Hold your horses! It's not going in the trunk. My bad, I should have told you it is a 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
It's under the hood.

As far as the batteries, I wouldn't know, that's why I was sharing the Consumer Reports test. I have found them to be reliable on other tests and recommendations. View it as one more source of information.

So far, it works good, if the battery really is the only problem...

 

You are in the Toyota Camry Hybrid fourm.
Please move your question and post to the correct fourm.

 

So given that outgassing is less of an issue, the question becomes how will a conventional battery perform in a charging system designed for a AGM battery. The charging system is computer controlled and the inverter charges the battery via the MG. The TCH has a temperature probe glued to the 12V battery case to allow the computer to adjust the charge rate.
My thought is that Toyota engineers designed the vehicle to operate with specific components. Any alteration of replacement component type should be chosen carefully.

 

I'm very sorry about being in the wrong hybrid forum. I didn't have a question, just sharing and learning. Jim, I don't know how to move my Consumer Reports comments to a different forum, but if the site admin could do that as appropriate, I would be ok with that. If not, then thanks to the group for having me and please excuse my error. This is my last post.

 

Our Toyota hybrids do not need "Starting Amps" as they do not use the 12v battery to spin the engine so the Consumer Report ratings are useless to us. What is important is that the battery should be sealed (low maintenance and no acid spills), preferably have a vent tube (gets nasty fumes out of the car in case of a failure in the charging system), Have a high Amp-Hour rating (to avoid a dead battery when left unused for long periods) and fit in the space allowed. The Optima (and the OE Toyota batteries) fits these criteria but most batteries do not.

JeffD

 

I have thus far have had no problems in NC with the original battery in a 2007 TCH at 124,000 miles, still getting 41 mpg. These may last a good while for many.

 

Same here..... thus far no problems in Ontario with the original Panasonic battery in a 2007 TCH at 60,000 km (4 years)

 

81k miles Northeast US, 2007 original battery still going strong.

 

In another thread someone recharged the dead battery and got it to work again.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...battery-26706/

 

I still have the original AGM battery in the 2007 TCH that I bought on September 2006, and I have 102,000 miles on it. I'm in Southern California.