery so I can get a deal and then also know that the battery will be good for a long time. Thanks.

 

Many of the used battery warranties do not include installation chsrges. You end up with an unreliable vehicle that could die at any time. Some repaired batteries have only lasted a few months before needing to be replaced.
The companies do not spend the time and money to properly match, balance, and capacity test each pack. There are a couple of hobbiests here that do take the time to do it properly.

 

Well I just bought a Prius tonight, about 30 minutes ago lol. And I'm pretty sure it needs a hybrid battery. I didn't plan to buy a Prius until I got my bluetooth OBDII scanner so I could diagnose, but I found a deal tonight that I'm basically going to assume does have a bad hybrid battery. I got a 2005 Prius with 183K. Vehicle was driving down the road and then it stalled and the triangle and check engine light came on. They thought it was a bad engine because the check engine light came on and it won't start up now. It could be a 12V battery, could be a hybrid battery, could be both. It could even be an engine, who knows. But I got it for $800 and it looks nice so for $800 even as a parts car it's worth it. I don't know if this will be "The Prius" for me that I'll end up keeping, but at least I own one now.

 

It could also be the inverter water pump .

Will it start up after sitting for a bit?

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

I bought the car totally blind. The lady who owned it moved and needed it gone. I'll have to get a car dolly at u-haul and rent a truck as well just to get the car home. The pictures off the front of the car is frost, not paint problems. This is Indiana where the weather changes every minute. A couple days ago it was 62 degrees. Today there is an inch of snow on the ground. I'm excited to dig in on this project. I'm sure I'll run into issues both good and bad, so I'll be posting on here for help. Thanks everyone!

 

Off topic, but is your profile pic a pic of a Hyundai product? Maybe the Sonata Hydrid?

 

Nope.

It’s me hypermiling the wife’s RX450h .

Got the big girl to 37.3 mpg. Definitely worth a pic .

 

Fantastic deal. I’m happy for you. As far as the battery thing goes if you had some Nicad battery’s in something that were old and not working so good and someone offered to sell you some other old nicad batteries that they “refurbished” or you could get brand new nicad battery’s for just a little more what would you do? New is always better than old, always, all the time.
Think about it. The car is 14 years old on the original battery. Green Bean is giving a 5 year warranty. What’s the better deal?

 

My last two personal cars have been newer Hyundai vehicles. Now I know who Hyundai copied their instrument cluster from lol.

I agree that new batteries are the way to go but they aren't a "little" more, they are a lot more. Even GreenBean batteries are a lot more compared to used batteries on eBay. You can get a numbered set of 28 tested cells for $450 on eBay but you just don't know how long they are going to last. I've found multiple batteries (complete) removed from wrecked Prius cars in this area for a good price too, but again it might last 10 years or 10 days.

 

New battery’s from either Toyota or 2K1toaster will last at least 10 years, probably more. You got a smoking deal on the car, go with dependably

 

I agree. I need to get the car home and diagnose everything and then go from there. If I need new batteries I would go with @2k1Toaster