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Originally Posted by redpoint5
Couple thoughts on this.
1. Hybrid technology is relatively new. Battery tech is the achilles heel. The Nissan Leaf was among the first of modern EVs, and it has a very terrible battery architecture. I expect no future EVs to degrade as severely as it. There is a price to be paid by adopting early iterations of any idea.
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Toyota still uses similar NiMH modules on a lot of their vehicles. Of course we won't know what the longevity of those will actually be going forward.
From the sound of it, Nissan has never gotten a better battery in terms of longevity. But that's just Nissan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
2. The dumbest vehicles to make into a hybrid were selected first. The ROI on the hybrid tech on a compact, ultra-efficient vehicle design is so many years into the future. Had the larger vehicles been the first to receive hybrid tech, the thousands of dollars in fuel savings over the course of ownership would make replacing a battery a no-brainer.
Just look at the Honda Insights as evidence. Plenty of people saying they didn't replace the traction battery when it went bad because it cost too much, and doesn't really improve the MPGs. Might accelerate a bit slower than before, but who cares.
Finally, there's differentiation between models. Would you rather own an out of warranty VW, or an out of warranty Toyota Corolla? Just as there's differences in maintenance costs with ICE vehicles, there will be differences in costs / longevity in hybrids.
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Wouldn't battery size and price scale with vehicle size?
The MSRP for a battery for my Prius was about
: $2,000 but are no longer available.
For my 2013 Avalon it's: $3,541
And for a new Sienna it's: $5,003
Is this just because they are newer or because of COVID prices, or do bigger vehicles have more expensive batteries?
I mean, sure, paying $3,000 or so for an economy car is a bit much. But $6,000 or so to install a battery for a minivan that gets 35mpg, would that be worth it?