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Hybrid battery lifespan

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Misty fog, Jan 30, 2012.

  1. Misty fog

    Misty fog Junior Member

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    I've read some posts about the hybrid battery lifespan possibly being compromised if one frequently runs on EV-mode. It just occurred to me that during bumper-to-bumper traffic, it doesn't take long before the battery gets fully drained and will require re-charging by the engine. Sometimes this may take half a minute or so before the engine stops charging. While the engine is still charging, the car may need to crawl forward to keep up with traffic. This means that the hybrid battery's SOC may continue to drop below the ideal range of SOC that the HSD attempts to maintain. I drive mostly in bumper-to-bumper traffic, over the long run will this be harmful to the hybrid battery? Is it advisable to wait until the engine fully re-charge before moving the car?
     
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    No need to worry. The high and low battery limits on your Prius are set well inside of fully charged and fully discharged. The battery control system will not let you discharge too far, so just drive and don't worry.

    Tom
     
  3. telmo744

    telmo744 HSD fanatic

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    Even when low on battery, its SOC does not harm the cells.
     
  4. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    No, in your case the engine can restart at any time to recharge the batteries and will if the computers think it is at risk.

    EV mode restricts the computer's ability to start the engine when needed to protect the battery. In theory, (no one knows) this may lower battery life.

    "just drive it"
     
  5. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Heat is the #1 problem for hybrid batteries. Keep your A/C running. Let the car manage the battery. Even if it gets down to 1 bar it is still okay.
     
    dbcassidy likes this.
  6. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    I am from the UK, hear the EV swutch is standard on the gen 2 Prius and I find as soon as the battery gets down to three bars in EV mode it drops out of EV and charges the battery as normal. I assume it is much the same on the 2010 gen3.
     
  7. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    What about charge/discharge cycles?
     
  8. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    So with the temperature the factor in battery life. A Prius owner
    in Phoenix Arizona may have to replace their battery a lot sooner than someone like me who lives in the northwest were temps seldom go above 80 degrees, and seldom get below 25 degrees, with a average temp of about 60-65 degrees.

    al
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    When you crawl forward at the same time the battery is charging due to low SOC, the propulsion power should be coming from the engine, not the battery. SOC should be climbing, not falling.

    If you can fit a mini Pulse & Glide pattern into this stop and crawl traffic, you can reduce the number of charge-discharge cycles on the battery. Sometimes this is practical, sometimes it isn't.
     
  10. jcal0820

    jcal0820 the 'Stan

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    A sergeant in the unit I'm deploying with owns a Prius back home in TX.. His Prius traction battery went bad after only 100,700 miles. Toyota dealer wouldn't honor the 100,000 mile warranty on it due to the xtra 700 miles, but eventually negotiated to a half price, two grand, compromise. I thought the batteries lasted longer than that.

    DROIDX ?
     
  11. oldasdust

    oldasdust Member

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    Looks like 100 thousand is about the lifespan for the traction battery. If it can be replaced for about 3 to 4 thousand not bad. What kind of a car can you get for that price and possibly last another 100 thousand miles?
     
  12. SpikeVFR

    SpikeVFR New Member

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    normally they do, but there are rare exceptions. Also the battery should not cost $4,000.

    this sounds like a "buddy of a buddy" type story

     
  13. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    100k miles ??

    Nah, more like 150 - 400k, depending on use and locale.
     
  14. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    There are always outliers. It is a statistical thang.
     
  15. oldasdust

    oldasdust Member

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    150 - 400 thousand I hope and that would be nice. Time will tell when a large number of genIII's start reaching those
    Mileage figures.
     
  16. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Mine has 157k miles. It is still going healthy, been monitoring the delta V with Torque app.
     
  17. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    And if it really happened, we are also lacking essential information to judge whether or not the swap was necessary, or the result of repair shop ignorance.
     
  18. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    You don't have to wait for Gen3 data, we have significant Gen1 data (life expectancy about 100k miles), Gen2 data (200-400k miles expected due to better battery modules, warranted to 150k miles in CA std states). Your Gen3 has even better modules so feel secure about the HV battery to better than 200k miles and since you can get a rebuilt battery (see Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs) which should almost as long lived for about $2000 installed (but not at most Toyota dealers).

    JeffD

    ps: my 2004 Prius (gen2) HV battery died at 195k miles 21k miles ago. I replaced it with a ReInVolt for $2000 at my Toyota dealer in CT.
     
  19. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Agree w/SageBrush, at least on Gen 2, esp. given the 10 year/150K mile HV battery warranty in CA and CARB states. For Gen 2, failures before 150K miles seem rare. Those who live in hilly and/or hot areas seem to be ones that have higher likelihood of failure.
     
  20. vinnie97

    vinnie97 Whatever Works

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    ^What about hilly AND hot areas? ;0 Guess I'll be lucky to get past 50k miles, lol.