Calling Hybrid Owners: What kind of Real World Battery Longevity?

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Sep 19, 2004
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598
Location
Tennessee
I just sold off my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Took her to 205,000 miles.
It was (still is) a great car. Original front brakes, (replaced rear pads at 157K), Original upholstery (arm rests showing wear). Most expensive repair was for a throttle body replacement. Still dependable (in spite of my son ignoring the maintenance for the last 50,000 miles!) No rust. Still getting mid 30 to 40 mpg.

Before you ask, I ran Motorcraft 5W30 Full synthetic for the first 100,000 miles. Mobil 1 0W20 the rest of the way.

My question is geared towards other hybrid owners. How many miles before the Hybrid battery required replacement? In particular other Prius owners. This uncertainty was the reason this car was sold off. I had been quoted anywhere from $3000 to $5000 for a replacement, old style nickel-metal battery. I was not planning to pay that kind of coin for a repair. I have read of the 2009 -20012 NYC Ford Escape Cabs going from 300,000 to over 620,000 miles on the original hybrid battery. However, I have no idea how long other Hybrid owners are getting out their vehicles.

The replacement vehicle my son is driving is a 2020 Ford Escape with the 1.5L 3 cylinder turbo engine. That ought to be a fun candidate to take over 200,000 miles!
 
2011 Prius, 215K miles on the original battery. Hybrid battery has been displaying signs of weakness for the last 1-2 years and occasionally does some rapid cycling of the SOC, but still works fine.
 
I have a 2013 Chevy Volt. It has about 147,000 miles on it. My lifetime fuel economy is up to 160MPG (I bought it used at 78K miles and the lifetime fuel economy was then only 62MPG). That should give you the idea that I mainly run it on electric, and the previous owner mainly ran it on gas.

It seems like I have lost perhaps 3 miles of range over the course of that time.
 
2007 Prius -- I had to replace one module and rebalance the battery pack last year at 245k miles. Like @The Critic mine showed weakness and rapid cycling for about a year before finally giving up the ghost. I had the knowledge and ability to refurbish the battery myself, so my total cost was $200 vs ~$1500 from a company like Green Bean or GreenTec.

Some folks have snagged brand new OEM Toyota batteries for around $2000. My local dealership wants $2250.
 
2007 Prius -- I had to replace one module and rebalance the battery pack last year at 245k miles. Like @The Critic mine showed weakness and rapid cycling for about a year before finally giving up the ghost. I had the knowledge and ability to refurbish the battery myself, so my total cost was $200 vs ~$1500 from a company like Green Bean or GreenTec.

Some folks have snagged brand new OEM Toyota batteries for around $2000. My local dealership wants $2250.
One of my local dealer accounts quoted me $16XX for a Gen 2 and $22XX for a Gen 3. When mine dies, I plan to buy a new one from the dealer.
 
2001 Honda Insight with 211K miles. No idea if the battery is original as they often went bad and were replaced under warranty. I can get it replaced with aftermarket for $1300 anyway. Gets 60-70 mpg so the break even point is less than 15,000 miles or about a year if you drive it instead of something getting 20 mpg.
 
Before you ask, I ran Motorcraft 5W30 Full synthetic for the first 100,000 miles. Mobil 1 0W20 the rest of the way.
Why did you step down viscosity after 100,000 miles? What does the manual call for? Did you notice a difference in MPGs?
 
I made 17 years on a Gen2 prius; detailed below

 
Minor error made here. Actually, it was originally a government fleet vehicle for the first 50,000 miles put on a Motorcraft 5W20 blend (according to records). After I purchased it from auction, I ran Motorcraft 5W20 Full Synthetic ( not 5W30) at 5,000 intervals up to the 100,000 mark. Mobil 1 0W20 from there on, up to 205,000. To answer the question, I got low 40’s mpg up to around 150,000 miles. Mid 30’s to 40 mpg now.

Unlike many of the high mileage Prius, it never burned any oil, and I never added any oil between intervals. That Ford 2.5L 4 cylinder engine is bulletproof.
 
2011 Prius here with almost 118k. No obvious battery issues (or high oil consumption) yet.

It's no coincidence that most of the hybrids we hear about with very high miles on a battery are taxis in northern states or Canada. High temperatures degrade batteries---and I have to park outside in summer in full sun in S.C.
 

Owners of PRIUSes talk of their 200,000+miles . 1st video begins at 23 seconds into the video.

2nd Generation :

1st Generation :
 
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High temperatures degrade batteries---and I have to park outside in summer in full sun in S.C.

The Chevy Volt has active cooling for the battery. I keep it plugged in all the time and once or twice I've caught it running the AC compressor and fan to cool the battery down when it's gotten really hot in my garage.
 
The Chevy Volt has active cooling for the battery. I keep it plugged in all the time and once or twice I've caught it running the AC compressor and fan to cool the battery down when it's gotten really hot in my garage.
That's fine, but what would it do if you lived where you couldn't easily plug it in?
 
That's fine, but what would it do if you lived where you couldn't easily plug it in?

If you live where you couldn't easily plug your Volt in, I question why you would bother to get one.

But if you did, it may run the AC compressor off the battery. I am not sure. I know that keeping a fully-charged battery cool is more important than if it is not fully charged. So it may actually run the AC compressor off the battery for that reason.
 
Unlike many of the high mileage Prius, it never burned any oil, and I never added any oil between intervals. That Ford 2.5L 4 cylinder engine is bulletproof.
My wife and I had a Fusion Hybrid as a rental in Seattle and were amazed at how much power it had. It rode great, handled fantastically, got low 40s for MPG despite both of us driving it like idiots. It was a great, great car.

How you gonna call out my gen 2 Prius like that? Mine proudly burned 1 quart per 750-1000 miles for well over 100k miles.
 
Got an 05 prius with 237k and one bad module. Replaced it and took it to 303k.

Had a few others. None needed more than one module.
 
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