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Gen Four Lithium Batteries in 6 to eight years.

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Technical Discussion' started by padroo, Mar 6, 2018.

  1. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    Prius Chat is filled with people wanting to fix their Prii due to nickel metal hydride battery failure.

    As we know all batteries have a usable service life and eventually the Fourth Generation Prius will be in the

    same boat. What will it be like when all these lithium batteries begin to fail and due to the amount of extra

    batteries in a Prime what will the car be worth with old batteries and high mileage.

    This is just a talking point and am curious to different peoples views.
     
  2. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    The original Prius Plugin has Lithium Ion....that might be a good indicator to watch. Not really apples to apples comparison though as the Pip battery is much larger than the Lithium Ion battery in a 'regular' Gen4 Prius.
     
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  3. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    Well, I'll have been driving mine for 2 years on June 28. By that time, I expect to have finally reached 10,000 miles.

    With a lot of TLC and good PM, I hope to get at least 12 years out of this Prius, as I did out of my Gen 2.

    I suspect the insurance company got substantial money out of selling it to Copart. They gave me $7,000, which leads me to believe the battery was parted out.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  4. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    I read that BMW are recycling their old batteries from the i3 into mega battery banks for use among the autobahns. The idea is that they collectively boost the fast charge to vehicles and trickle charge themselves from the mains when not active. AFAIK it's only in Germany so far. Nowhere else!
     
    #4 RCO, Mar 6, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Don't panic - "filled with ... failure" - not at all. The NiMHs have lasted well over the 10 years initially predicted - and, in reality, only a small number have failed.

    With your PRIUS, you're making considerable savings on fuel - I analysed it before purchase, and my "guesstimate" is that my PRIUS will cost me $6000 less than a similar sized Corolla in the first 5 years/80,000km. And the battery is under warranty for 8 years - so, if it fails the day after the 8 years, I'll be $9600 in front, and a battery will be small in comparison with what I've saved. Oh, and I'll have been driving a nicer, better equipped car than a Corolla during that time.

    The average age of a car is 10 years - & the attrition starts the day it is sold - yes, some are wrecked from accidents the day they are delivered. And accidents, hail damage etc keep writing cars off during their lifetimes - from day 1. Almost all cars get to the stage where the owner decides it's time to drive it to the wrecker - often the 3rd, 4th or 7th owner - some earlier than others, like those which had a hard life or high mileage. Eventually they're not worth repairing & get scrapped. I read somewhere that by 10 or 12 years old, only about 25% of a cohort of cars are still on the road - can't remember which country though.

    Yes, a small percentage some will soldier on well past, but by, say 20 years old, there will only be <1% of the original number on the road.
     
    #5 alanclarkeau, Mar 6, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2018
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    an old prime with lots of miles will be worth virtually nothing. parts car maybe.
     
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  7. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    This works out well for someone who buys the Prius new and gets their money out of it as I did with

    my first Prius.

    I feel sorry for people who bought one with high mileage and soon after purchase find out it was

    dumped because of a dead HV battery

    and spent all the money they had or even borrowed it and depend on it to go to work.
     
  8. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Same happens with any car - why do most people change cars?

    It's either because 1) they do it habitually and can afford to; or 2) they can't afford to fix it - so offload it.

    Anyone who buys any car with high mileage needs to know what they're up for - and if it's only a battery for a PRIUS, that's much better than to buy a BMW/Chev/Mazda & find it needs major brake and gearbox work, oil leaks (which were "patched" so the car could be sold - and lots of other fiddly things fixed as well. Get all that done and a radiator hose blows - destroying the engine.
     
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  9. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Individual used LiOn modules are already for sale on the market so I'd suspect the same "wak-a-mole" repair concept will be adopted too.
     
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  10. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    From what I understand the Gen 4 Prius doesn't use individual batteries that can be separated. In this video he refers to them as battery stacks not individual cells. See what do you think. It looks like to me if you loose a cell in one stack you loose half your battery and that could be the plan to sell new batteries. This guy in know to take things apart as far as he can and he doesn't do it on this battery. Probably a different battery used on the PIP.

     
  11. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    If you take good care of your car, it will last a long time. I was at Aldi and found an old Corolla parked next to me. It looked a lot like this:

    Toyota Corolla 1995 Chicago

    I'm not sure anyone would be able to keep a Prius running that long, but it might be possible.


    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  12. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    He says that TOYOTA will sell you separate stacks out of the battery - but there are businesses which replace individual cells with NiMH batteries - I'd assume that in years to come, they will be able to do that with Li-ION. We won't know for sure, because they're not going to be trying to set-up for it till they're out of warranty - which will be the end of the decade when the PIPs start coming out of warranty.
     
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  13. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    My brother-in-law still drives the 1996 Camry we bought as new. He has killed other cars, but not this one yet. It looks like the one in this link. :D

    Toyota Recalls 1993 Camry Due To Fact That Owners Really Should Have Bought Something New By Now
     
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  14. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    A friend had one exactly like that - till recently, when he clipped the back of a HiLux - the minor damage wasn't worth fixing. Which is often the case when a car gets older.
     
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  15. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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  16. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I drive a 2013 ford cmax Hybrid so it has a five year old lithium ion battery. it has 107,000 miles and it still preforms great. It actually has a lifetime EV mile calculator even though it isn't a plug in. It's done over 41,000 without the gas engine. Pretty impressive. For did a lot of research and testing before putting lithium ion batteries in their hybrids. Why Ford Chose Lithium-Ion for 2013 Hybrids | Design News
     
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  17. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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  18. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    My first Toyota was a 1997 Camry V6 LE. Great car. Replaced it with my Gen 2, another great car.
    Stupid reason for replacing it, though. The job I had at the time required a lot of driving and the drunken sailor who owned the company (who was rather a snob) said we wouldn't get the car allowance if our cars were 8 years old or older. Most of us had to buy new cars, and all the guys bought Stupid Utility Vehicles

    Replaced it with my Gen 4 after the tragic loss.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  19. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Odd - how can a manufacturer recall a model - there are still Model Ts on the road (verrrry occasionally). Surely you own the car and can drive it till it's no longer roadworthy.

    We took my late Dad's '92 Camry to the wreckers recently - it had a great body and interior, but it was going to cost too much for 1) brakes, 2) dampers; 3) needed new CV joint and one wishbone at least needed replacing - and mostly, 4) the A/C wasn't working properly. By the time we added a new set of tyres, wiper blades, a full service incl Auto - we off-loaded it.
     
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  20. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    For those of you outside the US, The Onion is a satirical newspaper founded in Chicago, hence the name.

    Chi·ca′go·an n.

    Word History: The name Chicago is first recorded in 1688 in a French document, where it appears as Chigagou, an Algonquian word meaning "onion field." In explanation of this name, the document states that wild onion or garlic grew profusely in the area. The name of the field or meadow was first transferred to the river and then was given to the city in 1830.

    American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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