Honda and Toyota to lower hybrid battery replacement costs
Rendering of the Chevy Volt battery pack
As hybrid models such as the original Toyota Prius and Honda Insight get older, consumers are beginning to wonder how much it will cost them if the battery eventually fails. It's a reasonable concern as those batteries can be quite expensive to replace. According to an article on Newsweek, though, that once astronomical price is going down. Honda, for example, will be lowering the cost for its hybrid batteries on June 1 from $3,400 to $1,968 for the Insight. The Accord hybrid could still be as much as $2,440. Similarly, Toyota's Prius battery is down to $3,000 from $5,500.
The good news, though, is that the chances of needing to replace the battery in your hybrid is low, even after the warranty coverage is up. Honda says that less than 200 of its hybrid batteries have failed post-warranty, despite over 100,000 vehicles on the road. How about Toyota? Its post-warranty battery replacement rate sits at just 0.003 percent.
Modern hybrid vehicles are designed to minimize the strain on their high-power batteries. Battery management systems have been programmed to only allow a certain amount of the battery's available charge to dissipate, which greatly extends the life of the unit. So, when considering a hybrid vehicle, perhaps the battery shouldn't be too much of a deterrent. Thanks for the tip, Joseph!
[Source: Newsweek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steven 3:04PM (6/02/2008)
Looks like you got fished in on that, and you sorta misstated the facts... "Toyota says its out-of-warranty battery replacement rate is 0.003 percent on the second generation Prius that debuted in the 2004 model year". So, if the US battery warranty is 8 years/100K miles, do we know many of those cars would actually be out of warranty?
Reply
Mike Z 3:13PM (6/02/2008)
The real question is has the cost gone down, or are just lowering the sales price to overcome buyer concerns. After all, the PHEV Toyota is testing is merely a Prius with a second battery pack added. If they were able to lower the cost that much, it mean a NiMh PHEV Prius might be forthcoming.
Reply
Bill 3:20PM (6/02/2008)
1.3 kWh NiMH battery pack in the Prius.
I doubt pricing it at $3000 is losing money for Toyota.
Reply
Nathaniel Sears 4:41PM (6/02/2008)
any price lowing of the honda civic hybrid?
Reply
stevefazek 6:56PM (6/02/2008)
Actually theres tons of Gen 2 Priuses that have well over 150 200K.
Salesmen and taxi service loves them and those are HARD HARD miles
Reply
Dad 8:06PM (6/02/2008)
"Toyota's Prius battery is down to $3,000 from $5,500."
Cripes, the reality of hybrids will start to be apparent once you have 9 yr old Priuses lugging around dead battery packs by owners unwilling to put 3K into an 9 yr old economy car. And then consider the cost of any electronics that need replacement. Talk about increasing the cost of hybrid ownership beyond what is reasonable. And don't forget, the 3K is for the cost of the parts, not the installation.
Reply
Dan 6:19PM (4/22/2009)
Where can i buy the battery, or the cells to replace the 3 bad ones in the car? I have a 2001 Prius. The dealer ship wants $4000. to replace my.
Thank You
Dan
philmcneal 9:10PM (6/02/2008)
hm im at 190k with my 04 prius, i remember having a maximum voltage of 250+ something... at 75% S.O.C but now since my CANVIEW is dead, kinda hard to know!
i'd be more concerned with the classic prius owners since their battery is outdated and more expensive since the 04 + priuses batteries are smaller in design and probably of a new generation.
Reply
philmcneal 9:10PM (6/02/2008)
that's 190,000 km btw
Reply
paulwesterberg 11:11AM (6/03/2008)
If the battery packs were made of modular configurable standardized user replaceable cells and the battery controller could monitor cells and flag those that under perform then the cells could be replaced piecemeal for less cost.
This would allow the cells to become commodity items that you could buy at those roadside stores that used to sell gas. What will they be called in the future when there is no gas to sell - cell stations? charging centers? coffee shops?
Reply
...... 1:03PM (6/03/2008)
still think hybrids are a good idea? now you have to dispose of your battery's(polution) and produce another one(more polution). now that you have all those miles get ready to replace the gas engine too. time to scrap it and get another one.then you get robbed at the dealer again. do you really think you are saving anything?
Reply
will 1:35PM (6/03/2008)
my '08 prius in California has a 10year/150,000 mile battery warranty. I won't own this car for a decade. I may keep it for that 150k but by then I should be able to afford a used Tesla Whitestar :)
Reply
Sillycon Valley 8:18AM (6/04/2008)
paulwesterberg, those outdated gas stations with no gas to sell will be called "Battery Swap Stations".
Reply