If you have a Prius traction battery you need to get rid of, call these folks: Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs They are mostly interested in packs with the electronics but you can always ask. FYI, I have no financial or business association with them. Rather I support the work they do in extending the life of Prius by traction battery refurbishment. Bob Wilson
that's fabulous bob, thanks for the direction. do you think the reconditioned batteries are actually better than new?
There is a price-performance tradeoff but for the price, I think ReinVolt is a cost effective solution for the NHW11. For the NHW20, I don't have enough experience to make that call. Bob Wilson
I am not sure if these are the people who were at Green Drive Expo (Hybridfest) in 2009. There were a lot of interested people and some who were using their rebuilt packs. I heard a lot of good things.
Do you know the ball park cost to recondition HV pack for NHW11? They have 1 year / unlimited mile warranty. I wonder how much longer the reconditioned pack last.
The packs are $1475 plus core for a 2ng gen. Their warranty is 12 months/unlimited miles. It's not entirely clear to me what they do - they knock replacing only failed cells as being dangerous, so I'm assuming they replace all 37 (?) cells in the battery. They will install for an additonal $300. I'd like to know a little more about what they do but their website and videos are particularly informative.
Seems like a good idea to me.The idea of recycling batteries of the size of those in the Prius seems entirely logical. Not available in the UK, and there probably won't be a market for it to make it worthwhile for a few years, by which time hopefully battery technology will have moved on and prices will have fallen dramatically.
Not entirely on topic [although it wasn't strictly about reinvolt to begin with], but for us experimenters and other geeks who might have some dead modules kicking around we can't use anymore, your local Batteries Plus will take them. . I tried Toyota including the "customer experience" line; they'll only accept full, assembled battery boxes at dealerships which is all kinds of braindead since the modules all go into the same process regardless... . _H*
Toyota requires battery packs to be assembled because the bolts, braces, and box provide a safe, sturdy, enclosed container during shipping, just as it does in the car.
Their home page displays what is purported to be a corroded "2004 Gen II Prius battery at 89,000 miles". The pack is clearly an older Gen I battery pack.
