Expensive Hybrid Car Battery Replacements Are Unnecessary

Reader Contribution by Jim Motavalli
Published on April 13, 2012
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I’ve heard that hybrid car batteries must be replaced every few years, costing thousands of dollars. Is this true? If so, why would anybody buy a hybrid?

Urban legend holds that buying a hybrid car will eventually subject the owner to the expensive nightmare of replacing the hybrid car battery pack, but urban legend in this case is wrong.

While there are exceptions, hybrid car batteries rarely need replacing. Hybrids now have a 12-year history in the United States, and most of the cars on the road are still on their original packs — even many of the 300,000-mile Ford Escape Hybrids used as taxis in New York and San Francisco. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority says only two of its 182 hybrid taxis have needed new batteries.

Toyota officials report that of the 1.1 million Prii sold in the United States over the past 10 years, only about 500 batteries have been replaced (0.05 percent). The batteries were originally built to last 150,000 miles, but they have exceeded expectations, with many Prii logging more than 250,000 miles on the original battery packs.

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