Lexus EV and Hybrid Battery Replacement

If your hybrid battery fails, should you replace it or just get rid of the car? Because depending on who you ask, some people say hybrid batteries die at 100,000 miles, some say they cost 10,000, 15,000, or even more just for the battery. And some people act like the second your battery goes bad, the whole car is basically done. But here’s the truth — a lot of what people believe about hybrid batteries is either outdated, exaggerated, or just flat out wrong. So in this video, we’re going to break down what hybrid battery replacement actually costs, how long these batteries really last, when replacement is worth it and when it’s not, and what most people get completely wrong about hybrid ownership. So if you own a hybrid, you’re thinking about buying one, or your battery just failed and you’re trying to figure out what to do next, this video is made for you.

So let’s start with the biggest myths. The first myth is that hybrid batteries fail around 100,000 miles. That used to scare a lot of people, but in the real world, that’s just not how most of these batteries perform anymore. A lot of hybrid batteries last well beyond that — up to 150,000, 200,000, or 250,000 miles is normal in many, many cases. There are taxis, Ubers, and high-mileage Prius vehicles out there with 300,000 plus miles or even more on the original battery. So no, 100,000 miles is not the automatic death sentence for a hybrid battery.

Second myth is the cost. A lot of people still think that hybrid battery replacement means a 10,000 or 15,000 dollar bill. And yes, if you’re searching online, you can still find some crazy quotes, especially from the dealership. But these horror stories are often based on old information or especially dealership pricing from years ago, or situations where people get wildly overpriced quotes. Today, for many hybrid vehicles, battery replacement is often far more affordable than people think.

And now the third myth is that hybrids are too complicated and too expensive to be worth owning. That is also misleading, because while hybrids do have a hybrid battery that will need replacing, they also often have a lower total ownership cost in other areas. Many hybrids don’t have a traditional starter, many don’t have an alternator, and many newer ones don’t even have a drive belt. And regenerative braking helps reduce brake wear too. So when people focus only on the battery, they miss the full picture of hybrid vehicles.

Now let’s simplify how this really works. A lot of people think a hybrid is just the battery, but really there are two different battery systems. You’ve got a normal 12-volt battery like a regular car, and then you’ve got a high-voltage hybrid battery which powers the electric side of the system. Inside that hybrid battery are multiple modules or cells working together. And that matters because not every battery problem means the entire battery is completely destroyed. Sometimes the issue is a weak module, sometimes it’s internal wear, sometimes it’s heat related, sometimes it’s corrosion on internal connections.

And one of the biggest reasons these batteries last as long as they do is because they’re designed to avoid extreme stress. Unlike your phone or laptop battery, hybrid batteries are usually not constantly being fully charged and fully drained. They operate on a controlled range, which helps reduce wear and extend life. That’s one big reason they often last much longer than people expect.

Okay, so next I want to tell you one of the biggest enemies of hybrid batteries. So actually come over here for a second — I want to show you this. So this is what a Prius battery looks like, right? We’re going to have 28 modules inside of the pack itself. This is the fan that actually goes on. So usually there’s a case over top of this battery — we took the case off — but I want to show you this fan for a very specific reason. Because if you drive a Prius or you drive a hybrid vehicle, mainly all Toyota and some Honda but mainly Toyota vehicles, and you have a pet inside of your car, pet hair or dust or lint can get in here, right? And why is that bad? Well, this is the thing that cools down your hybrid battery, because if it overheats, the chemistry inside of the cells breaks down and then your hybrid battery is eventually going to go bad, right? That’s if your battery overheats itself. And if lint, hair, or anything gets in here, it’s going to slow down how much the fan is able to cool down the battery. And it can even get so much pet hair in here that it will completely stop the cool-down process of the battery. And if that happens, the degradation and the expected time that this battery is going to go bad is through the roof. So number one, if you have pets and you’re going to keep your pets in your car, make sure to either clean out your fan or just overall don’t ever let your pets in the car.

Okay, so now let’s dive into the real numbers and how much it really costs to replace a hybrid battery. So everybody says, “How much does it cost? What’s the average price?” On average — this is our statistic — it’s going to cost anywhere from 1 to 4,000 dollars to replace your hybrid battery. Where does that range kind of come from, right? It depends on the make, model, and generation of your vehicle, but then also what kind of warranty you want to get, and then if you want to get new or remanufactured cells. Let’s unpack that, okay?

So for example, when I said 1,000 dollars, we have Priuses with a 12-month warranty you can get — 1,000 bucks, boom, and you’re back on the road. And then if you’re like, “Hey, you know, I want to keep my car for longer,” then we’d say, “Hey, maybe you want the 24-month warranty, maybe you want a 48-month warranty, new cells.” And we’ve had some people that are like, “Hey, I want to keep my car for, you know, 8 to 10 years.” We would probably suggest, if you have a Prius, I’d probably get a 4-year warranty with the new cell battery because that’s going to last you as long as possible. You may be like, “Well, you know, 4,000 dollars, 2,000 dollars, that’s still pretty expensive.” Well, would you pay 2,000 or 4,000 dollars to extend the life of your vehicle anywhere from 8 to 10 years? Probably. Because what happens if you don’t do it? You’re going to have to buy a new car. How much does a new car cost? Costs anywhere from 15,000 dollars, 25,000 dollars, 35,000 dollars, 45,000 dollars.

