On Hybrid Battery Life......

[RX400h]

"Toyota has been tracking battery life of its hybrid cars, on sale in Japan since 1997 (and over here since 2000). The latest word is that the hybrid battery pack - note, not the ordinary 12-volt battery running "hotel loads" - is good for the design life of the car.

Engineers usually figure this at 150,000 miles, with an expected bell curve of low and high extremes.

The reason for this longevity is interesting, and it also augurs poorly for the plug-in hybrid concept. The greatest chemical stress on any battery occurs at its operational extremes, the last 20 percent before full discharge and the top 20 percent of full recharge.

To avoid these extremes and enhance life, Toyota's hybrid battery pack is designed to operate at 60-percent charge, +/- 10 percent. Under extreme conditions, this is stretched perhaps another 5 percent in either direction. Therefore, the hybrid battery pack spends most of its life at 50-to-70-percent charge, avoiding the detrimental effects of low or high extremes.

By contrast, a plug-in hybrid car gains range and performance by exploiting this plug-in pack to the fullest. As wth ordinary rechargeable batteries, it's likely to trade longevity for this capability."

[Rx330driver]

lol? thanks?

Toyota has to make a 6 year warranty on those batteries anyways...so unless your going to keep your rx400h for 6+ years, you dont have to worry about anything. I read somewhere that the priuses sold in japan have this button that we dont get here. It allows the car to stay in battery mode up to 40mph. the reason we dont get that button here is because the US makes them give that warranty, something they dont have in japan

[RX400h]

I think the battery warranty is eight or ten years. Of course, you'd have to try to calculate whether the cost of new batteries offsets the higher mileage. It's funny how no matter how well some things are engineered, there's always someone who has a "better" idea. Many are well-researched, but the plug-in concept, I'm afraid, was not.

Dave