Hybrid Car Battery Packs

Those considering purchasing a hybrid car may be more than a little worried about what lies under the hood. Hybrid cars have partially battery-powered engines. Since a battery powered engines is not something that typically comes to mind when you think about what is powering a car, it's a good idea to get some sort of an understanding of hybrid car battery packs. You will find a few salient details about them below.

Hybrid car battery packs do not need to be replaced like torch batteries do. They are made to last over the lifetime of the car, and therefore, a hybrid car's guarantee covers the battery pack for a time period that runs between eight and ten years.

In terms of mileage, a hybrid car battery pack is expected to last between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, and the odds are that it will probably last even longer than that.

The toxicity of hybrid car battery packs is a worry, but not a major problem, since hybrid car batteries use NiMH batteries, not the cheaper rechargeable nickel cadmium ones.

Nickel cadmium batteries can be detrimental to the environment if not disposed of professionally, but the NiMH batteries that are sold in hybrid car battery packs are very safe and fully recyclable.

Hybrid car battery packs contain hundreds of cells. Hundreds of cells means that hybrid cars have a complex battery under their hoods and complexity does usually mean expensive, but with the generous warranty hybrid car manufacturers are giving on their vehicles, there is little risk of additional massive expense from the hybrid car battery pack involved in the purchase of a hybrid car.

The number of hybrid car battery pack failures has been really low. When I say low, I mean negligible. If failure does happen, it's usually before the hybrid car even leaves the forecourt. Toyota has even declared that some of its original Prius hybrid models have battery packs that have gone over 300,000 miles.

The cost of renewing hybrid car battery packs isn't really an issue either. It isn't an issue because hybrid car battery packs are made for longevity.

The Department of Energy looked into hybrid cars, but halted its tests when the capacity of the hybrid car battery pack was determined to be "just like new" after 160,000 miles. So, very few people really seem to know for sure what it costs to replace hybrid car battery packs except the manufacturers.

Hybrid car battery packs are evolving quickly too, so, if we look into the future, we see the next generation of hybrid car batteries is already in development. The goal is, of course, to discover a technology that gives lots of power, lasts for the hybrid car's lifetime, and costs less to make than it does now.

If your hybrid car battery pack does run out, there is a solution. Toyota has put out some advice on what to do if your hybrid battery should run out after the warranty has ended.

The advice is to have the battery reconditioned. This solution works well because if something goes wrong, the problem usually lies within only one of the 28 modules that the battery is made up of.

So, if you simply replace the problematic module with one that matches the chemistry of the other 27 modules, your hybrid car's battery should be back in good shape. You can find a match by getting a battery pack from another car that has a similar mileage and age.