When the Toyota Prius HV battery fails.

welshdude, Oct 9, 9:15pm
Can the car be driven long term using the petrol engine like a conventional car . or does the computer say no, you must go replace the battery?

elect70, Oct 9, 9:48pm
Good question , friend has older 1 but too worried about that & wont drive it anywhere but in town only .

griev, Oct 9, 9:52pm
There are places that can import good second hand batteries for a fraction of the new costs,

Not sure who, but I was driving in a car and the owner had one and that's what he did

timmo1, Oct 9, 10:40pm
I don't see what the fear is about really. I mean we don't just drive ICE powered cars only around town in case the engine fails, even though the chances of that happening are roughly the same as for a prius/hybrid.
Furthermore, people don't really factor in the cost of an engine replacement for an ICE powered car. even though the price of replacement batteries regularly comes up in discussion when considering to buy a hybrid. Fear of the unknown I guess.

elect70, Oct 10, 3:37am
^^^The question was is it Ok to run on the ICE engine continuously , if the battery pack fails ?

welshdude, Oct 11, 6:33am
Thanks Tony. You know this to be a fact?

xs1100, Oct 11, 6:44am
yeh that's the problem with hybrids it costs more in "greenie terms" to run a hybrid than a v8 by the time you allow for disposal of the battery and the production of a new one

emmerson1, Oct 12, 12:31pm
Yeah, nah. I don't know for sure, but I think I remember someone saying that if the main battery is dead it won't go at all.

rctr, Oct 12, 6:10pm
Does Prius have a 12 v starter for engine? If not will need battery power to start the engine.

nanju, Oct 13, 12:34am
Yes the Prius has a normal 12v battery as well. Yes you can drive the car on petrol only. I have owned two Prius and now have a Camry hybrid. Batteries have an 8 year warranty and are not as expensive to replace as most people think. Toyota trade in the used battery which brings the replacement cost down to around $2300 fitted. Again, apparently very few batteries have actually failed.

intrade, Feb 18, 9:21am
there is forums batterys usually some cells fail and you can replace these but of course you would need to know what your doing and know how to handle high voltage wiring . Shortening a hybrid battery will have a way more devestating effect then shortening the 12volt battery of a normal car and we all know how dangerous the shortening of a normal 12 volt battery is.
there is specific hybrid trainings , i managed to listen in on messe frankfurt on the chevrolet -opel- holden ampera training seminar
high voltage savety gloves tripple checking and correct disable of a vehicle even when draining engine oil is required to name a few simple things.