Toyota hybrid battery replacement costs
Still leaving all others in the dustThere are now hundreds of thousands of Toyota Prius hybrids on the roads of America, and a number of them have had their battery warranties expire, particularly first generation Prii. So, if the battery goes out, how much will it cost to replace? $2,299 according to AutoWeek, a reduction of almost $700 compared to the costs of such batteries just a couple of months ago.
Second generation Prius hybrids should still be under warranty, but if the battery does need to be replaced, it would cost $2,588.
Labels: toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:22 AM
11 Comments:
I've heard that usually you don't have to replace the whole battery pack, only certain cells. I am not sure how it is true regarding an 8-years old car.
well, it's been a pretty rare occurrence.
in theory you wouldn't always have to replace the whole battery, but that assumes that those changing the battery know what they are doing.
thus far, automakers have preferred that the whole pack be replaced as its simpler and more easy to guarantee.
the long term future does, however, appear focused on making modularization easier.
Hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new car.
If you already own it.
If you're buying it used, it depends on what price you buy it for. Resale value has been pretty damn high on used Prii.
Might also be a good way to salvage a Prius.
But if you must buy a whole battery, that will be a big shock to someones finances! But I guess not as big of a shock if you tally up the fuel you will be saving with a hybrid.
But if you must buy a whole battery, that will be a big shock to someones finances! But I guess not as big of a shock if you tally up the fuel you will be saving with a hybrid.
It's not as if most need to buy a new battery. There are many older hybrids out there now with several hundred thousand miles on them that still haven't needed a replacement.
Are you kidding, that price is so reasonable. When i first got the car in 2007, everyone was telling me a new battery was like $9k, brand-new OEM. <$3k is a good price for a battery that will never need replacement unless you are pushing past 200k miles. I believe there are two high-mileage Prius taxicabs in Australia that had their batteries replaced @ something like 200k-300k miles. That's not bad at all. Heck, why not just get a plug-in kit at that mileage and replace the stock battery with a much larger pack? A coworker managed to get a hold of some used battery packs from totalled cars and is trying to rig up a custom do-it-yourself plug-in, should be interesting to see what comes out of it. The packs he got were less than $600 total.
It's amazing how many misconceptions there are about the Prius...
Agreed, AH. Hybrid cars have thus far been extremely reliable, and battery problems have been a non-issue.
Part of the beauty of hybrids so far is that they don't heavily rely on batteries; the gas motor is always there to pick up the output difference between driving demand and electric motor output instead of just dumping more current on the power inverter and electric motor. This has allowed Toyota and Honda to tightly and carefully monitor their battery packs and reduce strain. Toyota in fact doesn't even allow the Prius' hybrid system to use the majority of the battery pack's capacity; only about 40% is used. This significantly increases the battery life. With pure EV's, the batteries are forced to undergo deep discharge cycles which stress the batteries, so even with careful battery management the pack isn't going to last as long as if the same pack is used in a hybrid.
One step at a time to the "perfect" automotive battery, depending on your application (range/size/weight/cost/charge time).
Given what is possible with the existing prius generation in terms of plug-in capability, I can't wait to see what is on the horizon 5 years from now (in the <$30k market).
I just hope dropping gas prices - the calm before the storm in my opinion - and this recession don't slow these next gen hybrids too much.
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