It was not until failures started occurring that people began to question why they were failing. When Prius and Insight first came out, there was not much data for these batteries over a long time. How do you service a hybrid battery? Does the Prius not maintain it by itself?Įxcellent questions let us unpack this. I know you are asking yourself the same question that I did when I was first learned about this concept. Here is the secret that every Toyota dealer will never tell you about your NiMH hybrid battery. The Secret The Dealers Do Not Want You To Know, Hybrid Battery Maintenance Ok, great, so every hybrid owner that has NiMH batteries is going to have a failure, thank you, Pete, I guess? You are darn tootin' you should be saying thanks because I am about to drop some seriously sweet knowledge on you about what can be done to postpone the problem for a much longer time. Now we know why our batteries are failing. Now all these years later, we are facing a memory effect. The thing was, the technology was still so new when Prius and Insight came out, we had no idea that we would be facing similar challenges with this new battery. This battery technology was hailed at the solution to the battery memory problem that plagued its predecessor. Luckily, we do not have to use NiCad batteries in our Prius, but we do have NiMH. That is the bad news, battery failure is inevitable and will happen, it is just a matter of when. This process is called voltage depression or crystal formation, and it is 100% going to happen. It is the same idea as our Prius traction battery. What would happen? Believe it when I tell you that over time, that bucket would start to fill up with silt or debris that would begin to decrease the capacity or available storage of the bucket. Now imagine that bucket staying in the river for years on end. If we start with a 5-gallon bucket, we have a lot of available capacity for use. In our hybrid batteries, we have a set level of capacity or storage that the individual cells can hold. Battery capacity is similar to this principle. If we were to go and pull the bucket from the river and pour it out, we would have, however, many gallons of water available to us from that bucket. The water flows in the bucket, it fills up, and then the liquid flows out. Visualize a bucket, in a river, filling with water. The same thing happens with our Prius' and other hybrids. The thing was, I never knew what caused the issue, so I never knew how to correct it. I hated it when my truck only gave me 5 minutes of playtime after I charged it for hours on end. Remember having an RC car as a kid? Then you probably remember Nickel Cadmium or NiCad batteries. The battery is made out of something called Nickel-Metal Hydride or for short NiMH. The science behind what makes our Prius go is the battery. Do not worry, there is no test on this, and I am going to give you all the answers you need. What Causes Toyota Prius Hybrid Batteries To Fail?įirst, we need to do some science here. Here is what you need to know about double the expected life of your hybrid battery. Then you can decide if it is right for you. I want to give you some free knowledge here that I know will benefit every Prius owner on the planet. Why? Because it is possible to keep your battery healthy for longer, and it is very affordable. I have been asked to be a guest speaker at an automotive conference, my topic? Hybrid battery reconditioning and maintenance. I am so passionate about hybrid battery maintenance that I am literally, as of this moment in writing flying down to Brazil. What if there was a solution to this problem? What if we could double the expected life of our hybrid battery just by learning a few simple things about it? The good news is this is 100% possible, and it is available to Prius owners everywhere. Neither of which a hybrid owner wants to have to deal with. Once battery failure occurs, you only have two rather expensive options replacement of the battery or the car. The sad part is this, very few Prius owners get their battery covered under warranty. Get it covered under warranty, replace it with a new or remanufactured one, or get a new car. We are taught that you drive your Prius, and if the battery fails, you have three options. The thing is, most consumers have no idea why their battery fails in the first place or what the symptoms are before failure. If you have read any of my previous articles on hybrid batteries or hybrid battery repair, you already know how critical taking care of your hybrid battery is.
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