Toyota Prius taxi tops 340,000mi, dispels battery myth

[Sulu]

Worries over the serviceable lifespan of battery packs have been at the forefront of many critics dislike of hybrid cars. With doom-and-gloom scenarios of pricey replacements and short service life, the pundits have posited the Prius’ long-term impracticality. But an Australian taxi outfit has compiled enough real-world data to put that idea to sleep.

With 32 Prius taxis operating in his Cairns, Queensland fleet of Black and White Taxis, owner Graham Boundy knows the truth about high-mileage hybrids -- and it’s surprisingly good. Each car racks up about 200,000km (125,000mi) each year. Two of the older examples have managed a lifespan of 350,000km (218,000mi) and 550,000km (341,000mi) before needing replacement of their nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. The only problem even at the end of their battery pack service life was a low voltage reading.The cars have been in service since September, 2005, and Bounds has ordered another 8 to bring his fleet total to 40.

According to Toyota Australia’s manager of hybrid sales and fleet strategy Vic Johnston, the use seen in the highest-mileage car during those three years equates to roughly 36 years of normal road use. The math works out a bit differently across the pond in the U.S., with a 15,000mi per year average equating to roughly 16 years of use. Still, that’s impressive for a hybrid, and in fact equal to or better than a person might expect of trouble-free service from a similarly priced standard combustion-powered car’s engine.

Source: http://www.motorauthority.com/cars/t...-battery-myth/

[SILVERadoTACOMA]

So one battery pack made it to 218K and the other to 341K... quite the difference there...

The article fails to mention how well the battery packs still functioned up to the 218 and 341K marks, It'd be interesting to know if there was a 2, 3, 5? mpg drop in fuel mileage the last 10, 20, 50K miles etc...

[blacken]

heh heh
woot
run them toyotas ragged XD

[HL2k]

either way if I have to pay out $5000-9000 every 250k on average (you have to take into consideration manufacturing defects. I think thats a decent investment considering the cost savings on fuel. In 2006 I paid $2700 in gas, if I can pay $900 with a prius and recoup that $1800*3 years, it works out to $5400, which isn't close to a new battery, but its probably less gas than $900/yr for a prius

[kenwoodrunner]

Originally Posted by HL2k

either way if I have to pay out $5000-9000 every 250k on average (

yeah for a 2005 taxi, but what the article doesn't mention is the batterys decline over time for regular drivers! i thought the life span on the batteries was eight years no matter what mileage! so is it possible some body with a ten year old prius could be paying for new batteries at 36 thousand miles? mike

[Ne0z31]

except that a prius costs how much?

Prius = much more than 10,000 and gets 40-45mpg

Old Corolla = around 1000-1500 and gets 35+ mpg (thats what im averaging)

hell... maybe I should start a corolla taxi service and make a bunch of money

[eyedoc]

Originally Posted by HL2k

either way if I have to pay out $5000-9000 every 250k on average (you have to take into consideration manufacturing defects. I think thats a decent investment considering the cost savings on fuel. In 2006 I paid $2700 in gas, if I can pay $900 with a prius and recoup that $1800*3 years, it works out to $5400, which isn't close to a new battery, but its probably less gas than $900/yr for a prius

don't forget the $13,000 premium you're paying to get the Prius over a 36+mpg Yaris. It'l take many more than 3 years to recoup..... just sayin'

[100$ GUY]

Originally Posted by SILVERadoTACOMA

So one battery pack made it to 218K and the other to 341K... quite the difference there...

The article fails to mention how well the battery packs still functioned up to the 218 and 341K marks, It'd be interesting to know if there was a 2, 3, 5? mpg drop in fuel mileage the last 10, 20, 50K miles etc...

Yeah, not complete info.

[nmehes]

Originally Posted by eyedoc

don't forget the $13,000 premium you're paying to get the Prius over a 36+mpg Yaris. It'l take many more than 3 years to recoup..... just sayin'

Are you suggesting that people use a Yaris as a Taxi? Why don't you just suggest a moped? or maybe a bicycle? A camry is right around $20000 right? a Prius is like $21500? That's your comparison.

[dandeman]

Originally Posted by SILVERadoTACOMA

So one battery pack made it to 218K and the other to 341K... quite the difference there...

The article fails to mention how well the battery packs still functioned up to the 218 and 341K marks, It'd be interesting to know if there was a 2, 3, 5? mpg drop in fuel mileage the last 10, 20, 50K miles etc...

Published failure rates by Toyota is 0.003% to date or 1 in 40,000 cars... By comparison, many cars exhibit a 1% failure rate of their automatic transmissions

With more than 100,000 Honda hybrids on the road, the automaker told Newsweek that fewer than 200 had a battery fail after the warranty expired. That’s a 0.002 likelihood. Toyota says its out-of-warranty battery replacement rate is 0.003 percent—or one out of 40,000 Priuses—for the second generation Prius.....

Far more Prius have been crashed and totalled than battery failures. Since Toyota has a bounty on the batteries, they have far more returned batteries than needed for failures.. They have had for decades remanufacturing programs with certified and warranty quality for expensive parts available through the dealer network e.g. engines, transmissions, starters, alternators, air conditioning compressors, etc. Those parts are available at far less cost than new from factory parts.. I've bought a few over the years for my long out of warranty Toyotas e.g. 220-270K mile vehicles... They have a similar program for traction batteries...

[Sulu]

Originally Posted by kenwoodrunner

yeah for a 2005 taxi, but what the article doesn't mention is the batterys decline over time for regular drivers!

This article was about the use of the Prius as a taxi, NOT the use by regular daily drivers. So, why would you expect it would mention battery decline over time for regular drivers?

Originally Posted by kenwoodrunner

i thought the life span on the batteries was eight years no matter what mileage! so is it possible some body with a ten year old prius could be paying for new batteries at 36 thousand miles? mike

Where did you hear that? That does not make sense. Rechargeable battery life is affected by the number of charge/discharge cycles it goes through.

[Zembonez]

One of my salespeople is on the second battery pack in his Prius at 122K. Age is as big of an issue as miles with these batteries. Same goes for most any open rechargeable battery pack... shaver, cordless drill or Prius. Intensive use is actually good for this kind of pack.

[HL2k]

Originally Posted by nmehes

Are you suggesting that people use a Yaris as a Taxi? Why don't you just suggest a moped? or maybe a bicycle? A camry is right around $20000 right? a Prius is like $21500? That's your comparison.

you took the words out of my mouth

In Toronto one company is now using TCH for their taxis and have noticed customers are willing to pay a premium for it over the cheaper crown vics / impalas

[kenwoodrunner]

Originally Posted by Sulu

This article was about the use of the Prius as a taxi, NOT the use by regular daily drivers. So, why would you expect it would mention battery decline over time for regular drivers?

No the article is about "Worries over the serviceable lifespan of battery packs have been at the forefront of many critics dislike of hybrid cars." (and that was right from the article) they are using taxi's as an example.

Originally Posted by Sulu

Where did you hear that? That does not make sense. Rechargeable battery life is affected by the number of charge/discharge cycles it goes through.

it is common battery knowledge! age is just as much of a factor as use. if age was not a factor then you could have one charge discharge cycle (and under your theory) the battery would be good 50 years later even 100 years later!

[SILVERadoTACOMA]

Originally Posted by dandeman

Published failure rates by Toyota is 0.003% to date or 1 in 40,000 cars... By comparison, many cars exhibit a 1% failure rate of their automatic transmissions

Where was I questioning the failure rate?

I was pointing out the vast mileage difference @ failure and my question was how well these batteries were still functioning after that many miles before failure.