wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Just under $2000 for everything. Considering that the car had been driven year in and year out for 20 years, mostly within a 50 mile radius (13K to 15K miles per year), it could be considered as if it was a "rebuild". But the real savings are that it has been driven at 46 or more mpg (the average American car is 23/25 mpg), he has saved more money than the cost of the new battery. Unless the car rusts out, or becomes mechanically damaged beyond repair, he plans on another 200K/300K miles for the car.

I suspect that the cost for the new battery is relatively cheap because he used a company that specializes in hybrid and electric car battery replacement.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Very reasonable considering the life of the battery.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

About 15 cents a mile.

I get 37mpg highway, at $4 a gallon, that's about 10 cents a mile with gas;
at 27 mpg around town, that's about 15 cents per mile.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

So the 20 year old Prius was reportedly driven 13-15K miles/year for 20 years (280,000 miles) returning an average of 46 MPG and after 20 years required a $2,000 battery pack. Over that 20 years, the average gasoline price has varied from ~$1.20/gal in 2000 to $3.53/gal today, so let’s settle on the 2010 average of $2.80/gal. That’s around 17K$ for gas + 2K$ for the battery or just under 7 cents/mile by my calculation and the battery was only about 12% of the total cost. I think those are pretty good numbers assuming you want to drive a Prius hybrid. Of course the question is would you spend 2K$ on a 20 year old car with 280,000 miles that’s maybe worth about the cost of the battery?

In the end, the cost of operation of most cars is driven by depreciation, which is typically as much or more than fuel and maintenance. By the time you add depreciation, taxes, routine maintenance (including tires), insurance, interest on the car loan (unless you paid cash) and gas, you’re hard pressed to drive a decent car for much less that the current government reimbursement rate of $.56/mile (although there are exceptions such as the above).

wham121736 Loc: Long Island, New York

Timely message. Recently purchased a used Canon 80D, which I love. It came with two batteries which my charger can only charge to about 20%. I thought it was a problem with my charger or a mismatch. Now I understand the issue and will purchase two new Li batteries and treat them appropriately. Thanks for the information.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

This is all interesting, but in the case of the many workshop tools I own that are battery operated, there isn't any alert to tell me when the battery is about to need a charge. It just stops working. I rarely use one of those tools over the winter, but I do remove the batteries. Hopefully, they will recharge come spring.

BebuLamar

Don't worry you have to buy batteries for those tools many times before the tools wear out and no longer usable. The cost of batteries on those tools are way more than the cost of the tools. So the manufacturers have no interest in keeping your batteries long lasting.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Printer inks = power tool batteries !

It's where they make their money from.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Have you checked both the tool and the battery for an indicator? Both my Porter Cable and Ryobi tools have a battery check - you have to look carefully for the spot and press it for the indicator to light. Check your owner’s manual and see if your’s has an indicator as well.

Paul Diamond Loc: Atlanta, GA, USA

Suggest that you watch videos of the construction of a Tesla vehicle, esp. where the batteries are put in the chassis as well as if there is any "access" to them after the sale. From what I have seen, the answer is - not easily acccessable, and very, very expensive for the batteries as well as the service to cut apart some of the 'frame' of the underside of the car to access and replace them. I have not seen any estimate of the cost to replace these batteries. I do expect it to be what you or I would consider 'extreme.'

In Israel, an entrepreneur started a company selling electric battery powered Renault cars. You would exhaust your battery's charge, go to a 'dealer' for a freshly charged battery tray, which easily 'slid' into a compartment under the floor board and you drove away. The cost for this service was within reason compared to buying gasoline. This concept seems very successful in Israel, based upon what I have read. (Surprising that no electric car company in the USA has not thought about duplicating this concept in America???)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

It’s probably because we remember the infamous Renault Dauphine

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

An update !

Printer inks = power tool batteries = electric car batteries !

It's where they make their money from.

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

I would have to say I notice the same thing, even when I leave the battery charging overnight.

BebuLamar

Most Li-Ion battery charger would shut off after fully charge the battery because it's bad to overcharge even trickle charging. Li-Ion doesn't have high self discharge rate so trickle charging isn't needed.