We at Greentec offer a 12-month warranty, a 24-month warranty, a 36-month warranty for some batteries, and then a 48-month warranty.

Okay, so this is actually a module. A lot of people online will call this cell replacement, right? But actually this is a module and you have cells inside of the module. So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 — six cells are inside of the module itself, right? And you’re going to have three solid options really when it comes to hybrid battery replacement.

Number one, you’re going to have a new cell option. This is us putting new cells inside of the battery pack — not your current battery pack, this is a battery pack we’re selling you with new cells. This is the battery you want to get if you want to actually keep the vehicle for the longest amount of time and not run into any problems in the future.

The next is remanufactured. What does remanufactured mean? What it means is basically when we sell you a battery, we take your old one back and we start our remanufacturing process. So let’s say if we’re talking about a Toyota Prius second generation — this is what remanufacturing means, right? When we sell you a battery, we take your old one back, and that’s when the process begins. Which means, you know, Toyota Prius — there are 28 modules inside of the battery pack itself. We’re dismantling the whole battery, taking each module out, and taking it through a very advanced testing process that we’ve developed over the past 13 years. So personally for us, for a Prius, it takes us 90 days — 90 days from start to finish throughout the whole testing process — just to make one battery.

And that kind of leads into module replacement and why this doesn’t work. So again, we’ll take a Prius for example. Earlier we showed you what it looked like with the case off and what these modules look like inside of the battery pack. What module replacement is, is they’re going to take a voltmeter, right? They’re going to go through each individual module. And sometimes when your battery goes bad, it could only be one or two modules that are currently bad and testing lower in voltage than they should. They will find those two modules and they will just replace it with a module that has tested high. But there are a couple of problems with that.

Number one is a lot of companies, after they do that, they don’t balance out the battery pack. So now everything’s unbalanced, right? This could be at 7.2 volts, this could be at 8.2 — you don’t know, because they aren’t actually balancing out the battery pack. And then also the problem is they’re putting, let’s say, a new module in an old battery pack. So that means if you’ve had the car for 10 years, all the other modules are 10 years old and you have a new one that’s a month old. So eventually the other ones are going to go bad and then you’re going to have to replace those as well. So it may be a cheaper solution, but we know how cheaper solutions always work out. We’ve had many experiences with people like, “You know what, I don’t even want to pay 1,500 bucks or 1,000 bucks to replace my battery — I just want to do a module replacement.” And then they do one, and they do two, then they do three, then they replace four modules until they fully decide to replace the battery pack itself. So if you’re trying to save yourself time and you’re trying to preserve your vehicle for as long as possible, getting the full battery pack replacement is the best solution for you.

So when is hybrid battery replacement actually worth it? In my opinion, it’s worth it when the rest of the car is solid. If the engine is good, the transmission is good, the body is decent, the maintenance has been good, and the vehicle still fits your needs, replacing a battery can be one of the smartest things you can do. Why? Because you’re keeping a vehicle you already know, you’re avoiding a much bigger car payment, and you may be getting years of additional life for a fraction of the cost of replacing a brand new car. Plus, once the battery is replaced, you still get the benefits that made the hybrid attractive in the first place — better fuel economy, smoother operation, less brake wear, and lower ownership costs in many cases. A new battery doesn’t just fix a car — a lot of times it makes the car feel alive again. You often notice better acceleration, smoother transitions between gas and electric power, and better overall drivability.

Now let’s be honest — sometimes it’s actually not worth replacing the battery. If a battery replacement costs more than the car is worth, or close to it, you actually need to stop and think. Because if the car also needs engine work, suspension work, or electrical repairs on top of the battery, that’s probably not going to be a smart investment, right? But if it’s a very old hybrid with very high mileage and a lot of maintenance issues, you have to be realistic about expectations. It doesn’t automatically mean no — it just means that the decision has to make financial sense. But that is where trust matters.

Okay, so back to the main question — is it really worth it to replace a hybrid battery? I tried my best to give you guys all the facts and figures so you can have the best information to make your decision. But I also got a little present that’s going to help you make your decision as well. For a limited time only, we’re offering $150 off for not if, but when your hybrid battery goes bad. So you can use coupon code GTAI15 to get $150 off. Also, if you’re debating buying a hybrid or you currently own one, you can go on our website at greentecauto.com and you can see how much it’s going to cost you to get your hybrid battery replaced. And also for installation options, you can either come in shop or we can come out to you with our 34 locations across the United States, Canada, and the UK. So if you click on our website, go to our locations tab, you can see our closest location near you. And hope you guys enjoyed today’s video — like, subscribe, and I’ll see you guys in the next one.