Posted by Bob & Holly Wilson on November 2, 2007, 1:41 am
> >
. . .
> > When done, the strongest cells will be where the weakest cells were
> > removed. The weakest cell packs will be removed for electrolyte
> > refreshing.
>
> What does that mean? You can't actually dismantle a cell and change the
> chemical pastes inside, can you?
The NiHM cells are packaged six to a pack assembly. Swapping the packs
around lets me swap the location of the strongest and weakest cells.
> > Then I'll recharge the pack and install the two, high power
> > sockets and safety relays.
> >
> > When I'm done, my 2003 Prius will have a battery pack with a plug-in
> > tickle charger. This means every morning I'll start the car with a fully
> > charged battery, actually I'm shooting for 78-79% state of charge as
> > well as a warmed engine and transaxle.
> >
> > The current pack will then go through a survey to identify the strongest
> > and weakest cells. Again, the weakest cell pack assemblies will be
> > removed and the strongest cell packs shifted to put the strongest ones
> > where the weakest ones were located. Then I have this spare inverter I'm
> > planning to use with the battery pack for home power.
>
> How many "batteries" are in the car?
Check the Wiki article since it depends upon the model. My NHW11 has 38
cell packs.
> Do you buy replacement cells, or packs?
I use Ebay to buy packs from salvage or wrecks.
> Where do you buy them?
> How much to they cost?
It varies.
Posted by Bob & Holly Wilson on October 29, 2007, 2:11 am
> I've been wondering about the life span of a hybrid battery, and the cost,
> and have not heard any figures until I saw some posts here today.
> I'm hearing the the failure rate is really low and the life span is really
> long, like much greater than the typical 5 years of a regular lead-acid car
> battery. However, I'm also hearing that that Toyota won't warrenty them
> longer than 8 years or 100,000 miles in the state where I live.
> How many of these $50 batteries are in your Prius?
> I saw another post that says the replacement cost of the batteries is $000
> plus labor.
> I saw another post that say the total replacement cost is $500.
> It sounds like one battery replacement will wipe out any fuel cost savings,
> especially when the extra cost of the vehicle is factored in.
Well in my case, I already have a $50 spare battery and will swap it
with my perfectly good battery in about 8,000 miles. In effect, I have
two such batteries and will use one or the other.
When my original battery comes out, I plan to do the same modifications
to it. In short, it looks like I'll never have to pay the $,500
replacement cost since I'll be doing my own work.
Bob Wilson
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. . .
> > When done, the strongest cells will be where the weakest cells were
> > removed. The weakest cell packs will be removed for electrolyte
> > refreshing.
>
> What does that mean? You can't actually dismantle a cell and change the
> chemical pastes inside, can you?