Hybrid Battery Replacement

[LKZ]

I have a 2013 FFH SE with only 43000 miles and hybrid battery is so far fine however I expect sooner or later I'll have to replace it...anyone gone through the process and what was the cost.  Best source(s), new or refurbished, dealer or local mechanic?

Thanks very much.

[Waldo]

Why would you expect to replace it?  Do you expect to replace the seats?  The subframe?  The fuel tank?  The battery is just another component designed to last the life of the vehicle.  There's no evidence to suggest it is any more likely to need to be replaced than any other component on the car.  But if it ever does, chances are your 10+ year old Fusion will be worth so little even with a good battery that it would be financially foolish to bother to replace it.

[LKZ]

9 hours ago, Waldo said:

Why would you expect to replace it?  Do you expect to replace the seats?  The subframe?  The fuel tank?  The battery is just another component designed to last the life of the vehicle.  There's no evidence to suggest it is any more likely to need to be replaced than any other component on the car.  But if it ever does, chances are your 10+ year old Fusion will be worth so little even with a good battery that it would be financially foolish to bother to replace it.

It's a battery so limited life, especially compared to the seats,  subframe, and fuel tank, same reason the regular battery only lasts a few years.  Every source I've checked says expect between 8 and 15 years out of it.

[Waldo]

On 4/12/2023 at 5:42 PM, LKZ said:

It's a battery so limited life, especially compared to the seats,  subframe, and fuel tank, same reason the regular battery only lasts a few years.  Every source I've checked says expect between 8 and 15 years out of it.

 

How would any source have conclusive data that a car that's only 10 years old now has a battery that won't last more than 15 years?  The Hybrid battery in the Fusion is not like a regular battery.  It has a sophisticated heat management system and a very conservative management strategy.  And it's also not a go / no-go kind of death.  The battery will degrade, but how far would it degrade until one would consider replacing it?  My point is that it would have to degrade to something like 10% of original capacity before it would ever make financial sense to replace in an 10+ year old car.  But the reality seems to be that they degrade to 70-80% and then level off.

 

BTW my 2014 still has the "regular" 12V battery and I sold my 2002 Focus in 2013 with the original battery still in it.  OTOH, my wife's van is a 2018 and is on it's 3rd battery.  And I had to replace the fuel tank in my 11 year old Lincoln a couple years back (mounting surfaces of the fuel pump around the top rusted away).  So bottom line, don't worry about it! 

[MeeLee]

On 4/17/2023 at 9:08 AM, Waldo said:

 

How would any source have conclusive data that a car that's only 10 years old now has a battery that won't last more than 15 years?  The Hybrid battery in the Fusion is not like a regular battery.  It has a sophisticated heat management system and a very conservative management strategy.  And it's also not a go / no-go kind of death.  The battery will degrade, but how far would it degrade until one would consider replacing it?  My point is that it would have to degrade to something like 10% of original capacity before it would ever make financial sense to replace in an 10+ year old car.  But the reality seems to be that they degrade to 70-80% and then level off.

 

BTW my 2014 still has the "regular" 12V battery and I sold my 2002 Focus in 2013 with the original battery still in it.  OTOH, my wife's van is a 2018 and is on it's 3rd battery.  And I had to replace the fuel tank in my 11 year old Lincoln a couple years back (mounting surfaces of the fuel pump around the top rusted away).  So bottom line, don't worry about it! 

Waldo, my 2019 model did a lot of highway, and had a few times the battery down to almost zero, due to the ac being on with the car on (engine not running). I have 122k miles on it, and my battery has about 1/3rd of the performance, and range left.

It's hard to tell from the cell voltage, but an avg voltage of 3.65 vs 3.8 means a decent chunk of my capacity is gone.

 

The biggest performance and mpg losses, happened around the 100k mark. Anyone who sees below 42mpg avg, either lives in the arctics or desert with maxed out climate control, drives like a maniac, or has a degraded battery.

I'm fairly sure had I known how to drive the FFH when I bought it, my avg fuel numbers would exceed 50mpg. They're 42.3 now and dropping.

 

The 2019 model has an indicator how far the battery charges on a relative long stretch of road using the engine to propel and charge.

 

A good state of charge should go to the 3rd bar. A normal state of charge charges to the 2nd bar. A poor state of charge, charges to the first line, and even when pushing, might not reach to the second line anymore.

 

 

[Sky14FFH]

@Meelee for whatever it is worth on my 2014 my empower capacity meter never went above the second bar and for the past two years or so struggles to reach it even on a full charge.  Maybe in the middle of summer it gets there.  I did discover a setting once though that changes its level to up far higher so our settings might be different.  Can't remember at the moment what that was.  I have still been getting 44-46mpg fillups this winter and am looking forward to the 51mpg soon.