Does anyone know how many miles does an average toyota Prius last before the battery (or something of the like) fails and needs replacement.
I think they expect the battery to last at least 5 years. Mileage is not factored in as far as I know.
I have a friend who has a 2005 Prius with 100,000 miles and has never had the battery replaced. I ride to a rehearsal with him at least once a month in this car and it runs very well.
Prius cars in taxi use have logged as much as 250,000 miles without any battery failure. I can’t vouch for batteries in other hybrid vehicles.
Some fail starting at 100k or so, but the vast majority of Prius cars are on their original battery.
Thanks for your input!!
And it’s typically just a few cells that fail. Those cells can be replaced at a significantly lower cost than buying a new battery.
CR has done a follow up on one of the earlier 10 year old Prius with over 200k miles and no batty replacement. Those used as taxis report replacement needed in about 300k miles. You may complain, but nothing else appears to go wrong while other cars need motor and or transmission work done by 300k miles. If you compare the battery to a motor job, it’s a good deal.
Battery life is not dependant upon mileage.
What really kills a hybrid, NiMH, battery is lack of use. Not driving your car is harder on the battery than extra miles. Thus buying a very low mileage used example may mean battery replacement sooner than buying a used car with normal or higher mileage.