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Gen 4 HV battery pack modules are welded to each other ????

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by jadziasman, Oct 21, 2016.

  1. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    Don't know if anyone else has read this yet but Toyota might have made a drastic change in the way modules are connected in the HV battery pack in the Gen 4. Not sure if this is for both the NimH and Lithium battery chemistries.

    Here's what was in this article
    A look inside the new Prius hybrid system
    posted on autoblog two days ago:

    Electrical losses were also reduced: "Instead of joints put together with screws on bus bars and connection bars, we now weld them together,"

    If this sentence is about the battery pack, I don't like that at all! It might not be possible to swap modules in Gen 4 packs when the time comes to replace a failed module or two.
     
    #1 jadziasman, Oct 21, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2016
  2. MichelleStone

    MichelleStone Senior Member

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    This might also help the reliability. It's a tradeoff, I suppose. I'm just glad they guarantee the battery for as long as they do. That won't always be the case, I'm sure.
     
    #2 MichelleStone, Oct 21, 2016
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you can't fight progress. maybe by 2024, there'll be cheap battery swaps.
     
    #3 bisco, Oct 23, 2016
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  4. robsnyder20

    robsnyder20 Active Member

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    I think some of the failures was because of corrosion. I know there are a number of youtube videos of people taking apart the connections, soaking them, and putting them back together again for a cheap $10 fix to the dreaded hybrid battery failure issue in the past.
     
    #4 robsnyder20, Oct 26, 2016
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  5. GasperG

    GasperG Senior Member

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    For 95% people this is a better solution.
     
    #5 GasperG, Oct 26, 2016
  6. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    Of course you could always "unweld" them if you really feel the need to tinker.:whistle:
     
    #6 kithmo, Oct 26, 2016
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe "welded" is a poor translation, "soldered" would be more to the point?? (Maybe, just speculating.)

    Still, it will make any DIY efforts trickier.
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Oct 26, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2016
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