I've noticed a decline in the performance of my 2012 Prius V’s hybrid battery. To address the issue, a friend in China connected me with a battery manufacturing factory that specializes in lithium-ion batteries. Instead of replacing the original Ni-MH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) battery with the same type, we decided to go for a lithium-ion upgrade. This option offers better energy density, a longer lifespan, and improved overall efficiency for my Prius. Their NMC battery modules are fully compatible with the original Prius ones—each module is 7.2V 6.5Ah. My Prius V uses 28 of these modules, and I’m planning to replace all of them. The total cost is only around USD 1,400, which is significantly more affordable than the official replacement parts. Should I go ahead with the replacement? My Prius currently averages about 7L/100km in fuel consumption, and I believe that could improve with a new hybrid battery.
DO NOT DO IT! Do not install Lithium-Ion batteries into a Prius that was designed to use NiMH batteries. The BMS system in your Prius was designed for the NiMH battery. The Prius BMS will NOT work well with a Lithium-Ion battery. A company in the USA tried doing this with LiFePo4 batteries and failed. The company is now selling Na-Ion batteries. Do a search on this forum for "Project Lithium."
