For Those Worried about Battery Life

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http://www.caradvice.com.au/14639/toyota-prius-the-taxi-champion/
Toyota Prius the Taxi champion

22 Jul, 2008 82 Comments
To crush myths and rumours about the Prius’ lacklustre battery life and overall performance, Toyota’s marketing arm has shed light on a brilliant story about the rising number of Prius Taxis getting around.

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Up in north Queensland a Cairns-based Toyota Prius taxi has recently clocked up 550,000 kilometres, the highest kilometres recorded for an Australia delivered Prius to date.

According to black and white taxis (the car’s owner), in the 3 years of service the Prius has cost half the fuel and maintenance outlay compared to other conventionally-powered taxis in the fleet.
So far there are 32 Prius taxis in Cairns with another eight already in order. Each Prius averages around 200,000km per annum.

“We’ve have had almost three years great service from it, we obviously track our costs very closely and our reports show the Prius consumes half the petrol of other vehicles in our fleet and also half the service costs - it is quite amazing.†Taxi operator Graham Boundy, who owns Black and White Taxis in Cairns, said.
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What about the battery life you ask? How does a Prius manage after 550,000km on its original battery? Not that badly! The car in question had a battery that recorded a “low voltage reading†which led to its replacement at 500,000km, Toyota says another Prius taxi also had its battery replaced after 350,000km. These are the only two Prius cars in Australia to have had a battery replacement to date.
500,000km? 300,000km? Both big numbers, when an average Australian car only travels 15,000km/year. We do, however, have to question the affect of time on the battery as well. Something not considered in this case.

“When you consider that the average car in Australia travels approximately 15,000km per year, the 350,000km Prius has crammed over 23 years of average driving into a couple of years, and the 550,000km Prius has fitted in 36 years into three years, which is astonishing.†said Vic Johnston, Toyota’s manager of hybrid sales and fleet strategy.
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Love it or hate it, the more familiar the general population become with hybrid cars, the more the demand increases. Toyota is currently having supply issues in overseas markets delivering an unprecedented number of Prius cars to customers.

“When you consider that the Prius taxis in Cairns are generating half the fuel and service costs of other vehicles in their fleets, the Prius is significantly cheaper in whole-of-life costs. That’s why the taxi fleets use them, and continue to order them - they are simply less expensive to run and maintain than conventional vehicles in their fleet.†Johnston said.
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The Prius has also won the honour of the cheapest hybrid car to run according to the federal government’s Green Vehicle Guide. On average Prius owners should expect to pay no more than $990 in fuel each year.
Do hybrid taxis make sense to you?

 

Toyota Prius Taxi Cracks 550000 km - AutoSpies Auto News
Toyota Prius Taxi Cracks 550000 km

turbox submitted on 07/23/2008 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 10:48 AM
from: ucarmagazine.com [27] user comments | category: Misc News




Tags: Toyota, Prius, Taxi, Cracks, 550000, km



A Cairns-based Toyota Prius taxi has clocked up approximately 550,000 kilometers while costing just half the fuel and maintenance outlay compared to other conventionally-powered cars in the fleet.

Thirty-two Prius taxis operate in Cairns, each clocking up around 200,000km per annum. Local Toyota dealer Pacific Toyota says it has eight more on order for local cab companies.

Taxi operator Graham Boundy, who owns Black and White Taxis in Cairns, received the company’s first Prius in September 2005.

“We’ve have had almost three years great service from it,†he said.

“We obviously track our costs very closely and our reports show the Prius consumes half the petrol of other vehicles in our fleet and also half the service costs - it is quite amazing.

“The Prius is also very suitable as a taxi in terms of leg and head room for both front and rear passengers, and in terms of boot size.

“In three years of driving it, I only had to turn down one fare for a group of four tourists with four very large, hard pieces of luggage.â€

Mr Boundy said he no longer drives the Prius taxi himself, but was so impressed by the overall performance and low running costs of the vehicle that he bought a Prius for private use, and another for his wife.

The experience of Prius taxis also revealed the exceptional battery life of Prius.

The latest Prius battery confirms the progress made in sealed nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) technology, which was originally developed for electric vehicles.

The Prius taxi that has covered approximately 550,000km had a battery that recorded a low voltage reading and was replaced at 500,000km, as did another Prius taxi in Cairns that had travelled 350,000km.

These are the only two Prius in Australia that Toyota is aware of that have required battery replacements since the vehicle was first launched in Australia in October 2001.

“When you consider that the average car in Australia travels approximately 15,000km per year, the 350,000km Prius has crammed over 23 years of average driving into a couple of years,†said Vic Johnston, Toyota’s manager of hybrid sales and fleet strategy.

“And the 550,000km Prius has fitted in 36 years into three years, which is astonishing.

“The average age of the Australian car population is now around 10 years, so the battery is lasting well over double that in distance terms.

“When you consider that the Prius taxis in Cairns are generating half the fuel and service costs of other vehicles in their fleets, the Prius is significantly cheaper in whole-of-life costs.

“That’s why the taxi fleets use them, and continue to order them - they are simply less expensive to run and maintain than conventional vehicles in their fleet.â€

The Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive used in Prius combines a petrol engine with a powerful electric motor.

At the time of purchase, Prius owners are automatically entitled to Toyota Service Advantage capped-price servicing, paying just $120 each service for up to six standard scheduled services during the first three years, or 60,000 kilometres of driving, (whichever occurs first).*

 

You know I had this conversation with some people a couple years ago, not about the Prius but the Jag. Within the first year of owning my Jaguar it had +35K on it, yet looked good as new. After 3 years it had 80K and didn't look much different, other than the motor. So the question was, which is worse, miles or time? I've seen cars with 100k on them looking perfect but only driven a couple years and others with 50K on them looking like crap yet driven for 10 or so years.

I'm pretty sure, as it should be, that it's a combination of the two along with other personal and environmental factors.

But the way this article reads, if I were to drive the average distance/yr my Prius battery would last upwards of 36 years, my nice person.

I know there are Prii out there with over 100K and running more than 3 years on the same battery. It's just stats like this that drive me to drink. False claims of grandeur backed by shotty stats.

That's like saying there's 120 years of experience in my shop, that one or similar bs statements gets used all the time. Fact is there's 15 years of experience because that's how long the most experienced worker has been there. You can't add up everyone's time and call that total experience. It doesn't work that way.