Battery replacement cost
Created May 21, 2006, at 12:17 pm by Anonymous
I was talking with my brother and he had told me that the cost of replacing a battery for a hybrid car would be well over 3,000 dollars. I had told him, not true. The cost I was told from a Toyota dealer would be about 1,000 dollars.Please help me to see which one of us is correct. Thanks.
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I have heard of it being around 3-thousand dollars too.
But, hybrid batteries have long warranties and have oulasted their warranties greatly and are still going.
There is a blog on this site about a man with a 100k mile+ Honda Civic Hybrid, and has had no problems since.
I have almost 70K miles on my Civic and is as good as the day it rolled off the lot.
Also keep in mind that you're talking about electronic technology. By the time you need a replacement (if you every do) battery technology will be so much farther (we may not actually even be using "batteries" any more), that you'll probably be able to get a much better one for much cheaper.
What about the cost of replacing other items in a hybrid? Will the parts that capture energy from braking and coasting last forever? I don't think so. Then there's the electric motor. Last forever? I don't think so. That's what has me hesitant about getting a hybrid. I keep my vehicles over a decade. I don't like the idea of having to replace at a dealer - at dealer labor rates and dealer parts rates - what costs 3000 or more to add to a car at the factory. It's scary to think what they dealer would charge to replace all of your hybrid components.
What most people forget is that most cars have unique electronic and electric components.
Hybrid models 'so far' are simple in design and I dare say there are so many Prius' on the road now that there will be 'off market' battery replacements before they ever go bad from age.
By then the knowlege of working on hybrid systems should have worked its way down the auto repair shop food chain as well.
Rob, the hybrid components are warrantied out the wazoo.... 10years/150K miles in green states, and something like 8yrs/100K miles everywhere else.
"Will the parts that capture energy from braking and coasting last forever?"
I have no idea regarding any 2nd party or used batteries but if one had the need,
I know Honda and Toyota also includes these components as part of the battery replacement cost.
It's not just a pack of batteries.
I would guess the other MFG's do the same.
When you guys get broadsided by a full size Surburban the cost of your batteries nor you warranties will matter, you'll be dead!
Well I hate to rain on your parade, but I just got a quote on a battery replacement for a 2003 Honda Insight with 150,000 miles.
Try $6312.70 !!!!!!!
The battery (refurbished) replaced and 2 control modules plus labor.
I do not see where hybrids are cost effective and I own 3 of them. For That kinda of money I can buy 1500 gallons of gasoline at $4 a gallon. I am really miffed because I was told around $1500 to replace the battery when I bought it. Who wants to invest that kind of money when the car is 5 to 10 years old. I was once a hybrid man but they are a scam....
Anonymous your probably right.I'm sure youle be better off filling up your gas burner @ $4.00+ per
gallon for the next,what was it you said...o yes i remember,decad.Good luck.
It is between $2000 & $3000 to replace the hybrid battery - according to a Honda Sales Representative I spoke with this week... June 4, 2008
Don't be fooled - Gas is going to $5.
$10 and then try to find it. After IVAN you could not find gas at any price. We were riding charter buses to work and we were the lucky ones.
America has been in a freaking dream world for 34 years. In 1974 we were told the future by our best budies in the middle east. Right!
I checked the price on the battery for the Insight. It is 1787 retail, and the place I checked sells them for 1394.60. I don't know why you would need new control modules??? But they are 1787 each and this place sells them for 1394 too. And that's a honda dealer. Oh and the parts break down only shows the need for 1 battery module, there is a control module motor and it is 812.37 retail. But again if it's not bad why would you replace it? Sounds like you got ripped to me.
Tim
The discussion is only focusing on replacing the battery. How much will disposing of a used battery cost, does any one know?
The Honda BCM ( Battery Control Module ) has limited ability to perform regular maintenance on its batteries.
120 cells in series eventually over time will eventually need to be reconditioned and rebalanced.
Since the BCM has no way of doing this it gives a code saying the battery is bad.
Since Honda does not want to train or equip its technicians to take a 144V 120 cell battery apart to recondition or rebalance it... Honda Technicians are told to just replace the batteries... even if they do not need replaced.
