Honda Car Forum

I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
fails after eight years? Suppliers I spoke with said new batteries for
the vehicle in question cost six thousand dollars! Does anybody really
know how long these batteries will last? Am I taking a substantial
risk by buying a hybrid car?

Any and all observations welcome. Matthew

If you are buying the hybrid thinking it will save you money in the long run
forget it. I saw an article recently on a coast to coast comparison between
the Hybrid and the Civic and there was little difference in fuel economy.


"Matthew Lasar" <matthew@lasarletter.com> wrote in message
news:5e4c628e.0405221104.275bd313@posting.google.c om...
> I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
> I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
> electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
> fails after eight years? Suppliers I spoke with said new batteries for
> the vehicle in question cost six thousand dollars! Does anybody really
> know how long these batteries will last? Am I taking a substantial
> risk by buying a hybrid car?
>
> Any and all observations welcome. Matthew

"Woody" <TheDuck@pond.net> wrote in message
news:QaOrc.10731$eH1.5851888@newssvr28.news.prodig y.com...
> If you are buying the hybrid thinking it will save you money in the long
run
> forget it. I saw an article recently on a coast to coast comparison
between
> the Hybrid and the Civic and there was little difference in fuel economy.
>

Not to discount the OP's question, a "coast to coast" fuel economy
comparison plays to the strength of the conventional engine and the weakness
of the hybrid.

In article <5e4c628e.0405221104.275bd313@posting.google.com >,
matthew@lasarletter.com (Matthew Lasar) wrote:

> I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
> I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
> electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
> fails after eight years? Suppliers I spoke with said new batteries for
> the vehicle in question cost six thousand dollars! Does anybody really
> know how long these batteries will last? Am I taking a substantial
> risk by buying a hybrid car?
>
> Any and all observations welcome. Matthew

Do they still make the HX?

My guess is that the hybrid battery pack won't cost very much in 8
years. It's going to be old technology. With any luck, we'll have
automotive fuel cells in 10 years so we can stop with all the internal
combustion engine milage and emissions tricks.

In article <5e4c628e.0405221104.275bd313@posting.google.com >,
matthew@lasarletter.com (Matthew Lasar) wrote:

> I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
> I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
> electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
> fails after eight years?

Bingo.

Honda will try to tell you that "oh, by then the cost of the batteries
will be way down." Uh-huh. Sure.

In article <5e4c628e.0405221104.275bd313@posting.google.com >, matthew@lasarletter.com (Matthew Lasar) wrote:
>But what if the battery
>fails after eight years? Suppliers I spoke with said new batteries for
>the vehicle in question cost six thousand dollars! Does anybody really
>know how long these batteries will last? Am I taking a substantial
>risk by buying a hybrid car?

Will it fail in 8 years? Don't know. Wouldn't believe any answer
you get here. The NiMH batteries used by Honda are run on a very
shallow state of charge cycle, and at conservative powers, as
opposed to a pure EV where they are deep cycled.. Presumably
this will greatly help their lifetime. But aside from someone who
is directly working with this battery technology, and even then,
data on the lifetime is probably not definitive or easy to come
by..

$6K?? First, call your local Honda parts dept and ask what they
charge for a new battery. I'd guess more like $1500. But there
are other parts such as the motor and power control electronics
that might also eventually need replacing.

What will it cost in 8 years? Yes, the technology will get
cheaper, *if* it is widely supported. Honda probably is obliged
to carry replacement parts for longer than that. But if for some
reason the technology turns into a dead-end, they may not be
cheap. Still, my guess is they'll be cheaper. But that's only a
reasonable guess.

The battery pack is made up of D-cell NiMH batteries. If you go to
http://www.digikey.com you can buy enough batteries of the same
(actually a little higher) capacity to build a new battery pack for
$1800. I am not suggesting that anyone would do this, but it gives a
reference on the cost of the battery packs.

My guess is that you'll take a bigger hit on resale value than on
battery replacement if you keep that car long enough to worry about
replacing the batteries. If I were to buy an 8 year old car, I would
much prefer a conventional than a hybrid.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote:
>
> In article <5e4c628e.0405221104.275bd313@posting.google.com >,
> matthew@lasarletter.com (Matthew Lasar) wrote:
>
> > I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
> > I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
> > electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
> > fails after eight years?
>
> Bingo.
>
> Honda will try to tell you that "oh, by then the cost of the batteries
> will be way down." Uh-huh. Sure.

The $6k figure is taken out of thin air. More than likely, not a single
one of these battery packs have ever been sold to any car owner. What
type of suppliers were these? After-market automotive places?


Matthew Lasar wrote:
>
> I really want to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I'm scared. The dealer
> I spoke with yesterday said that you get an eight year warranty on the
> electric motor battery in a Honda Hybrid. But what if the battery
> fails after eight years? Suppliers I spoke with said new batteries for
> the vehicle in question cost six thousand dollars! Does anybody really
> know how long these batteries will last? Am I taking a substantial
> risk by buying a hybrid car?
>
> Any and all observations welcome. Matthew

In article <40AFCA82.9C17CC6D@junkmail.com>,
Randolph <trash@junkmail.com> wrote:

> The $6k figure is taken out of thin air. More than likely, not a single
> one of these battery packs have ever been sold to any car owner.

You mean to tell me that not one single Hybrid has ever been in an
accident such that the battery packs have needed replaced?

Get a life, man. The battery packs are on the current price list, and
any parts man can look them up. No thin air whatsoever.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 06:30:49 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"
<elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:

>In article <40AFCA82.9C17CC6D@junkmail.com>,
> Randolph <trash@junkmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The $6k figure is taken out of thin air. More than likely, not a single
>> one of these battery packs have ever been sold to any car owner.
>
>You mean to tell me that not one single Hybrid has ever been in an
>accident such that the battery packs have needed replaced?
>
>Get a life, man. The battery packs are on the current price list, and
>any parts man can look them up. No thin air whatsoever.

I don't see the battery price at www.hondaautomotiveparts.com for any
hybrid model.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??