Expensive hybrid battery
 

I tend to keep my cars for a long time and I was very tempted to go fo a two year old low mileage V60 D5 Hybrid. After a bit of research with my local dealer I was told replacing a hybrid battery would cost over £15000. Wow!! Surely this is wrong. I know that replacing individual cells would be far cheaper, but after 3000+ charge cycles over 10 years I suspect the Li-Ion battery would probably be knackered.

I think the decimal point is in the wrong place. Normally between £1-2,000.

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/own/mai...volvo-warranty

https://www.toyota.co.uk/hybrid/hybrid-faq/batteries

Many cars on the road today will cost 15k to replace the engine with a new one, doesn't seem to stop people buying them tho, also they tend to have a 3 year/ 60k warranty from new
, battery pack with the volvo plug in has 8 year/100,00 mile warranty!

That seems more likely. I'll contact them again tomorrow morning. He definitely said £15000, but you probably spotted his error.

Some hybrid batteries are £20,000+

Do not be surprised at 15,000 GBP.

That is for buying a new battery pack TODAY , there is an 8 year warranty on the battery . Volvo have been planning a reconditioning service for the last 5 years , they already have a few people qualified to rebuild the battery packs , and as time goes on better cheaper cells are coming on line . I daresay there are independent companies doing the same , what happens to all the old toyota prius cars ? A new battery for a T8 is £20,000 + It stops people buying them up for their own project cars of course .

If it really is about £15000 that means the hybrid would only be worth scrap value once the hybrid battery had reached end of life. Therefore, not really a car for someone who intends to keep it over 10 years.

But nobody is going to buy a new battery , they will be getting it reconditioned when the time comes which is not in the near future .

I think the issue is that most engines never really ‘fail’ as such, I for example have been driving high mileages at upto 150,000 and have never had an engine fail.

Also I don’t believe any engine costs anywhere near 15k unless a warranty job through a dealership. A friend has had an 18month old M140i engine replaced with a salvage version for 7k all in, most normal replacements are 2 to 4k.

The issue at the moment is that Battery hybrid packs are still niche and if the dealer says 15k you don’t really have a great deal of choice. As Clan says, give it 10 years and perhaps it will be different.

Even if the hybrid battery is still good (and I don’t think the average person can tell) then your T8 is still going to be worth little as people know you have a 15k pack that will potentially fail.

£14,000 quote for hybrid battery replacement
 

Before buying my V60 hybrid I asked a local Volvo dealership how much a battery replacement would cost and they told me £14,000.


Mine is ten years old and works corectly. I don't know what other parts such as a new engine would cost but of course scrapped ones are available and individual parts so that overhaul is normal.


Batteries from a scrapyard will no doubt become available but repairing a battery by replacing components doesn't seem to be a common procedure for Volvos at present. That has to change if the cars are going to be sustainable past their warranty period.


I like Volvos because they last so well but the electric type don't seem to be adequately supported.

where did you get that info from? Every dealer should have a fully trained person to repair / rebuild batteries .

An awful lot of serious money is being invested around the world to build plants that can refurbish or recycle EV batteries. I understand refurbishing batteries can be extremely dangerous and some countries won’t allow it to be done on their soil.

Like many people on this forum, I’m not an expert on battery technology, but I do read what has been written by experts. According to EDF, VW are planning to build a plant that will take depleted batteries and assess them. Some batteries will be refurbished, some will be repurposed, and some will be recycled to reclaim the precious metals. Refurbished batteries will probably have 80% of original capacity.

I’m not sure how much you think a Volvo technician will able to do at your local dealership, but I doubt it would be more than replacing a depleted cell with a new one.

12v lead acid batteries can also be refurbished, but I don’t think you’ll ever see your local dealership doing it.

Exactly , It wont be for a while but they are trained and set up for doing so .

You can bet that this reclaimed battery facility is nothing more than taking a sledge out of the car and scavenging the good cells for re-purposing (Laptops & Cordless tools etc) and the shot cells will still end up being your great grand kids problem towards the end of the century,

They will sell it like a foundry melting down metal into new metal sheets though.

If you watch a lot of car TV you will have seen Ralph Hosier on a few things. His engineering company is now offering courses to fix and recondition EV and hybrid battery packs.

So yes there will soon be a battery centre in every major town.

They could simplify it by making cell packs like bee honeycombs, then the mechanic would only have to open a door on a section of the pack and replace an individual cell each time in a matter of minutes, a cell that currently costs about £8 each retail and a lot less trade,

Lots of folks are rushing in without considering a few things, the electric motor will suffer the same fate as any washing machine over time and be U/S to the average diy mechanic, the batteries rely on coolant more so than the ice does and heat ain't a good thing mixed with all the cells it takes to make a pack,

Anyway I'm decided, when diesel is banned I'm taking the then old girl in for a Mr Fusion fitment although I'll be limited to 88 MILES AN HOUR!!!! :teeth_smile:

Did you get the factory Flux Capacitor option?

Can't see Diesel being banned in my lifetime, too many existing vehicles and plant running on it. Whilst battery and hydrogen will offer alternative car propulsion, there's no substitute for a big diesel engine in military and construction equipment.

Diesel seems to be making a comeback in the hybrids so maybe someone who kneejerked has been replaced by a thinker who knows it's going to have to be something really special to beat the old oil burning no chance of a fire in a crash, reliable, torque in spades, sipper, lower co2, heavy fuel,

When you look at it most of the petrol hybrids only get near or match diesel mpg so why lug two engines around one of which becomes a drag when discharged anyway,

Had they not demonised it by now we'd be on Euro 9 and not a drop of nox emitted.

I just wish mine was a bit quieter mechanically below 45/50mph !
But it does force me to use and generate charge as much charge as possible.

I've also read a few times recently of typical battery life (of various brands) being around 80% at 10 years old. That suggests it might still be 66% at 15 years old. Can't see many people worrying much beyond that as being an issue !