82% battery degradation… not on a Tesla, not even on a Nissan Leaf, but on a Toyota Auris.
A textbook example of a supposedly unopened battery at 246,000 km with 82% degradation, where over half of the battery system is permanently damaged due to overheating in a poorly designed “Flintstones” battery system and thermal protection. I say “supposedly” because the battery looks like it has been serviced: the fan is clean, and 4 cells are marked with a marker. Very often, we receive “never opened original batteries” that “haven’t” been repaired 2-3 times, where cells have been rearranged, regenerated, or replaced, and yet they are still considered “original batteries.” This is how the legend forms that the battery lasts over 500,000 km, even though none of the parts in the battery are original. So far, almost all the cases we’ve had have confirmed that extreme degradation of 50% starts at 150,000-180,000 km. We had only one case where an untouched, original battery surpassed 300,000 km but with 50% less savings and capacity after 150,000 km. Which isn’t bad, considering the one and most important fact that new batteries at the service center are around €2200, not €10,000-30,000 like in European versions of even worse hybrids. The only question is, would the Auris consume less without the battery and the rest of the hybrid burden?
“Toyota hybrid batteries never fail”
“Don’t listen to EV Clinic, they think everything is bad”
“Batteries last over 500,000 km in all Toyotas”
“The warranty is 10 years” (they forget to mention it’s 180k km)
“Those guys are amateurs”
People haven’t learned to hear information as it really is—raw and accurate. Besides repairing them, we regularly communicate off-the-record with authorized service technicians. We’ve come across all sorts of misinformation and false advertising in Toyota groups, so we’ll go through all the inquiries we’ve had in our inboxes over the last 5 years. We’ve already been clear: out of all hybrids, Toyota is the least bad and a better choice than diesel, but not better than an EV (not every one), because it uses outdated NiMH cell technology in a very poorly designed battery system that suffers from overheating in the middle part. They could have solved it better by cooling it with a chiller from the air conditioner like in the Outlander. The BMS monitors every 5th or 6th cell but doesn’t balance the middle ones, and there are only 2-3 temperature sensors with no redundant protection system if there’s no airflow for cooling. For some, the cells overheat at 80,000 km, while for others, it happens at 180,000 km. Some who regularly open, repair, and replace the weaker cells boast about reaching 750,000 km, claiming the battery is still original, but it’s been repaired 5 times because the battery cover is original, so that apparently qualifies as an “original battery.” Toyota’s saving grace is that they sell the battery cheaply, i.e., €2000 for 1 kWh, which is 8 times more expensive than for an EV and consumes about 7 liters in the city (1 kWh for an EV is about €250). Toyota definitely has the cheapest hybrid battery system in the world. The people who drive them just don’t know that the system degrades very quickly, and the car doesn’t trigger an error, but it’s noticeable that the city savings are less because the cells in the middle are no longer 6.5Ah in capacity but 2Ah or even less. It takes just one weak cell for the whole system to perform poorly. Some even connect a Bluetooth OBD diagnostic tool and clear the error while driving, and keep driving like that until the car completely stops. We service two large taxi fleets, and when the batteries reach 200k-250k km, they arrive destroyed with 8-15 damaged cells, which is more than half of the battery pack. Then, some battery systems come to us that have already been opened with signatures from 2-3 different mechanics at 400k km. So, we really don’t understand where the fanaticism around Toyota hybrids comes from—claims that the battery is “never a problem,” lasts millions of kilometers, and that it’s the best technology ever!? The only phenomenal thing here is the price of a new battery, if the fuel savings even allow that cost to be amortized over at least 200k km.
Preventive measures to extend the life of Toyota’s battery include using air conditioning in the summer to cool the feet, so the battery in the rear passenger compartment can suck in cool air.
Another measure is to disassemble the battery every 50,000 km, open it up, and clean all the “breathing” cooling channels, which can partially extend the battery’s lifespan. Because it seems that just one trip and overheating is enough to damage the battery, regardless of how many kilometers it has.
Conclusion:
- Their batteries do fail
- They are easily repairable
- Parts are very accessible
- Batteries are cooked by 150k km
- Preventive maintenance is a no-brainer
- Toyota has the most sustainable hybrid system of all
- Battery is poorly designed
- Battery has a high tolerance for failure, doesn’t trigger an error
- The cheapest new hybrid battery on the market
– Zaraza zvana “hybrid” mutirala u “Milf Hybrid”, sistem gdje sad za još više love dobijete još manje. Sistem gdje je alternator ujedno i alnaser, radi na 48 volti preko VFD trofaznog invertera montiranog na motoru sa baredie HEXFET koji se hladi anrifrizom, hladi tj. grije antifrizom na 95 stupnjeva da što prije crkne. Elektromotor samo pomaže fosilnoj prdilici da uštedite nešto love za sponzoriranje ovlastenog servisa ili nas, znači ne možete voziti elektromotorom samostalno kao kod klasičnih Hybrida za sponzoriranje vikendica. Već nekoliko poziva smo imali na ovu temu, ali niti jedan nije došao na analizu. Čak je jedan zemo gastarbajter koji radi u ovlaštenom servisu u Minkenu nudio 100 komada neispravnih da kupimo po 100€, on kao slučajno izvadi iz smeća i mi kao kupimo, kažu “nikad ništa” “nikad se ne kvari” “samo toči vozi” do prvog servisa. Toliko se ne kvare da ih je 100 komada u smeću. Kod kvara elektromotora (aka MHD alnaser) tad ni fosilni motor ne pali a ovaj kvar po “zviždačkim” informacijama nastupa već nakon 50000km. Problem je na svu sreću ne riješiv, kod izgaranja HEXFET ne postoji jednostavan način odvajanja baredie nosača od alu hladnjaka pa da se stavi novi dio. Čak i da postoji metoda ravna tvorničkoj kvaliteti, ovaj škart nije napravljen da bude ispravan ni kad je nov jer su nešto fulali u dizajnu. Znači zabrinjavajuca je činjenica da je ovo još nekvalitetnija inačica Hybridnog škarta, zabrinjavajuća najviše što vrlo često čujemo kukanja mehaničara koji naprave obični servis na autu pa im se stranka vrati sa izgovorima “da je sve radilo prije pa sad ne radi od kako je servis napravljen”. Naravno klasične ucjene djibera da im mehaničari snose troškove održavanja škarta. Preporuke kolegama: izbjegavajte rad na ovim vozilima.
