In other recent news, it has been reported that Toyota was building a NiMH battery plant, and some seem to see that as a signal Toyota wasn't committed to Li-ion PHEV products. However, I think the construction of a NiMH plant is simply to help them boost existing product in the increasingly demanding global market by HEVs.

 

Hey Ken,

We need a URL on the original article.

As for NiMH vs LiON, I know enough about the different batteries to realize LiON takes a whole lot of extra care to keep healthy and alive. NiMH is realitive to LiON, as stable and peaceful as NiMH is to lead-acid and primary cells.

Bob Wilson

 

Here it is.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2317251,00.asp

 

In this article they quote the low May Prius sales numbers due to a shortage of batteries. They go on to mention that they only have 1-day inventory of Prius and looking at the current Toyota new car inventory. They only have one day supply of Yaris and two day of Corolla (their #1 seller).

It could be that the lack of the Tax Refund, since the TCH and THHII are both less than .5 and .1 day of inventory respectively.

 

I've noticed that at "my" Toyota dealer (which I pass twice a day on my way to and from work) there are no Prii visible on the lot. A few months ago there USED to be a supply of three or four vehicles lined up with the other new Toyotas, but not any more; not for several weeks.

The article is consistent with my understanding. That the problem with the NiMH batteries is that because they use a fairly expensive metal, they don't scale economically for large scale mass production. Small and medium scale mass production, yes, but tens of millions of units; no. Large scale mass production drives the cost of the nickel higher instead of lower and the battery cost keeps increasing instead of coming down.

Frankly, I'm glad I have my Prius with the original NiMH battery. I'm leery of the lithium batteries. A lithium battery capable of generating 300, 400, 500 volts and then bursting into flames right above the gas tank is a bit too reminiscent of the Ford Pinto for my tastes.

 

There happens to be a better Lithium battery for large-scale automotive applications with NONE of the inherent problems recently seen on the 'net and Fox news. It's called A123 systems.

Worth a google and a look. It ain't yer laptop batteries. Lithium-ion is so 5 years ago.