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In our view, current hybrid designs with small, overworked batteries and a primary ICE engine are not truly sustainable. We have 7 severe cases: a Mercedes w205 with a burnt and cooked battery, a boiled VW GTE, 2 Kias with burnt and cooked batteries, a Porsche Panamera with a burnt and cooked battery, and 3 Toyota Priuses with burnt and cooked batteries. Choosing to drive a new diesel or a hybrid carries significant risks and costs, Besides being unreliable with very expensive failures, the savings are placebo and maintenance costs at 150k km can cost up to €20,000. A 2017 Kia Optima Plugin with only 160k km came in with a battery failure, hoping it was just a few cells, we called the owner in for diagnostics and repair. After disassembly and measurement, we found all cells to be inflated, cooked, and totally degraded. The system is air-cooled. According to the owner, the issue may have been simply reset during previous warranty service visits, giving a false impression that ‘everything is fine’ without actually fixing the problem. However, it is not fine, and on the third vehicle, by deceiving the owner, they erase the error via OBD to turn off the malfunction light and temporarily “solve the problem”. Potential KMAG warranty abuse according the owner on a battery that should be subject to an automatic global recall as the swelling of cells is a “safety risk” and could potentially cause a fire if a cell breaches the battery case. A new battery costs about €17,000 to replace for a 9kWh battery. The cells are LG Chem, non-standard dimensions 17x24x0.6 with a capacity of 27Ah. The internal resistance of the cells is about 4mOhm (2 is actually for recycling). Since it’s not just a couple of defective cells but the entire battery pack, repair is not possible. It’s not possible in that quantity because there are no new cells to replace it. At ~160,000 km, the vehicle in this case was beyond economical repair (effectively a total loss). Now you might wonder why? because much of the mainstream media coverage has portrayed EVs negatively while painting hybrids and diesels in a better light. Every day social media is full of the same propaganda and demonizing headlines against EVs. In practice, it’s quite different, only the Nissan Leaf has an irreparable battery, while every hybrid is a pile of expensive problem at 200k. The only hybrid that would theoretically be sustainable is with at least a 40-50kWh battery, primary electric drive, and a generator that recharges, like the BMW REX system, everything else is just costing you more, not saving you money.

OEM Price Kia: €17,000. 150k km
Mercedes: €15,000 160k km
Porsche: €18,000 180k km
VW GTE: €12,000 180k km
EVC: not repairable, needs new battery design and production – €8,000-€16,000

Part number: 37503-A8510, 37506-E6610

Error: P0A7F, P1B96

Hybrids strike back with an invasion, while we complain about sponsored hybrid subsidized vacations. Every new hybrid that comes with Toyota’s “self-discharging” system in defect makes us more certain that our final review of them will definitely be the pinnacle soon, but the hint itself suggests that everything they release is just good marketing and that Toyota is the future Nokia. Every electrified product they have is a complete disappointment from a technical standpoint, and the BZ4X is a total failure of the powertrain system. Every battery system they have is quite cooked and degraded by 30-50% already at 100,000 km, but to avoid the error light turning on, they have implemented their own DTC OFF (colleagues know the terminology), meaning they have disabled the check engine light. It’s like when people deactivate the EGR on a Golf, Toyota has deactivated the fault code for battery failure. Then, with that same battery, people swear that they “never had to replace it” and that it’s still working fine. At 150,000-200,000 km, the battery is already burned with only 20% of its original state of health (SOH) capacity because the average cells, which started at 6.5Ah, are burned down to just 1Ah in total. In some cases, replacing some cells and reconditioning can keep it running for a while, but in other cases, all cells need to be replaced, which costs over 2,000-2,500 euros just for the material. The Honda Civic’s battery failed at 200k, and a new one costs 4,300 euros, plus the replacement at an authorized service. Granted, it also has years of use, but the fuel savings of 1.5 liters per 100 km with the presence of the battery amount to amortization of around 3,000-3,500 euros over 200k km, and that’s just one component of the hybrid system that drives around as additional weight for the sake of “savings.” The savings are only visible in the wallets of those who promote it.

HRVATKSI
Hybridi uzvraćaju invazijom a mi se kao bunimo na sponzorirani beneficirani godišnji odmor. Svaki novi hybrid koji dodje sa toyotinim “samošupljivim” sustavom u defektu sve smo sigurniji da će finalni osvrt na njih u skorije vrijeme definitivno biti vrhunac, ali sam nagovještaj se da naslutiti da je sve sto oni izbace samo dobar marketing i da je Toyota buduća Nokija. Svaki elektrificirani proizvod im je sa tehičke strane potpuno razočarenje, BZ4X im je totalni promasaj powertrain sustava. Svaki baterijski sustav im je poprilično skuhan i degradiran 30-50% vec na 100000km, ali kako se nebi greška palila oni su sami sebi implementirali DTC OFF (kolege znaju terminologiju) tj isključili paljenje checkengine lampice. Kao kad ekipa na Golfu deaktivira EGR, tako je toyota deaktvirala paljenje greske na kvar baterije. Onda se tom istom baterijom ekipa kune kako je “nikad nije mjenjala” i kako je još ispravna. Na 150000-200000km baterija je spaljena vec na 20% SOH kapaciteta jer su srednje celije sa pocetnih 6.5Ah spaljene na ukupno 1Ah. U nekim slucajevima izmjena nekih ćelija i rekondicioniranje moze drzati neko vrijeme, ali u nekim slucajeva moraju se mjenjati sve celije što samo u materijalu izadje preko 2000-2500 eura. Hondi Civic je baterija zaribala vec na 200k i nova dodje 4300€ plus izmjena u ovlaštenom servisu. Doduše ima i godina ali ušteda goriva od 1.5l postojanjem baterije na 100km je amortizacija oko 3000-3500€ na 200k km a to je samo jedna komponenta hybridnog sustava koja se voza okolo kao dodatna masa radi “uštede”. Ušteda je vidljiva samo u novčanicima onih koji to odražavaju.

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