What Toyota Dealers Actually Ship the Main HV Battery?

There are no dealers that are known to ship HV battery assemblies (Hazmat), but that could've changed. Hope they credited you back the freight charge. Which dealer did you purchase from, and what was the over the counter price out the door?

You might be able to find a a shop that specializes in hybrids that would be willing to ship a new OEM battery, someone like Hometown Hybrids or Texas Hybrid Batteries, maybe @strawbrad has some ideas on other options?

 

I'm curious about this, because when I was reviewing federal shipping requirements a couple years ago (due to mailing modules), I seem to remember NMIH rechargeable batteries were controlled under drycell requirements and were not considered to be hazardous, and had NO shipping restrictions. Granted, I am not a shipping guru, and it would probably take me a long time to find those articles again, so maybe someone out there already has this knowledge available?

Maybe Toyota considers it hazardous when they ship it to the US, due to being on a boat. But according to regulations, it is non-hazardous for all other travel methods once it's in the states. I bet, since Toyo has those stickers on it for the international shipment portion, the dealers just assume it's hazardous, when it's really not.

NiHM Battery Disposal, Recycle NiMH batteries

 

Again, folks... If you can please identify what region in the US or elsewhere you live we can be more helpful. Each state/coutnry has different laws regarding NiMH batteries and shipping. The main theme is long ago they were wrongly classified by some as hazardous material but the science proved they were not. Some regions adapted to the new information and some did not.

As for charging shipping fee, that sounds like a classic car stealership routine to rip off customers. I've never heard of a dealer shipping a pack, especially because you have to return the core in the packaging the new pack came in.

But in general, don't pay more than the $1640 price the most responsible dealerships are charging for a new pack and pick up your pack at the dealership, as well as drop your core off to recover your deposit at the dealership. It's a fools errand to try and transport a package this big any other way!

 

While Toyota dealerships may not ship them, they can be shipped, rebuilders do it every day, and FedEx didn't even blink when I told them it was a hybrid battery while dropping off my core for return shipping.

Note- there was a label on the cover over the connection side that stated that cover had to be there (the standard metal housing cover over the battery connections). Here's a couple of pics of the one I got this week from Hometown Hybrids, well packaged!

 

That's a rockin' shipping box. All they need to do to make it just a little better would be to add some blocks under it to allow fork access for moving it around.

Can you provide a closeup of the sticker in the upper right corner. It looks like it references some of the shipping info I was referring to earlier.

IATA Special Provision A67

 

Sorry, it's already been shipped back, but that label states "NOT RESTRICTED PER SPECIAL PROVISION A67 NONSPILLABLE"

 

Interesting shipping box design... It's made to be absolute minimum size to reduce shipping costs... Toyota on the other hand puts them in a plastic padded box so big that it barely fits inside the back of a Prius with rear seats down.

In general I wish everyone required re-useable shipping containers and we finally got away from the massive deforesting effects of one-time use cardboard. It's so wasteful and irresponsible to do that to the lungs of the earth. Future generations deserve better!

 

How did you get 20% off? When I go there it shows 10%. The cheapest I’ve found is 15% off at Marin Toyota. I’m in the bay too.

 

I called my local Toyota Dealership here in Vallejo and they said they would price-match Toyota Marin's online price of $1755, but they said they could not sell it to me without hybrid battery certifications. So my next step is to call and see if that's the case with other dealerships.

 

What do these "certifications" mean? Is that a state law or something they just make up to charge you more money? I've never heard of any hybrid certification laws in California before. Sounds bogus to me?

 

I don’t know of a California law that requires such certification, but Toyota’s standard for HV battery core returns (PDF) requires HV batteries to be prepared for return by personnel who have received certain Toyota training. Many dealers provide this service for their parts customers (as kindly mentioned in post #10: “they had to pay a tech to inspect the returned core”), but some might not.

 

Hmmm, that document mentions returning the battery to Toyota's HVBRC (high voltage battery recovery center). I wonder what Toyota does with them there? Do they recycle, if so do they recycle into HVBs, if so are these labeled as made from recycled materials? I'm wondering if new hybrids are being manufactured with recycled battery parts? I hope so, but I haven't noticed any labeling stating as much.

 

There are various recycling options depending on the condition of the individual modules, but you can be assured they are not recycled as HV (hybrid vehicle) batteries. There is more life in these modules after their use in an HV. Once they have reached true EoL (end of life) they are broken down and component materials are recovered for recycling.

 

A less expensive option for DIY is to buy @2k1Toaster kit of new cells for $1600 delivered. You then are free to sell your old modules to reduce your cost further. The link is in my signature.

 

My friend who is constantly modifying and racing his Gen3 at the track on weekends is getting a Lithium high performance pack from Dr. Prius for torture testing in July, so if you can hold out till August or September, Dr. Prius might have his lithium packs ready to ship by then.