Although the 144V can be dangerous... if proper care is taken it can be handled safely... more safely than dealing with the 220+V system people have for electric ovens and driers.
the Insight 120 cell battery pack is configured in 20 subpacks of 6 cells each... each of these 20, 6 cell sub-packs can be reconditioned and balanced with off the shelf battery analyzers like the Triton used for RC batteries.... the pack would have to be opened up to gain access to the sub-pack level... It took me about 1 week to do this whole sequence in my spare time.
Even if one of the 6 cell welded together subpacks turns out to be bad it can be replaced with a 6 cell subpack from any other model year of Insight and the 6 cell subpacks are also a direct replacement from HEV Civic before the 2006 battery change.... other HEV batteries would require significantly more work to safely function in the Insight.
In 2007 I bought 2 HEV Civic battery packs from salvage yards ... each was only $250 from a totaled HEV Civic.
Also the Honda Insight with its 12V system including a 12V starter and DC-DC converter... can be converted for under $20 to run without the 120 cell 144V battery at all... this would cause it to loose the Auto stop feature , regenerative braking and ... electric assist... but would still run as a 12V system power just gasoline car... The only catch is that after the conversion alternator function from the DC-DC system will stop while the engine RPMs are over 4,000.... but will then restart as soon as the engine RPMs drop under 4,000 again... so a nice strong 12V battery under the hood would be a good idea if you decide to remove the HEV 144V 120 cell battery from the rear.
Yes I own 2003 honda hybrid and at 32000 miles I have replaced a battery, but it was coverd by the warranty at that time. Now my has 181000 miles on it and the light just come on and I took my car to the dealer it is true the battery was 23000 dollars and the larbor was 585 dollars plus tax. Beside that I had not even one single problem with this car.
Oh Wow! I can't believe that price! I knew replacements were expensive but, holy cow, that's a crime.
So we get duped into buying an electric hybrid for PC purposes, thinking we're doing a good thing and thinking we're going to be saving loads of gas, just to find out that a battery pack replacement costs over $6000!
It just confirms my suspicions that Water Hybrids are THE only practical solution to the energy crisis today.
Our most expensive Hydrogen Generator kits are only $800 and come with absolutely everything needed to convert your car into a water hybrid, including connectors, wires, control modules, everything. You will immediately see a 20%-50% increase in mileage, some even more ( one guy put 2 generators in his car and went from 10 MPG to over 23.8 MPG and that was a BIG one ton van with a 5.7 liter motor).
For people on a budget we help by offering a do it yourself manual where you learn everything you need to know about this incredible industry, including how to build them from parts available locally for a few hundred bucks.
This IS the industry that is growing like wildfire (under the radar because very little press is given to it) around the world.
It's cheap, it's efficient, and it's great for the environment.
Sell the lead bricks, go for Water Powered Hybrids - that's my recommendation.
Bob
Transitional Technology, LLC
Increase Gas Mileage-Use Water4Gas
My son is a fire fighter. Very few rescue units have the special tools to do a Jaws of Life extraction on a hybrid car. You can cut into 500 volts or more. Not to mention the high pressure inflation air bag/s system. Look up jaws of life for yourself.
Hope no one ever needs to be rescued.
GaryT,
I certainly hope your son never has to rescue someone from a regular car. Those things explode and kill people all the time.
If you are really concerned for your son. Just tell him (as he should have learned at fire fighting school) not to cut an orange cable.
Those air bags are not restricted to hybrids. They are a danger in all new cars.
Pure electrics are the safest because they don't have any high explosives onboard at all.
The battery in my 2003 Civic Hybrid requires replacement and the estimate is $4100. at the dealer.
Do the new batteries last longer, and is there a cheaper yet competent alternative to using the dealer? If not, owning a hybrid may be good for the environment but they are not cost effective.
Robert DeVaughn,
I recommend you post in the Hondic Civic section. There are a lot of folks who are well up on HCH problems and issues. I don't have time to follow that section so I don't know if this has been addressed already.
I do know, that we've had an '03 HCH and the battery is working fine. My suspicion is that its just a cell or two but your dealer finds it cheaper to charge you for a whole new pack instead of a partial one. I don't know what options you may have though since battery replacement is a fairly rare occurrence.
How do you disable the battery pack and run the Honda Insight as a regular gasoline car. I have a 2000 Insight and the battery pack is shot. It has 225 000 miles on it and I can't afford a new battery pack. I just want to run it as a regular gas car. It won't start because the battery pack is shot. Please help.
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