Honda, Toyota Drop Replacement Battery Prices
Toyota and Honda want to drive down then total cost of ownership of their hybrids. Autobloggreen reports that the Japanese automakers are dropping the price of replacement batteries for their hybrids, from stroke-inducing to somewhat painful. Replacement batteries for the Honda Insight are now $1,968, down from $3,400. Toyota lowered the cost of the Prius' power pack from $5.5k to a mere $3k. (Or you could buy them for $550 on eBay.) Still, though, the hybrid manufacturers are keen to stress the fact that battery replacement isn't a common procedure. Honda brags that they've replaced fewer than 200 battery packs out of warranty, out of 100k hybrids on the road. Toyota says their post-warranty replacement rate is 0.003 percent. What I want to see, though, is what their replacement rate is during the warranty period. I'm sure it won't approach GM's rate after their problems they had with Cobasys batteries. But you know they're all doing it. What they're not saying is how often.
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Just keeps getting harder for the anti-hybrid clan doesn't it? Love N' Batteries, Bunter
Put a few popular EVs on the market and battery tech will march forward much quicker.
Steve_K: While I agree with you, one thing that I would love to see is a scientific comparison of non-hybrid ICE wear & tear vs. a hybrid ICE wear & tear. I'd like to know if the electric motor pulls enough load to significantly increase the lifetime of the gas engine. Maybe this will help dent the (possible) battery replacement? Also, what about the transmission? It will have just as much work as a non-hybrid, of course, but are CVTs known to have longer lives compared to auto slushboxes? As far as I've read, the electric motor should last the life of the vehicle, shouldn't it?