Got my first hybrid after 20+ years of ice only cars from Toyota, Honda and Subaru. Now have a new 21 rav4 hybrid limited after 4 months of waiting. Toyota has been in the hyrbid tech world for almost 25 years, their technology is the best in the industry and utterly bulletproof with hybrid batteries now having 100k warranties.
The hybrid system will turn the engine on if recharge is needed or the warmup the engine for efficiency and keep everything lubricated. Only the Prime has an electric heat pump for cabin heat. It only works above 15F. It does run the engine in the winter to produce heat. Charge to 12.5v. Car worked like new. Few days later after not driving for 36 hours, checked battery, it’s down to 11.5v. Spoke with Toyota to query it and was told- Hybrid batteries are smaller than non hybrid, they run flat quicker, I need to take car for a “decent” drive every few days (30mins doing 80km or above) to keep charge.Toyota estimated 10 years for the battery when we bought it, but we expect it will end up lasting longer than that. The car has a little over 160K miles on it. BEV batteries(*) generally last longer than many PHEV batteries because they have much better liquid cooling systems for keeping the packs cool during charging and use.
Maybe a little more denser, but the charging system would need to be recalibrated for fit the new battery. The prime battery sits partly below the floor so structurally it's impossible to put it into the hybrid. I'm hoping that in 10 years the prime battery will be a little denser to allow up to 100 mile ranges. 2. r/rav4club.Both a local dealership and a local independent shop quoted about $5k for a new battery replacement. Ouch. If I have to get it done I’ll probably use one of the national places that use a reconditioned battery for around $2k. 3.6n2O.