Hybrid Car Battery Packs

By Colin Jones

Those (thinking about|considering buying a hybrid car may be more than a little concerned about what lies under the bonnet. Hybrid cars have partially battery-powered engines. Since a battery powered motors is not something that typically springs to mind when people think about what is driving a car, it's a good idea to get an understanding of hybrid car battery packs. You will find a few facts about them underneath.

Hybrid car battery packs do not require to be replaced like flashlight batteries do. They are made to last over the lifetime of the vehicle, 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 it probably will last even longer than that.

The toxicity of hybrid car battery packs is a concern, but not a major problem, because 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 correctly, but the NiMH batteries that are used in hybrid car battery packs are safe and fully recyclable.

Hybrid car battery packs contain hundreds and hundreds of cells. Several hundreds of cells means that hybrid cars have a complex battery beneath their hoods, and, it is true, complexity usually means expensive, but with the generous warranty hybrid car manufacturers are giving on these cars, there is very little risk of additional massive expense from the battery pack involved in purchasing a hybrid car.

The number of hybrid car battery pack failures reported has been really very low. When I say low, I mean negligible. If failure does happen, it is usually before the hybrid car even leaves the lot. Toyota has even said that some of its first Prius hybrid models have battery packs that have gone more than 300,000 miles.

The cost of replacing hybrid car battery packs isn't really even a problem. It isn't a problem because the hybrid car battery packs are made to last. The Department of Energy looked into hybrid cars, but stopped 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 being developed very quickly. If we look into the near future, we can see the next generation of hybrid car batteries is already in development. The goal is, naturally, to discover a technology that gives lots of power, lasts for the hybrid car's lifetime, and costs less to make than it does today.

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. - 21396

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