http://digg.com/autos/Replacement_Hy...osts_Plummet_2

For people who may have been reluctant to buy hybrids because of an oft-cited worry that they would have to replace the batteries soon at an enormous cost, fear no more! Not only do nearly all of the batteries last for the life of the car (.003% failure for the newest Prius), but the cost for a replacement has just dropped by a significant amount.

 

Good find!

Any possibility of hunting down the original Newsweek article? That would be a great addition.

Bob Wilson

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/138808/page/2

 

I hope ya don't need a new Prius HV battery, but metrotpn has them for about $2k. if we assume a 200,000 mile service life (I'm just sayin') then it represents 1 cent per mile within the total ownership costs.

On p.1 of the Newsweek article it says director of eBay Motors parts and accessories is named "Famous Rhodes". That can't be his birth-name

DAS

 

I had this talk a couple months back with a battery maker.

Toyota, Ford, and Honda need to "rotate" their stock of batteries just like anyone else.
Batteries go bad in a few months just sitting on a shelf.
So they need to move out any "spare" OEM batteries sitting around, and soon, since a lower number of replacements were needed than originally planned for.

Lowering the price is one way to do this.
Else, totally unused batteries are off to the recycle bin.