Thanks, Mr. Keith. Curiously the 2003 Prius battery that I heard uses the same number and type of cells as the 2007 TCH, is available at ~$2200, whereas the one for the 2007 TCH is being sold for about $700 more. Do you think it would be alright to get the 2003 battery and use those cells for the TCH, assuming it's the same number and type of modules?

 

Wrong on all counts. G1 Prius uses 38 modules, and they are shorter, higher resistance and prone to leaking. The Camry would cook them inside of 5 years if not sooner.

The reason the G2 prius has 28 modules instead of 38 is because they improved the modules to where they could handle more current.

 

Many thanks for the info, Mr. Keith. Just curious, is there a difference between the G2 modules and the 2007 TCH modules?

 

With the exception of the G1 Prius, all new Toyota packs that use the six cell modules come with G4 modules introduced in 2016.

 

Thanks. Mr. Keith. For 6 more modules, the Camry battery is priced at what seems like 80% more compared to a Prius. The friend with the failed Camry battery is considering GreenBeanBattery's lifetime warranty. I wonder how they can give lifetime warranty and if the strongest cells from failed batteries are put together, would it equal almost a brand new pack?

 

Yes. The Camry pack is expensive. I wonder that too. Dorman battery division couldn't manage 3 year warranties, and they had the backing of a billion dollar company.

You're taking hits off the hopeium pipe in your speculation. A used battery is NEVER almost equal to a brand new pack unless it's young and lightly used (i.e., almost new). I've had 10 year old modules measure stronger than brand new modules with the exception of one parameter. However, I can guarantee you those modules will not even come close to the life expectancy new modules.

You can't win with:
1) Age
2) Cycle wear (deterioration from use)

 

Makes sense, Mr. Keith. Regarding a new Toyota battery, I wonder if it comes in a sealed box at a the Parts counter and if the module serial numbers, manufacture dates, etc., are mentioned on the outside label. I guess Toyota does keep track of these for warranty purposes?

 

No. To my knowledge they don't keep track of anything other than the sale of the part number. They are trained to inspect warranty batteries for certain criteria to determine legitimacy.

 

Mr. Keith,

After charging overnight for 12 hours, the battery was stable at 290V. I then did a discharge test with the gear in N, but happened to terminate the test right before I shifted to Park and the engine came on at 40% SoC. I then let the engine run until it automatically switched off at 50% SoC. I now have the charger hooked up with 65W bulbs. Once down to 163V, I will terminate the discharge and let the engine idle-charge to 50% SoC and then gentle drive till 60% SoC as you suggested.

Attached is the report from this morning.

Thanks.

 

Would have been better to keep it in neutral and let it run down until the car shut off. You actually lost ground by allowing it to charge. Your discharge test looks a little worse because of the -dV disparity associated with forced 100% SoC equalization. Since many of your modules likely have significantly reduced capacity, their -dV response worsens the lower you go with SoC. Normal operation in the mid-range of SoC eventually normalizes SoC at the mid-range.