A hybrid car battery serves a much greater purpose than the battery found in a traditional car.
On one hand, hybrid car batteries are rechargeable and have a much longer lifespan than traditional car batteries. Additionally, hybrid car batteries help supplement some of the power that moves the car. This way, it can reduce the amount of gasoline energy you use, which in turn lowers the amount of carbon emissions generated. However, when the time comes to buy a replacement hybrid car battery, you won’t pay a few hundred dollars like with a regular battery. You might pay a minimum of $2,000 for a new one. That’s why you need to learn how to extend the life of your hybrid car battery to get the most time out of it.
The minimum lifespan of a hybrid car battery would be 80,000 miles. But there are many ways to extend the life of a hybrid car battery to over 100,000 miles. In fact, some people have gotten their hybrid car batteries to last 130,000 miles. Most people sell their vehicles by the time they put that many miles on them. This would mean you could sell or trade in your hybrid vehicle before you even need to replace the battery in it.
Here are the 5 best ways to extend the life of a hybrid car battery.
Use More Gasoline – This won’t be a popular choice for the environmentally conscious crowd, but it’s necessary if you want to preserve your hybrid car’s battery. Do more highway driving or drive on roads where the speed limit is above 55 miles per hour. Then, you’ll use more of the gasoline power and less of the electric power. Therefore, you’ll use less battery.
Slow Takeoff – People have the bad habit of aggressively stepping on the accelerator pedal when taking off from an idle position. In a hybrid, this will draw energy from the battery too quickly. If you do it too many times, it could end up completely ruining the battery. All you need to remember is to press the accelerator pedal gently when taking off. This will be better for the battery.
Drive Less – Whenever you drive your hybrid vehicle, it consumes battery. You can recharge the battery, but like all rechargeable batteries, the hybrid battery will eventually wear out and die. Then, you won’t be able to recharge it or do anything with it. Therefore, if you want to preserve your battery’s life as much as possible, you shouldn’t drive your vehicle as often. Either that, or at least never switch to electric-only mode. This will require you to recharge the battery more frequently.
80/20 Battery Charge – Many hybrid car manufacturers have specific warnings about how to properly recharge the battery. Supposedly, if you recharge your battery to 100%, it will discharge faster when you drive your car. You’re supposed to keep the power level below 80% but not less than 20%. Letting it drop below 20% could permanently ruin the battery or at least make it harder to maintain a charge. Keep it above 20% and everything will be fine.
New Battery Only – You should only use a new battery in your hybrid car. If you’re looking to buy a used hybrid vehicle, you should have the battery’s condition inspected beforehand. You don’t want to end up buying the vehicle and then having to buy a new battery a few years later. This will end up costing thousands of dollars on top of what you paid for the car. Also, don’t buy a used battery. Even if it’s a cheaper price, it might also have a short lifespan.