I have just replaced my '01 Prius main battery at a cost of $1900 at 5 years and 103,000 miles. Despite my best web search efforts, I can't find any other reference to anyone else who has done so. Happy to provide details if anyone is interested.

 

Could you share some details such as:
How did the car act prior to the battery failure?
Could you share the parts and labor breakdown?
How long it took to get the parts in?

 

> How did the car act prior to the battery failure?

My wife was driving the car at the time. She says that she lost power, many warning lights came on, she smelled a burning smell, and she was able to drive a short way afterwards (to teach a class).

> Could you share the parts and labor breakdown?

I'm picking up the car tomorrow from the dealer -- will post detailed info when I have the actual invoice.

> How long it took to get the parts in?

The incident took place on Wed, 13 Apr, and we authorized repair late in the day on Thu, 14 Apr. I was notified yesterday, Tue, 26 Apr, that the car is ready for pickup. The dealer _did_ say upfront that the batteries had to be ordered from Japan. The initial estimate was $6,200, but the service rep called back, saying that Toyota would "share the cost" and lower the price to $1,889.

 

Just $1900? That's good to hear! Much less than the $4000 figure I've heard floating around before.

 

Just made a quick reference check to Toyota site and the Prius '05 model at least, is estimated to *last* 150,000 miles.

Not sure how this compares to the Prius I model battery standards..

150k sounds good, but of course this is the manufacturer's 'bench test' estimate which is probably being liberal.

Also, of more interest imo, is how long an "Efficient" battery life-span lasts and if there are any company estimated 'bell curves' for efficiency life-span, etc. Maybe it doesn't lose too much however, as others have suggested a 'plug-in' type battery may react differently over time..

 

But it seems to make hybrids less economically viable. A Civic EX will last 300K miles without needing any battery replacements at all...

Battery replacements will be the death of the hybrid.

 

Eh, I don't know about that. As the past couple years have shown, actual cost savings are not the motivating factor behind hybrid sales.

 

Hybrids selling for $20k-$25k a pop and lasting 8-10 yrs even (b4/ needing a $2k battery mod) will be a viable ride. Def.

But remember, this tech is infantile still and is widely seen as an evolutionary stage to better low/no emission transportation over the next 10 years and beyond.

In the next 10 years however, we can assume that Battery innovation and efficiency will improve as well.

 

Sorry Robin. I am curious if the SSC-40G battery resealing had been done prior to the failure. Did Toyota pay, or "strictly interpret" the 100k mile warranty? $1900 seems less than the new parts prices that have been posted about, although I am sure it does not seem low to you. But it was a completely new battery assembly, correct?

I read of an HV battery replacement quite a while back (at 115k miles I think) , and the victim purchased a used battery from a damaged car and had Toyota install it.

DAS

 

A clutch replacement typically cost me between $1000 and $2000, and I've had to do that more than once in previous manual cars. But for some reason, people don't worry about that being the death of other vehicle types. I may be only one data point, but if I had to pay $2000 every 100K miles to replace a battery, that would be very much in line with normal maintenance and breakdown costs of other cars I'd had.