I’m waiting for this:
The hybridized version is said to get 37 mpg on the U.S. cycle and uses the electric portion of its drivetrain like a supercharger under hard acceleration
I’ve had some Priuses with near 200k. Still no hybrid problems
It’s actually a bit of a misnomer that the batteries need to be replaced at all. The batteries are made up of multiple cells. When they sit for extended periods of time (months and months) the cells lose charge, like any other battery. Being made up of so many cells, they discharge at an uneven rate obviously, and the engine computer reads it as a battery fault. All you have to do is charge it.
I’ve been looking for a hybrid with a bad battery for almost 2 years, still haven’t found one. And I get cars from auctions all over the country (just bought an 04 civic hybrid manual in philly a few hours ago, time for another roadtrip). I’ve found 3 cars with hybrid faults. 2 were Civic Hybrids, just drove them (regenerative braking charges the hybrid battery) and the cells recharged, fault went away. Never returned, been over a year still with happy customers. The other was a battery harness, common problem in the first gen Prius. $102 for a new one from the dealer, quick straightforward install.
Toyota put out a press release a year or two ago, saying that 95% of all Priuses ever sold were still on the road.
They were offered in Japan in '97, we didn’t get them until '01. Honda Insight hybrid came out in 1999.
This technology has been tried and true for over 16 years…
I have done quite a lot of reading in the last month or so and the only time that I’ve read about a Prius battery going bad was when someone drilled through the battery trying to screw a sub box to the floor.
In my 6 years at a Toyota Dealership, I’ve heard of two of our customers batteries going bad. Toyota replaced both, at no charge.
I didn’t know Jaegermeister owned a Prius…?
X…
you’re probably already doubling my power by the time you hit 4000 rpms lol, my car is still barely moving at that point
I got 40mpg today on a round trip to rochester on my civic hybrid 5sp going 75mph. I can easily get close to 50 if I drove speed limit and without a roof rack that im sure is costing me at least 1-2 mpg’s
When you say 5 speed are you talking three pedal manual trans? I know the CRZ came in manual, but I didn’t know any other Hybrids did.
X…
The 04-05 Civic Hybrids came in stick
Nice the diesel hybrid sounds awesome, wonder what mpgs it can make if the gas hybrid is rated at 37. Too bad we will probably never see it here.
Great bit of info here.
I’d like to come check out your shop sometime.
Have you seen any noticeable reduction in fuel economy for the older vehicles? Every rechargeable battery will lose capacity as a function of number of cycles, although I think hybrid manufacturers cycle within such a narrow window (i.e. shallow depth of discharge) that the cycle lifes are quite good.
Nickel metal hydride is a really great battery chemistry and shouldn’t be so quickly discounted, as it is in mainstream automotive press. There are some great reasons Toyota continues to use it in its traditional hybrids and why BASF bought Ovonics 
.
by any chance have any of the techs there forgotten to follow proper procedures when bringing the car in for work like an oil change where the car has started itself to charge battery after the oil has been drained? i know its happened before at smaller garages in the past where the techs werent familiar with the cars…woops lol
I copied this from an article about a Volt owner in warm weather…
19,938 of the Volt’s total 20,642 miles in 2012 were driven on electricity–a staggering 97 percent. Electric efficiency was calculated at 31 kWh/100 miles, and gas mileage topped 36 mpg on average.
That meant the owner’s total electricity cost was $371, and gasoline cost a measly $71–for a total fuel cost of $442. Cost per mile? Only 2 cents.
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Naturally, there are caveats.
One, 6 cents per kWh is a fairly low electricity rate–12 cents/kWh is more common–something the owner admits. Few owners will be able to achieve the same 97 percent electricity use as the Volt owner either, though some undoubtedly will.
i have full faith in hybrids, the only downfall is that they are absolutely horrible in the winter
most people assume no tq, but the fact is they have full tq as soon as you press the go pedal, that combined with tires designed for fuel economy and they are death traps in the winter without snow tires
I disagree. With decent tread tires, traction control and anti lock brakes: and full-a option 04-06 Prius, or all Prii after 07, come with VSC, which measures the yaw in relation to the steering input angle and compensates power and brakes accordingly.
During that huge snow we had a couple thursdays ago I was driving an 07 prius with 80% tread all seasons. It performed incredible well.
To the point where I’m scratching my head at your basis for that statement, and can’t express my disagreement without coming across rudely (which I don’t want to do) as it’s SO FAR off base.
(by the way. Ford and Mercury make 4x4 SUV hybrids for people who are “worried” about snow performance in other cars. Ford claims equal power and 70% improvement in fuel economy over the same model gas SUV).
Nickel metal hydride batteries approach the energy density of lithium ion.
Cory: I have noticed very high mile hybrids that do not get the efficiency that lower mileage units do: averaging 45mpg as opposed to 53-55. The battery still charges well as it is programed to maintain 30-80% charge (for longevity purposes) and the gas motor will automatically charge the hybrid battery if the charge gets low (from use without regenerative braking. Going up hill for miles at a time for example). But it did not use the battery as much, and the gas motor was used more (tough to discern if this were because gas motor was charging battery more, or just relied less on less efficient battery).
However I have also seen high mileage Prii that still get 55mpg. There are TONS of 10+ year old hybrids out there on original batteries getting excellent efficiency. They don’t like sitting for months, they don’t like only short trips. Drive one normally like anyone would (even grandma status) and it’s fine, and will last.
Hybrid battery refresh is in the $1200 range. We’re hoping to offer it within 6 months, and at a cost less than that.
Wow, I suck.
Okay I’ll try to fit in, my cluster instant readout says I’m getting 40+mpg. But only when I let off the throttle lol.
Pig 6.0 Yukon. I’m lucky enough to break 13mpg in the summer, 12 in the winter. My car gets around 22mpg.
I drive a 2005 civic with all seasons in the winter without traction control or ABS. Shit does alright. If you know how to drive and be smart then you can drive just about anything though the winter and be good.
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On road trips i use to get about 38/39 mpg in my 05 civic, auto.
My Prius has ok tires on it 50-65%. I had absolutely no trouble in it at all in the heavy snow a few weeks ago.
There is no way to turn off the traction control, so try getting up a slippery driveway in my Prius is impossible because traction control shuts it down instantly and won’t allow the car to move, sure at speed it’s great with the technology, but with having sold 50+ Prius when I worked at a dealer I can say that was the biggest complaints besides the lack of good heat/warm up times