I prowl eBay for Ford Escape/Ford Escape Hybrid related auctions these days (a new addiction, like seeking higher fuel economy but with less justification )

Anyway, there's a used 2005 FEH battery up on eBay if anyone's interested in watching it and seeing A) if it sells and B) if so, at what price.

No idea on the nature of the battery, eg. what it's been through (though it sure is dusty!) or why it's being sold. I have zero ties to the auction or seller other than having stumbled upon it during my searching.

Just read further in the listings and noticed there's also a 2005 FEH battery "brain box" up by the same seller. It, too, is quite dusty.

 

Thanks Shannon:

The traction battery control module looks like it took a bath in saltwater from what I can tell. The battery doesn't look that bad, but if it goes with that control module, I don't think it's worth the risk.

GaryG

 

Shannon,
Thanks for the tip/link. The reason why it is dusty is probably that is was in a FEH that was involved in an accident. The company selling it has a "Quality Recycled Auto Parts" Guarantee just under the description. I've seen many eBay auction posts from them.

 

Has anyone heard of a battery pack dying in one of these cars yet? I certainly haven't. Even if they did, most of us would still be covered under the Ford warranty.

I am wondering what you could do with a battery pack even if you could get it cheap. Store it in the garage just in case yours dies and the warranty is up? That's 150k miles for many of us. What are the chances the spare would last that long. Any battery experts out there that can tell us what would happen to a battery pack being allowed to die a slow death in storage? Could it be resurrected?

It's nice to know that they are out there but what would you do with it if you got it? Unless you could marry it up to the one already in the car....

Now, if a good set of LRR Conti's comes on ebay, that might be something worth having a spare set of.

 

I should have posted the LRR Conti eBay listing I saw a couple weeks ago. I am not certain they sold and I'm afraid I don't still have the link. The price seemed a bit steep but the tires were apparently brand new, if I recall correctly.

And you're right to have questions about just what a used battery would be good for. I posted about it mostly as a curiousity -- "Wonder what this is going to go for, or rather, if it will sell."

 

I have done several searches on ebay for the Conti LRR's but have never seen any on there. Knowing my wife's tendency to bust a tire on a curb every now and then, I am going to need a spare sooner or later. I'd hate to have an oddball tire on there and definitely don't want to change two or more to non-LRR tires.

I have read of several folks on here changing out the stock tires, I'd love to get ahold of either a whole set or even a pair. Heck, I'd sleep better knowing I had one extra in my personal inventory.

As for the battery post, it will be interesting to see if it sells and for how much. If nothing else maybe it will kill the "$5000 battery" myths that people use to dismiss hybrids.

Maybe I should buy it and see if I can adapt it to my '65 Mustang. That 289 is a killer on 93 Octane.....

 

It depends on the chemistry.... and I'm not sure about NiMH. LiIon's do NOT like to be stored. They have about a three year shelf life whether you use them or not (the ones in laptops anyway).

Also.... As to where it came from... I wonder how many hybrids were on the lot in New Orleans? After all didn't someone mention it appeared "saltwater bath for the traction control module"?

I'd be very very nervous about buying anything right now until I'd verified it hadn't been underwater.

 

I'm considering a used FEH with about 25k miles on it. Called a Ford dealer here in Canada to get a price on a new hybrid battery pack and was told it would cost $14,995.00 CAD (that's about $12,670.00 USD), and that's before 13% in taxes. The used FEH is only $22,000.00, vs. about $36,000.00 new...

Not that it needs a replacement battery (and hopefully wouldn't for a long time to come), but it did get me thinking of used or non-oem batteries as a more affordable option. Availability is not looking very good yet and given concerns like the ones voiced about the ebay battery in earlier posts in this thread it may not be a good idea to buy a used battery anyway, unless you have some history on it.

I had read sometime back that a new FEH battery - from a US Ford dealer - was $7200.00 USD... does anyone know what the current cost is the US?

Thanks,

 

The price difference might be installation. Its not like one can just unplug the old battery pack, and pull it out. There are those freon coolant lines and such to deal with.

 

Actually the freon coolant lines lead the the A/C that is embedded in the left rear of the FEH. The battery itself isn't connected to them, the only connections should be electrical and the integrated ductwork.

However installing one still isn't easy. From what my father tells me there is a special rig they use to lift the thing out because of the weight.