Hybrid batteries are expensive. If you are starting to have trouble with your hybrid battery, you may not have to buy a new unit. There is a way to fix the battery.
In this article, let’s take a look at how you should recondition hybrid batteries. Let’s begin! The most commonly used hybrid battery is the nickel metal hydride or NiMH battery. It is among the best types of batteries ever made, and it has been used for the more than a decade to power hybrid cars of a number of over 7 million worldwide. That’s a lot of cars.
Then there are the cells of the hybrid batteries. Older hybrid cars have around 120 cells for each of the battery packs. Newer hybrid cars have about 168 to 228 cells. Multiply these cells by the number of hybrid cars running in the world, and we have over a billion NiMH cells being used. Imagine the waste if these batteries are immediately disposed of.
It’s a good thing that there are ways to recondition them. Usually, the problem arises with hybrid batteries when they are left to be discharged completely. When this happens, they lose their capacity to hold power faster compared to ones that are charged immediately before being completely discharged.
Basic Construction Of A Hybrid Battery
To understand hybrid batteries better, let us take a look at its construction. Hybrid batteries are composed of numerous cells. These cells are wired in series and then placed in a container that can either be made of metal or plastic. These are then called sticks, cassettes, or modules. It depends on what the manufacturer calls them.
Plenty of these modules are packaged as packs with several subsystems supporting the pack. To ensure that the battery has a safe and long life, relays, high voltage detection, amperage management, voltage, heating, and cooling are added.
What To Do About Your Old Hybrid Battery
What will you do if you think that your hybrid battery has gone flat and is seemingly useless? Will you immediately go and buy a new one? That could be an option. But then again, it is going to cost you a lot of money. Should you find a shop that can fix it? You can do that as well. If it is still within the coverage of its warranty, then you won’t have any problem with that.
However, if the battery is beyond its warranty already, then you will have to shell out a considerable amount because your hybrid battery is arguably the car’s most expensive part. You may also be thinking about going to your friendly local shop.
But you may probably find out that the local repair guy is not equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills to fix your high-voltage hybrid battery and will just send you to another shop. What are you to do then? This is where restoring your hybrid battery comes in.
Hybrid Battery Reconditioning
Hybrid cars are a great innovation in terms of having a car that is energy efficient and environmentally-friendly. It has two main parts, so it is quite easy to get how it works compared to a traditional vehicle. You have in your car its electric motor and its hybrid battery. Hybrid cars can cover over 200,000 miles with a brand new hybrid battery.
But after some years of service, you may notice that the car is not performing up to its optimal level anymore. This is the time that you should know what to do.
If the damage or issue with the battery happened within the time frame of the battery’s warranty, it could easily be replaced by the hybrid battery’s manufacturer. But we can expect hybrid batteries to last long so any issue will most probably arise after the warranty has already expired.
The most convenient option is to buy a new hybrid battery. But you should know upfront that it is going to burn a hole through your wallet at $3,000 for a new unit. So, since you most probably would not want to spend all that money for a new hybrid car battery, reconditioning it is the next best option.
For having your hybrid battery revived, you may still have to spend some money but not as much as buying a new unit. As what i have stated above, the hybrid battery has in the modules. Some cars may have less while some may have more. Regardless of the number of modules a hybrid battery has, they all work based on the same idea. So the number of modules is not that important.
The principle of reconditioning the hybrid car battery will work just the same. You ought to know as well that when the hybrid battery’s manufacturers receive a damaged battery, what they do is they just repair the damaged parts so that they will work again. When all is working well and the battery functions like new, the manufacturers will place them back to their stores to sell them. You can do the same actually.
To repair you hybrid battery, identify which of the modules are damaged. Replace the damaged modules, and you can expect your hybrid battery to work again. You can do this on your own if you have sufficient skill and knowledge. You do have to remember to be cautious every step of the way because handling any battery can be dangerous if the processes are not done properly.
You can also have it repaired by an expert. If you do so, prepare a budget of around $700. It may still be a lot of money but not as much compared to buying a new unit. When the fixing of the hybrid battery is successful, you can expect to use it for the next seven years. (I have an article ready for you to read on other types of car battery recondition guide here).
Conclusion
Now you have an idea of how hybrid batteries work and how to recondition your hybrid battery. Hopefully, this article has helped you with your issues about your battery. If you have more questions about it or about any other battery type, just send me an email, and i’ll send you other helpful information.
