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Originally Posted by clayton4115
Hybrid cars are hitting our roads in ever increasing numbers as purchase prices come down and fuel prices go up. But the substantial hidden costs of owning a hybrid car could make it a financial time bomb.
By Glenn Butler
Owners of 'environmentally friendly' hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight may be hit with a bill for up to $7000 when their car's battery dies less than eight years after purchase. The battery unit, which has a lifespan of 8-10 years -- shorter in hotter climates like Australia -- cannot be reconditioned. It must be thrown out and replaced with a new one, at considerable cost to the owner.
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You are citing:
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/car-n...=5487&R=ce5487
Can we assume those are Australian dollars?
Now I appreciate Glenn's concern. It was the fear of immenent battery failure by others that allowed me to buy a used Prius for a very nice price. Sad to say but the increasing numbers of perfectly usable Prii without battery replacements seems to be the strongest argument that the real battery life remains unknown and not defined by the warrantee.
Battery replacement statistics, at least in the USA, seems to be lagging. On Ebay, we are only finding them from wrecked vehicles. I would like to find a 'worn out' battery. Worse, rumors of batteries in landfills had me driving around with a shovel and the hope of finding some.
New to GH, you may want to look in the "Model Comparison" area where we have some fleet performance data for hybrid electrics. After four years and 160,000 miles in Arizona, a hot state, the cars had a small loss of MPG and the batteries continued to be quite servicable . . . but these are cars that were actually in service. In the USA, the typical battery warrantee runs 8 yr or 80,000 miles. The operational fleed data says the price per mile is between $.15-.25 per mile (US$).
It is possible that my Prius battery ages on time, not miles. Living in Alabama, I too am worried about temperature effects and have plans to mitigate them. But I have also noticed the price/performance numbers for batteries continues to improve. I am looking forward to future battery replacements with better performance. By then, the wheel bearings, suspension and 'soft bits' may have aged to a point that the vehicle needs replacement.
So for me, Glenn's FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) about hybrid batteries has been useful by letting me get a good price for my used Prius. The lessons learned are leading me to mitigate these risks and hopefully, achieve a substantial reduction in my total cost of ownership. But I'm in it for the long haul and would be happy to compare notes again in 2011.
Bob Wilson