> What will it cost when (not if) the battery pack fails? Gotta be big bucks.
Like the brakes, the battery pack is turning out to be a lifetime thing.
Some people have experienced issues with the batteries, but it's
usually just a single cell replacement to fix. Otherwise, pretty much
everything about a Prius is recycled for other Priis. If you are
willing to shade-tree it yourself, an entire battery pack replacement
is about $500. Considering that nothing else needs replacing on a
Prius, it is a low-cost item. Besides, the battery is covered by a
100,000 mile warranty. If you are into getting ripped off, Prius
battery replacements can run around $3000, give or take. But I have
yet to talk with anybody who has actually paid that much. A newer
Prius might run that much (or more) in total, but that's before Toyota
picks up the tab for Warranty repair. Once you get beyond warranty
repair due to high miles, you'll more likely than not just replace
with a refurb pack.
The Prius does NOT use Lithium batteries, which is a major benefit.
All Lithium variant batteries used in street vehicles seem to have
about a five year lifespan, give or take a year or two. Most 10 year
old Prius batteries are still going strong. However, Toyota does very
careful management of the battery and generally uses a pretty narrow
range of capability. As the battery ages, the manager adjusts the
charge range downward. Toyota doesn't deep-cycle the batteries, but
uses something like 10-15% of the charge range of the battery and
moves the high-low points around based on age and temperature.
Hypermilers are the ones who are more likely to experience battery
failure because they are defeating the battery manager. We've got a
second-generation Prius (2009) that gets a year-round average of about
42 MPG. Down to about 37-38 in winter, up to 50 on comfy summer days.
It's most efficient in the low-mid 70 degree temperatures. Hypermilers
have been able to get 20% better gas mileage than us, but we prefer to
just drive it like a normal vehicle. Toyota designed it to be driven
normally, as though there is absolutely nothing different about it
than a standard-engine car. The hypermilers are also pumping the
airpressure in ultraskinny tires to insane pressure which makes the
car squirrely to drive and murder on the spine.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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