26 Votes

Boost it!

So Much For Hybrid Batteries Being Dying After 100k Miles!

Agent00J submitted on 7/23/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 5:30:17 PM

25 user comments | Category: New Cars | Source: | SOURCE: www.motorauthority.com

Worries over the serviceable lifespan of battery packs have been at the forefront of many critics dislike of hybrid cars.

With doom-and-gloom scenarios of pricey replacements and short service life, the pundits have posited the Prius’ long-term impracticality. But an Australian taxi outfit has compiled enough real-world data to put that idea to sleep.


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So Much For Hybrid Batteries Being Dying After 100k Miles!

About the Author

Agent00J

Life is too short to drive boring cars...

— Agent00J (View Profile)


User Comments

Lexus

Good Job Toyota

— Lexus (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:02:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

EnnNorak

Maybe the guy took out the battery pack, hooked it up to a Battery Tender in storage and ran the Prius on it's gas motor only. Taxi companies cant afford the horrible capital cost of replacing the battery pack. I would only take a Prius if it were larger, had leather and a diesel engine and no electric motor and battery pack to lug around.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 7:17:05 PM | | Votes: -9   

FitzLA

So much for proofreading. "Being dying"?

— FitzLA (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:06:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

F1_Driver

Hey! "All your bases are belong to us!!!"

— F1_Driver (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:32:04 PM | | Votes: 3   

gooch

Proofread, Autospies, proofread.

— gooch (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 7:56:47 AM | | Votes: 1   

Star

I drove a Prius rental for 5 days and never got better than 32MPG average. This thing drives like a KIA Rio and it costs as much as an Audi A3. Why would anybody waste the money on something like this?

— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:53:10 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -4   

daytonaviolet

I'll take the A3.

— daytonaviolet (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 7:19:55 PM | | Votes: -3   

Lemonade

Note To Star: The Prius is supposed to be an economical car. It doesn't help that your lead-foot really didn't help with the gas mileage. Maybe you're so used to drving all these high performance German cars that it's become habit...Or.. Maybe you're just bullshitting just like every other Japanese Biased German Fan-Boy.

— Lemonade (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 10:32:00 PM | | Votes: 6   

EL44

Star

why such ignorance? Even when you see the fact!!!!

— EL44 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 6:01:37 AM | | Votes: 4   

vman1013

I had the same bad experience with a Prius rental in LA. And if you consider doing 75mph lead foot driving then you're insane. Also, if it takes me driving 50mph to get those 50+mpg results I'll pass. My time is worth more than the savings on gas.

— vman1013 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 10:59:07 AM | | Votes: 0   

Lemonade

I've driven a '06 Toyota Prius (Package 6) in and around West L.A. and I averaged around 42-44 mpg. I would even go speeds of up to 85-90 mpg granted I wasn't flooring every time from a stop. The concept remains the same as any other conventional vehicle, it's the way you drive. I even drove to San Diego and made a couple of stops in Long Beach and San Bernadino and I was still averaging around 43 MPG at speeds of 75-80 MPH. Now, the Grapevine is a totally different story..

— Lemonade (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 1:37:40 PM | | Votes: 3   

Lemonade

**I would even go speeds of up to 85-90 MPH granted I wasn't flooring every time from a stop.**

— Lemonade (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 1:40:39 PM | | Votes: 1   

sector

"Maybe you're so used to drving all these high performance German cars..."

you forgot to insert "toy" before "cars"

— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 5:15:04 PM | | Votes: 1   

ktu01

You can't expect to drive a hybrid like a sports sedan and get good mileage. I'm no devout hybrid fan, but people drive lead footed on any car and wonder why their mileage is low, not to mention a hybrid. I've personally driven a hybrid for months (long term rental), and was able to get an average of 40-45 mpg combining highway driving at 75 mph-ish and city driving, especially frequently up/down the steep hills of SF. It's all about how you drive. By the same token, I've gotten averages of 28-30 mpg on a V6 accord (combined city/highway), but at the same time, also have gotten 14-15 combined mpg on the same car when I really pushed the car.

— ktu01 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 10:43:11 PM | | Votes: 1   

Threepoint1415926

Some would say if you drive a prius to get good mileage than you're driving like an ass by default. It's loose loose I guess.

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 7:37:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Threepoint1415926

Where did the op go? Now my message is out of context. Should have deleted mine too!

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 11:19:28 AM | | Votes: 1   

xj13

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

— xj13 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 7:07:50 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

truckmen

Good point bimmerfan25! But too bad that it has virtually no electric range, Although the Prius is the best hybrid that you can currently buy today. Just wait until the new breed of hybrids come out! They will make the Prius look like a model-T. That is a good batterie life for batteries, it failed to mention the price of replacement batteries. I would guess they would cost around $4,000.?
Does anyone know the cost of batteries? I won't mention PML.

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 5:17:34 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

09CTSVforMe

So much for "writers" using grammar after using the Internet.

"All your bases are belong to us!" F1 Driver that still always makes me laugh.

— 09CTSVforMe (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 9:57:11 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

gooch

Now, if we could get bloggers, posters and the like to use proper grammer and stop using "Textglish."

— gooch (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 7:58:28 AM | | Votes: 2   

supermoto

The cars in the article are less than three years old. An average person doesn't drive 200k miles in three years. It's going to be a lot tougher for a bettery to do 100k miles in 10 years.

— supermoto (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 11:47:13 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

sector

I'm starting to see more and more taxis using Prius now that should tell you something, also it's a hatch back so it's practical as well.

— sector (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 5:22:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

woood

"The only problem even at the end of their battery pack service life was a low voltage reading" This is due to the memory effect of Nickel MH Batteries. Those of you in their late 30s or older know about this in your old cellular phones before lithium batteries arrived. The old nimh batteries become less and less chargeable over time. But at the prius's 350,000 kms, it is still a great improvement.

— woood (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 10:51:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

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