Anybody know anything about the battery life on the HAH? My understanding is the warranty is for 8 years but they are supposed to last longer than that?

Anyone have better or more complete info. than that?

I finally bought mine tonight (John Eagle Honda in Houston TX)!!!! Woo hoo!

Thanks,
Wes

 

Nobody knows for sure because they simply haven't been on the market very long, but at least the warranty will cover any truly defective battery packs. I've read that Honda packs are cycled a bit harder than Toyota packs, but I don't know for sure if this also applies to the HAH or not. Basically the charge is allowed to drop to 20% rather than the 40% Toyota uses. This allows the car to get more energy out of the battery, but in the long run it may cause the pack to fail earlier, assuming shelf life doesn't kill it first. By the time the pack needs replacing (out of warranty) it will be pretty affordable due to increased battery production and better technology.

 

I've got to bet on the side of economy of scale by the time most of our packs are ready to be replaced- beyond the 8 year warrantee. The form factor, for now, is generally a bunch of 'D' cells packed in series. Some kind of non-OEM aftermarket will certainly develop for these once someone pulls apart a few packs and realizes that its not rocket science in there, but the control electronics & temp/ruggedness specs need to be just so. I'd bet well under $1k for the pack itself.

I am NOT suggesting that they are user-serviceable!

 

Darn, what should I do with the 3000 "D" cells I bought yesterday?

 

lol. I figured I needed a disclaimer of some sort... just in case.

 

Here is a link to a technical report on Hybrid batteries.



http://www.epriweb.com/public/000000000001009299.pdf#search='nimh%20battery%20re placement%20criteria'

 

These two '05 HAHs have surpassed 160K miles each and haven't needed a batterypack replacement yet. That's good. But it looks like they're about to retire these cars. Which is unfortunate, as it would be cool to see just how long they'll last.

http://avt.inel.gov/pdf/hev/hondaaccord_ar.pdf

 

FYI, for cars bought in CA, NY, CT and other states that follow CA's emission rules, the hybrid battery warranty is 10yrs/150,000 miles.

At the rate I am adding miles, I'll hit 150,000 miles before the 10 year mark (30,000 miles in 17 months)