by Colin Jones

Those considering buying a hybrid car may be more than a little concerned about what is under the bonnet. Hybrid cars have partially battery-powered motors. Since a battery powered motors is not something that typically springs to mind when you think about what is powering a vehicle, it's a good idea to get some sort of an understanding of hybrid car battery packs. You will find a few salient details 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 guarantee 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 concern, but not a major problem, since hybrid car batteries use NiMH batteries, not the cheaper rechargeable nickel cadmium ones. Nickel cadmium batteries can be detrimental to the environment if not disposed of correctly, but the NiMH batteries that are sold in in hybrid car battery packs are very safe and fully recyclable.

Hybrid car battery packs are made up of hundreds and hundreds of cells. Several hundred cells means that hybrid cars have a complex battery structure beneath their bonnets, and, it is true, complexity usually means expensive, but with the generous guarantee hybrid car manufacturers are giving on their vehicles, there is not much 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 really low. If failure happens, it's probably before the hybrid car even gets off the lot. Toyota has even declared that some of its original Prius models have packs that have gone over 300,000 miles.

The cost of replacing hybrid car battery packs isn't really even an issue It isn't an issue because the hybrid car battery packs are built to last. The Department of Energy looked into hybrid cars, but stopped its test when the capacity was "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 discover 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.

So, if you simply replace the problematic module with one that matches the chemistry of the other 27 modules, your hybrid car's battery should be back in good shape. You can find a match by getting a battery pack from another car that has a similar mileage and age.

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