Camry HybridDiscussion area for the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving Americas favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Have been driving ours a lot on trips, beach, mountains, etc. Have had it about 8 months, and will hit 20k this week or next. It has been a very good car overall
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2012 Camry XLE Hybrid-Rear Spoiler, 6th gen SE wheels, 35% Tint
I've had my 2012 XLE Hybrid just over 4 months and have just turned 25,000 kms (15,600 miles). It's been "hit & miss" as far as reliability goes but I have an excellent dealer who has been able to address and correct most issues.
On January 3rd, it will be a year. With trips to Colorado Springs and Sedona from Southern California, along with work commutes, I have 17,700 miles. Just regular maintenance at the Toyota schedule. So far, so good.
Hmmm- I think you're asking the question to see get an idea how long these cars will last (I'm thinking specifically the battery is what you're trying figure out?).
I just got my TCH a month ago so about 2,000 miles.
We still have my 07 Prius and that has 120,000 miles on it and going strong. That is more relevant to your question. I researched recently and it seems like the least amount of miles hybrid batteries are getting (in general) is 200,000 miles or much higher.
So, your 07 should last a long time more!
Hope this helps!
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2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE Clearwater Blue Metallic
I fully expect my wife's 2012 XLE batteries to fail through time as they will never fail due to mileage--we have owned the car for 7 months and we have 3,600 miles.
What I'd like to know is what actions are particularly problematic for the traction battery life, and thus should be avoided? Does parking the car in the hot sun during the day, day-in and day-out, take its toll? Does parking the car in sub-zero temps overnight? Does aggressive driving? Parking the car without use for extended periods?
It appears the battery is fairly reliable. We hear reports of people getting over 200k mi and/or 10 yrs use out of theirs, and only a few instances of battery failure under 100k mi. It would be interesting to see actual failure rates by mileage and time, but I doubt Toyota would be forthcoming with this sort of information.
Dealers are fond of telling us that the batteries are so reliable that they don't even stock a spare at the dealership. I suspect this has more to do with short shelf life and the need to keep the battery charge topped off regularly when not in daily use.
I'd love to be privy to the insider information surrounding the robustness of the traction battery.
What I'd like to know is what actions are particularly problematic for the traction battery life, and thus should be avoided? Does parking the car in the hot sun during the day, day-in and day-out, take its toll? Does parking the car in sub-zero temps overnight? Does aggressive driving? Parking the car without use for extended periods?
It appears the battery is fairly reliable. We hear reports of people getting over 200k mi and/or 10 yrs use out of theirs, and only a few instances of battery failure under 100k mi. It would be interesting to see actual failure rates by mileage and time, but I doubt Toyota would be forthcoming with this sort of information.
Dealers are fond of telling us that the batteries are so reliable that they don't even stock a spare at the dealership. I suspect this has more to do with short shelf life and the need to keep the battery charge topped off regularly when not in daily use.
I'd love to be privy to the insider information surrounding the robustness of the traction battery.
I looked up the nickle hydride battery cells but not as large as those used in our traction battery. The NiMh temperature range is from -22F to +167F and can withstand temperatures up to 212F. We are talking single AA or C cells here. Toyota dded to that for their traction battery pack, when needed is a slow turning quiet fan used to cool them even with the car powered off.
Any parts not in stock at our local new mexico dealer is ordered from a large warehouse in Oklahoma. If needed they can get a traction battery delivered overnight. The regular delivery takes 3 days.
The traction battery may or may not be charged after being manufactured and tested. I'm sure it would be down to 5% to 20% charge if you had one installed in your car. The battery would then depend on your engine running to bring it up to a full charge.
I read on some site that the NiMh cells are only good for 3000 cycles. Then if you limit the charge and discharge rates like Toyota does (20% to 80%) then they are good for 350,000 cycles.
They also mentioned the NiMh cells have some memory, but not anything like the old NiCad batteries. They did mention to recondition your NiMh batteries once a month.
I would think that Toyota has improved the cells in their traction battery and may not need any reconditioning. Reconditioning the battery down to near 0 volt charge and then charging it back to 100%. Doing this about a few times reconditions the batteries back to near new condition. Your normal driving with the traction battery running between the 20% and 80% limits may do the same thing.
I would still be reluctant to do the full cycle down to 0 volts on a older Prius or Camry hybrid with high miles on it. After all the two Prius I mentioned earlier made it to over 245,000+ miles before any traction battery problems and they were driven just like any other driver would drive them.
What I'd like to know is what actions are particularly problematic for the traction battery life, and thus should be avoided? Does aggressive driving?
I overlooked this one..
Driving aggressively would bring you down to about 33 to 35 mpg. Once you learn best to drive your new TCH for improved gas mileage you should get up to 44 combined mpg during the warmer days with the AC off. Shoot for 50 mpg and then see how you do.
Driving aggressively with the fully charged traction battery it would help assist the engine when needed. I doubt the EV mode would stay on for any length of time due to the aggressive driving.
I did a experiment when my car was very new and not near broke in. I did a 55 mpg tank by driving slow just to see if I could do that with a car on it's second tank of gas. The 3rd tank I drove rather heavy footed on acceleration and highway speeds at 60. My mpg for that tank dropped to around 44 mpg. The reason for the higher mpg numbers is where I live as it's very dry and warm in the summer with little or no wind. The 4-lane highways all around here are very flat and all this helps boost my mpg.
Last edited by WhiteSands; 01-02-2013 at 12:32 AM.
What I'd like to know is what actions are particularly problematic for the traction battery life, and thus should be avoided? Does parking the car in the hot sun during the day, day-in and day-out, take its toll? Does parking the car in sub-zero temps overnight? Does aggressive driving? Parking the car without use for extended periods?
I really can't think of any way you could significantly abuse the battery. Perhaps trying to overcharge it might be the only one. Some seem to be determined to get their battery up to full charge. This is not an electric vehicle and there is no advantage in doing that. And, you may even be shortening the life of your battery by forcing a full charge. Left alone the computer does a very good job of keeping the battery charge in mid range, where it should be.
Low temperatures cannot be a problem, as they are used in Canada where it reaches -40 F. A taxi study in Canada found there were no failures of the battery and they worked well in winter even without being plugged in (block heater). High temperatures could be more of a problem, but they have an automatic cooling system which should prevent over temperature.
While taxis and other vehicles have reached amazing mileages without loss of the battery, I do worry a bit about just calendar time. Taxis put on miles very fast, and the car is likely done for other reasons long before 10 years. But there is not much you can do about time. It marches along at the same pace for everyone! Now if you could get your car up to light speed...
Now if I had a LiIon battery I would be much more worried. My experience with them in my GPS is not very good.
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