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Hybrid Vehicles The Great Hybrid Battery Debate
669 messages, Last post on Apr 06, 2009 at 2:32 PM
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 12, 2004 2:00 pm) Toyota will honor the warranty; it is part of the cost of doing business in California. |
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I'm an electrical engineer, and I did a lot of research before I bought a hybrid. Based upon what I uncovered: - the battery in a hybrid will last as long as the engine (~250,000 miles) - unless you abuse it (lots of stop-n-go) The reason the battery can last so long is because the hybrids barely use it. Lack of use = lack of stress = long life. Troy
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Replying to: electrictroy (Nov 16, 2004 12:16 pm) |
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Er, yes, but no not really. NiMH Battery chemistry is weird. If you exceed 90%, or drop below 60%, you stress the battery and cause damage. That's why pure electric cars have to replace every 100,000 miles... they damage their battery from overcharging/emptying. . The hybrids only use the "sweet spot" between 60-90% in order to avoid battery damage. They are only using 1/3rd of the battery, but that extends its life to >250,000 miles, and eliminates replacement cost. Plus like I said, hybrids barely use the battery. 10 seconds to boost 0 to 60, 1 second boost to climb a small hill, 10 seconds to slow down. The amount of time my Insight uses its battery is <1% of the total trip. Troy
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quote-"If you exceed 90%, or drop below 60%, you stress the battery and cause damage."-end quote If that is true, then my 2004 HCH is damaging it's battery every day. I drive city miles only (very few exceptions in the first 4 months) and my battery charge indicator is ALWAYS hovering between 5% and usually around 20% unless I get on a long road with no red lights and set the cruise for a while, then I can get it up above 75%. |
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The charge indicator is calibrated like this: _ 90% | | | | | | | | - 60% So you're only seeing the top 1/3rd of the battery. It's not really empty. . However, you are correct that city driving will stress the battery. Also the engine. And the oil. And the transmission fluid. And the exhaust/catalytic converter. City driving is bad all around. I recall my first car completely rusted out after only one year. It never got hot enough to burn off the moisture! After learning that expensive lesson, I would never shift above 3rd to ensure my engine got nice-and-hot every day & burned off excess water/pollutants from the oil/exhaust. |
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quote gagrice-"the circa 1997 Japanese Priuses would be all over the news for a rash of battery replacements. There may be a lot of bad batteries. I cannot read Japanese so would not know."-end quote Gary, think about it for a second: In today's world, news gets around. The Japanese press would have picked up on any rash of failures since Toyota is one of the world's largest companies - that would NOT have slipped under the radar. On top of that, with Blogs and how much focus people have placed on the Hybrid cars, ANYTHING like a story of that magnitude WOULD have come to our attention by now.
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