Battery Life on 2011 Prius 4

A non scientific survey conducted by me by reading the posts on this forum the past 3 years say that if you were going to have a problem, you would have already. If you don't, then its smooth sailing.

Most of the battery failure posts I've read seem to cluster at around 150k miles give or take. Once you make it past 200k, reports of failure are pretty rare.

 

Rick Your Prius has 3 batteries

There is a disc battery in each Fob, my experience is 3 years. You may be ready, they are often under $3

There is an externally vented AGM 12 volt battery in the back, it should last at least 4 years. Budget $250, but it should be under $200

Finally there is the big Hybrid battery, which has a 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty in OH, so you are past the mileage. The Gen 3 battery is a modification of the Gen 2 (which was much better than the Gen 1 battery) so no actual battery has made it 7 years yet but the Gen2 experience is that 3% fail per year. I would budget $4000 for replacement at a dealer although only $2500 is parts. In 6 years we will have a much better idea how long they last. (In CARB states, Toyota warranties them for 10 years/150,000 miles, which is promising)

The Gen 0 Priuses are coming up on 19 years old, they were only sold in Japan. I have no idea if any still have their original battery. In North America, Prius Taxis seem to get about 250,000 miles.

 

The Hybrid battery is expected to last an average of 375,484.27 Miles depending on ODT and geographical location.
Others may have lower numbers

 

i'm going with half a million, like those taxi's in calgary. cool weather and plentiful use seem to add up to longevity. just like people.

 

I think there is some leg pulling going on here, I think the real answer is that nobody knows, you drive a lot of highway miles per year and I'm guessing that that helps the main battery to last. To me it seem you have already gotten you moneys worth. Remember there are other very expensive hybrid parts that can also fail at any time, do what you wish but it seems likely that you will drive it until the wheels fall off, good luck.

 

the whole discussion is wrong. there is an expiration date limit rather than miles limit (unless the battery is heavily cycled and/or kept hot and then it will die sooner). my guess is 10-12 years is the limit, especially in areas with hot climate (may last longer in cold climate). if people drive a lot, they will get plenty of miles in those 10-12 years.

 

my neighbors '04 seems strong at 135,000 miles. all he does is go back and forth to the train every day plus local errands. i better warn him.

 

is boston considered hot climate?

 

only in july and august. but i'm more concerned with the lack of use. i think these batteries prefer to be exercised.

 

I don't disagree with you that the batteries have an expiration date. But 12 years? Wouldn't that be like predicting the end of the world is in 6 months? Don't you want to recruit some believers first. 12 years means 2004 batteries should be dropping like flies anytime now. Did you mean 20-22 years?

 

Please check in and clarify which battery you're talking about.

 

yes, especially in hot climate. have you ever gone to the 2nd gen prius forums? you should.

 

I have and the number of failures are few including the Gen 1 forums. My own anecdotal evidence of Gen 2 at work is 1 failure out of 4 including my own 2005 which leads me to believe that battery life is much greater than 12 years. And if Gen 1 is any indication would be span decades.