Life of hybrid battery
I have just read this story about the life of a Hybrid Battery and how much itis to replace. Interesting read.
lets hear what you have to say about it.
Comments
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I’ll wait until ChocT(hopefully) gives us some facts, the rest is just white noise. A trusted source is worth ten ‘Frank down the pub’ types. No offence intended👍🏻
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I suppose it would depend on how the hybridisation was done. If it is a traditional power train with an electric motor somewhere to provide a bit of boost (bit like a big starter motor ) it would probably go fine. However, if it is an electric power train and the combustion engine powers a generator I suspect it would just be stopped by the software.
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That makes sense PD(logically) if both electric & ICE are available & the electric part fails then the ICE should cope easily👍🏻
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Yes probably it has lost it's USP if you like and it is going to be heavier due to the now useless batteries and therefore use more fuel, so what is the point is buying/having one like that? Better to buy a non hybrid if it's going to be a second hand purchase?
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Found this on google
Most hybrid batteries have an eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty, according to Bumblebee Batteries, but some fail before that time. A hybrid vehicle cannot run without the hybrid battery, so vehicle owners must invest in new hybrid batteries periodically, which can make vehicle maintenance expensive.0 -
as above, depends how it's configured. Some hybrids only power the wheels by battery & the ICE just drives the generator which would charge the battery. Others will power the wheels with either/or & as CS says, if the battery is goosed, the car will then be lugging a heavy useless battery around
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Thanks for the resposes, I don't take much interest in cars, they are just vehicles to get me from A to B. I certainly have never been interested in owning a hybrid. Perhaps in the future an EV may be of interest when my touring days are done but we own two family cars and while long in the tooth, they do very little mileage and are still in good condition and are reliable. There is therefore no incentive to change just yet.
peedee
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OH's car is nine years old now with less than 30K on the clock. Whilst an EV would fit the usage profile, the carbon footprint of manufacture would more than offset the reduction in pollutants from the ICE. Plus it saves us about £40K.
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Here's how Honda explains the way different hybrids work. LINK (The Hybrid, The Electric Car and the PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.) It's interesting that they state it's unlikely that the battery will need replacing as it's designed to last the life time of the car. How long the car lasts is a piece of string.
But as with the Mercedes statement in the OP much depends on the circumstances surrounding the use and care of the vehicle. 0 -
Hmm - the original article is about a regular hybrid not a plug-in hybrid. Seems to me that if the article was right (no reason it should not be) and the battery did die, Merc might have a big problem on their hands. There are after all, a TON of prius hybrids (the original hybrid) running around and doing just fine on taxi miles (100s of thousands). 125v is not a PHEV traction battery for sure.
The thing with batteries is 1) cycles and 2) how they are stored (full or empty). Batteries like to be half full for longevity. Completely full or completely empty is bad. Then if you cycle a battery a lot (fill it full and discharge to empty) then they degrade. Thats why phone batteries seem to fail fast (they get charged to full every night when you go to bed, sit absolutely full overnight, and are then run down to empty every day). Same with laptop batteries that just sit 100% full all day.
Hybrids have an inherent issue. The battery is small, and it fills and empties a lot. If you have a decent BMS (battery management system) that prevents over charging and total discharge then that can be mitigated (See Toyota Prius).
PHEVs only charge to full and empty perhaps once per day. Charged over night then run down as you drive. When "empty" they run in hybrid mode, but only collect a relatively small charge when doing so. My PHEV has a battery of about 11kWh, but only a very conservative 8kWh is usable. Volvo built in a big margin. Mine is now 5 years old (Oct 2016) has done 42K miles and I have noticed no depreciation in its range.
EVs are even more careful. Mine has a 78kWh battery, between 72 and 75 usable (depending on who you ask) The extra 3 to 5kWh is there but never tapped into at the top or bottom so you can never over fill or totally empty the battery. Under normal use I fill mine to 90%. Thats 90% of the 72 or 75 not 78. And generally never go below about 40% (because I just don't drive that far). So my battery gets cycled 100% maybe every 2-3 trips out, as opposed to every trip for a PHEV, or multiple times every trip for a regular hybrid.
Most hybrids and PHEVs also have active battery management with heating and cooling. Managing the temperature of the cells is vital - too hot (from high charge or drain) degrades them, same if you try and use them hard when cold. My EV constrains power out and in if its too hot or cold.
I am sure the owner has a real problem, and that problem might blow up for Merc, but its not an indication that all hybrids will fail, or all battery vehicles. Just that one...
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