Auris Hybrid - A couple of questions!

[Tiger Cup]

I'm looking to buy a used Auris Hybrid soon, either a 2010 or 2011 model. One thing I'm wondering is how good the Battery is likely to be for one that age. I was previously looking at a full EV car and I'm aware that the batteries on those degrade over time. Is it the same with Hybrids? Is it a risk with one at this age that the charge it holds is going to be rubbish?

I was also wondering how long it generally takes to get a decent charge up? When charged will it use the Battery power automatically or would I need to switch modes and change to it manually? We mostly use our car for city driving (10-15 mile round trips usually) with occasional motorway trips (100+ mile round trips) and are ideally looking for something that is going to be a bit cheaper to run than our current 2004 Ford Focus 1.6!

 

 

[Anthony Poli]

13 minutes ago, Tiger Cup said:

I'm looking to buy a used Auris Hybrid soon, either a 2010 or 2011 model. One thing I'm wondering is how good the battery is likely to be for one that age. I was previously looking at a full EV car and I'm aware that the batteries on those degrade over time. Is it the same with Hybrids? Is it a risk with one at this age that the charge it holds is going to be rubbish?

I was also wondering how long it generally takes to get a decent charge up? When charged will it use the battery power automatically or would I need to switch modes and change to it manually? We mostly use our car for city driving (10-15 mile round trips usually) with occasional motorway trips (100+ mile round trips) and are ideally looking for something that is going to be a bit cheaper to run than our current 2004 Ford Focus 1.6!

 

 

Hi,

I bought a 2010 Auris 14 months ago and i would say there hasn't been any real drop in Battery performance.

Have you had a test drive yet?

The manual says in EV you can drive for about 1/2 mile or 1 Km, but this figure is based on somebody with a heavy foot. Compared to driving with a light foot where it is possible to drive in EV for a lot longer, providing your not going up hill.

With being a hybrid, the car will swap between EV and petrol automatically, so you don't have to worry about switching between them. You can select between EV, ECO, normal and on some power, to change the response to the go pedal.

Town driving you will use the EV more, motorway will be petrol.

For me, a hybrid is a good bridge until the all electric cars and chargers are practical enough for myself.

[Gerg]

Full EV cars use their Battery charge range from full to (almost) empty. The Auris apparently only uses the Battery in the 40-80% range, although that 40% of Battery shows as the complete charge span to the driver. Consequently the battery is not worked so hard, so the life expectancy of the battery cells is increased, but the usable capacity is very small when compared to an EV.

Unlike an EV, the battery/motor output is monitored such that beyond a certain speed (29mph-ish  on a flat road) or torque, the engine will supplement the electric motor. This may seem like a half-hearted way of using the technology, but its economy gains in urban driving are often due to the car cutting the engine off at low speeds or on a trailing throttle or when halted, or to a lesser extent, regeneration when braking.

In an EV there is a battery and a traction motor and a power regulator (inverter). In the hybrid it is much more than that, it is much more ingenious than it seems at first.

There is no transmission in the normal sense, it is an planetary gear train, which behaves a bit like a conventional belt-type CVT to drive, but isn't. Because of its simplicity It has virtually no wearing components and needs no maintenance.

The transmission is computer controlled (naturally) and considers catalyst temperature, car heater temperature, road speed, load, battery state of charge and probably a load of other things I can't remember just now, before it decides to run the petrol engine, which may turn on for just one second if you are pulling away, for instance, before turning off again. And when you're driving, you are unlikely to be monitoring the battery charge (unlike an EV), you just let the car do its thing, unless you are mpg chasing.

On the motorway, the engine will run continuously (but because of the transmission, the revs can vary enormously), so economy gains are then a function of the Atkinson cycle engine (google it), and occasional electric assistance, or regeneration on a closed throttle or when braking. The mpg gains aren't so big here.

The battery total capacity is not the issue that it is in an EV.

