In the future, hopefully all cars will become more “green.” But the cost of green cars such as hybrids are still expensive. Especially when you think of having to replace the batteries.
In June of 2008, hybrid car manufactures such as Toyota and Honda started to lower the prices of the car’s replacement batteries.
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. Image from Wiki Commons.
For Honda, the cost of its batteries went from $3,400 (excluding installation) to as low as $1,968 on an Insight. And as high as $2,440 on an Accord hybrid. Toyota also reduce their battery prices, which is at $3,000 (excluding installation), down from $5,500 on the original Prius.
That would seem to be good news to many hybrid owners that will need to replace their batteries soon. That was two years ago.
But now there is another issue with the battery. The LA Times reported recently in August that Honda mailed out letters to more than 100,000 owners of 2006, 2007 and 2008 Civics in the U.S. and Canada. The letter stated the batteries “may deteriorate and eventually fail” earlier then expected. The company states a software fix would solve the problem.
