Income Tax Rates

Those (thinking about|considering buying a hybrid car may be more than a little worried about what lies under the bonnet. Hybrid cars have partially battery-powered motors. Since a battery powered engines is not something that typically springs to mind when you think about what is driving a car, it's a good idea to get an understanding of hybrid car battery packs. You will find a few facts about them underneath.

Hybrid car battery packs do not need to be replaced like torch batteries do. Made to last over the lifetime of the vehicle, a hybrid car's warranty covers the battery for a time period that lasts between eight and ten years. In terms of mileage, a hybrid car battery pack is expected to last between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, and it probably will last longer than that.

The toxicity of hybrid car battery packs is a worry, but not a major concern, since hybrid car batteries use NiMH batteries, not the cheaper rechargeable nickel cadmium ones. Nickel cadmium batteries can be damaging to the environment if not disposed of professionally, but the NiMH batteries that are sold in in hybrid car battery packs are very safe and fully recyclable.

Hybrid car battery packs contain hundreds and hundreds of cells. Several hundreds of cells means that hybrid cars have a complex battery beneath their bonnets, and, it is true, complexity usually means expensive, but with the generous guarantee hybrid car manufacturers are giving on these cars, there is very little risk of additional massive expense from the battery pack involved in buying a hybrid car.

The number of hybrid car battery pack failures has been really low. When I say low, I mean negligible. If failure does happen, it's usually before the hybrid car even leaves the lot. Toyota has even said that some of its original Prius hybrid models have battery packs that have lasted over 300,000 miles.

The cost of renewing hybrid car battery packs isn't really even a problem. It isn't a problem because the hybrid car battery packs are built for longevity. The Department of Energy looked into hybrid cars, but stopped its tests when the capacity was determined to be "just like new" after 160,000 miles. So, very few people really seem to know for sure what it costs to replace hybrid car battery packs.

Hybrid car battery packs are evolving very quickly. If we look into the near future, we can see the next generation of hybrid car batteries is already in the works. The goal is, naturally, to develop the technology so that it provides lots of power, outlives the hybrid car's lifetime, and costs less to make than it does today.

If your hybrid car battery pack does run out, there is a solution. Toyota has put out some advice on what to do if your hybrid battery should run out after the warranty has ended. The advice is to have the battery reconditioned. This solution works well because if something goes wrong, the problem usually lies within only one of the 28 modules that the battery is made up of.

The solution is to simply replace the depleted module with one that matches the chemistry of the hybrid car battery pack's remaining 27 modules, your hybrid car's battery should be back in good shape. You can buy a matching module by getting a battery pack from another hybrid car of a similar mileage and age.