Update battery thread: is the Optima Yellow Top still the preferred choice?

I just bought my first battery and decided Toyota OEM was the best. It's made for the Prius and no other manufacturer will give you 7 year warranty on the battery. Granted it's full replacement for 24 months and then prorated towards the replacement cost.

 

My experience with Yellow is horrible, their price are not at all worth it. At above 220eu, it’s the same price as the much, much better Toyota OEM AGM as mentioned above (opinion).

AGM batteries are slightly uncalled for in the g2, relative to their designed usage scenario (mainly deep cycle, vibration or angled mounting).

I have replaced my two gen2 batteries with the 100euro Yuasa ybx3057 lead acid battery. They have behaved much better sustainability wise (five years on the oldest one) and are way above my expectations - which are very low charged by experience with lame/bad 12V batteries….

All batteries need proper maintenance, especially so on Prius g2, so I recommend also buy a a 5A smart charger with remote attachment (to avoid removing any compartments) and possibly voltage display.

 

Speaking of maintenance, do you ever check the water level on that lead acid battery?

 

Jeezus didn’t realize I was an influencer. The Optima Yellow Top I installed in September of 2015 is still in the car, testing like new, but I was quite clueless when I bought, learned in hindsight that higher CCA is not an indicator of “better”, and typically comes at the expense of Amp Hours.

It’s still status quo with the battery, but our car is a bit of a garage queen, very low use, and while that “can” be detrimental, I’ve got it plugged into a CTEK charger virtually all the time it sits idle.

I suspect if it was more the normal scenario, say street-parked and never hooked up to charger, it’d be long gone.

Plus, I’ve heard Optima’s standards and quality controls have slipped. Not sure how valid the reports are, but there’s that.

If and when there’s a next time, I’m leaning towards an aftermarket but adhering to OEM spec battery. Likely Canadian Tire’s option. The price has climbed by an eye-watering amount, but still a lot cheaper than dealership.

I would not consider anything but vented AGM (Absorbant Glass Mat): the battery’s in the cabin zone, conventional, unvented flooded-acid batteries will put off hydrogen, and could spill acid in a bad crash.

 

I believe for all recent hybrids, Toyota is using maintenance-free batteries. i know that is what my 2025 Camry has.

 

I don't think so. I don't know how to read that glass view port though.
Here's my '26 LE's.
Maybe there's a reason for it?
edit: Are Camrys assembled in the US, vs Japan for Prius?

 

With conventional, lead-acid batteries, in past cars, I got into a habit of removing it from the car (after a few years, say mid-way through it’s expected lifespan), cleaning the battery and burnishing the posts and cable clamps, checking the electrolyte level with a light behind, then topping up the cells as needed with distilled water.

All of this technically “can” be done without removing the battery, but in practice I found it much easier to discern/adjust the electrolyte levels out of the car.

AFAIK, “maintenance free” is at least in part a euphemism: there’s still fill caps on each cell, albeit covered with a plastic sticker. Peel that off and you can access the caps. If the plastic’s intact you can press it back into place after.

 

Speaking of battery maintenance, have you ever used one of those charge measuring devices with all the little balls in them? I recall using that in the distant past.

 

I’m using a Clore Solar electronic load tester occasionally, current iteration I believe is BA9. Seems to be more readily available through Amazon.ca than .com, but with latter I see what appears to be the same unit, maybe just different naming convention?

years back I watched a YouTube review, guy comparing various test methods, and the Solar brand tester, impressed me. Can’t find it now, maybe later.

recent test pics:



(second and third pics are tested CCA and voltage respectively)

 

What are those balls referred to?

I only know of the CTEK indicator lights (green/yellow/red) on some of their attachment adapters. They are very much not any kind of SMRT.

Their first iteration pulled many mA for those leds, and they always indicate RED at rest, which they defined as below 12.5V. IE very normal resting (48h) current, unless recently driven/charged (which is defined as surface current). Then it’s all happy slide greeeeen.

 

Normal modern lead acid are SMF (Sealed Maintenace Free). They have no way to add water, and very little capacity to loose the same compound and therefore much less hydrogen gas emitted.

 

been using yuasa micron AGM batteries in powersports equipment since Dekka left the venue . One the best batteries on planet . Have them in some old cars from factory.. EU .. go figure

 

Specific gravity. $7 on Amazon.
Downside, you dip it into acid, lol.
Early on, I ruined some clothes after carrying a battery, that must've bubbled over.

 

See picture of my battery above.
Label, what I can read (in English) says to add distilled water when sight glass is clear.
And those caps aren't covered by any sticker.

 

Hey, I found an image to text translator! How about that!
Nothing surprising.

 

No. They never were as good as Toyota's battery, just cheaper at the time. Plus the battery posts would get loose.

These days a Toyota battery can be cost competitive with Walmart or Autozone's versions (both better than Optima) but you need a sale price, shop discount of coupon which I get almost monthly when you sign up at the service department.

 

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@VelvetFoot interesting indeed. But exactly what ”manufacturer” and model is that? It’s not obvious to me it’s a true Toyota OEM, but I have only had one. It became untrustworthy and hence went to recycler.

And I do recall that one had refillable cells, which does surprise me, even AGM can apparently be non-SFM, or this battery is not AGM.

I have tried Yellow, Bosch, Varta, Excide that all have the correct pole orientation and width.

They all are now condemned to backups and for other 12V usage. OEM if you have the dough, or Yuasa if you don’t. My cents/öre.

 

It's a picture of the battery in my trunk.
I'm not going to remove it for a glamour pic, lol.