Because of its transmission-housed motor/generators (bathed in oil), it has no conventional starter motor, alternator, clutch, gearbox or dual mass flywheel to go wrong. But it does have the NiMh traction battery, a pair of motor/generators, and an inverter that a normal car doesn't.

At least that is what I understand.

A test drive will reveal all.

HTH

 

[Heidfirst]

1 hour ago, Tiger Cup said:

I'm looking to buy a used Auris Hybrid soon, either a 2010 or 2011 model. One thing I'm wondering is how good the battery is likely to be for one that age. I was previously looking at a full EV car and I'm aware that the batteries on those degrade over time. Is it the same with Hybrids? Is it a risk with one at this age that the charge it holds is going to be rubbish?

Toyota hybrids have an 8 year Battery warranty which is extendable by having a Hybrid Health Check either as part of a service or as a separate item. This can be renewed up until the cars 10th anniversary with unlimited mileage. https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/service-and-maintenance/hybrid-health-check.json

[FROSTYBALLS]

The hybrid Battery warranty varies depending on when the vehicle was first registered - see https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/warranty/toyota-warranty.json - although an Auris hybrid registered between June 2010 and March 2014, does have the 8 year/100,000 mile Battery warranty.

 

[DarrenM]

2 hours ago, Gerg said:

Full EV cars use their battery charge range from full to (almost) empty. The Auris apparently only uses the battery in the 60-80% range, although that 20% of battery shows as the complete charge span to the driver. Consequently the battery is not worked so hard, so the life expectancy of the battery cells is increased, but the usable capacity is very small when compared to an EV.

Unlike an EV, the battery/motor output is monitored such that beyond a certain speed (29mph-ish  on a flat road) or torque, the engine will supplement the electric motor. This may seem like a half-hearted way of using the technology, but its economy gains in urban driving are often due to the car cutting the engine off at low speeds or on a trailing throttle or when halted, or to a lesser extent, regeneration when braking.

In an EV there is a battery and a traction motor and a power regulator (inverter). In the hybrid it is much more than that, it is much more ingenious than it seems at first.

There is no transmission in the normal sense, it is an planetary gear train, which behaves a bit like a conventional belt-type CVT to drive, but isn't. Because of its simplicity It has virtually no wearing components and needs no maintenance.

The transmission is computer controlled (naturally) and considers catalyst temperature, car heater temperature, road speed, load, battery state of charge and probably a load of other things I can't remember just now, before it decides to run the petrol engine, which may turn on for just one second if you are pulling away, for instance, before turning off again. And when you're driving, you are unlikely to be monitoring the battery charge (unlike an EV), you just let the car do its thing, unless you are mpg chasing.

On the motorway, the engine will run continuously (but because of the transmission, the revs can vary enormously), so economy gains are then a function of the Atkinson cycle engine (google it), and occasional electric assistance, or regeneration on a closed throttle or when braking. The mpg gains aren't so big here.

The battery total capacity is not the issue that it is in an EV.

Because of its transmission-housed motor/generators (bathed in oil), it has no conventional starter motor, alternator, clutch, gearbox or dual mass flywheel to go wrong. But it does have the NiMh traction battery, a pair of motor/generators, and an inverter that a normal car doesn't.

At least that is what I understand.

A test drive will reveal all.

HTH

 

This is an absolutely perfect description of Toyota HSD.

Look at how other manufacturers have attempted to bridge the gap by using stop-start to turn the engine off when stuck in traffic or not moving. The problem with those is that the engine needs to start to move forward a bit then stops again, which is poor for MPG, emissions, engine wear and driveability. Imagine if they added an electric motor to help get moving, running off a small light Battery that is kept topped up by using that same motor as a generator when the car is slowing down. You've just built a hybrid. They're just cars that can fill in a bit more efficiency by not being wasteful in certain places. No-one gets free energy so crazy high MPGs are only available when combining engines with large batteries pre-charged by the mains where the power is cheaper than the type made by combusting a fuel.

In the real world you'll definitely improve your MPG over almost anything else, how much depends on your typical drive.

[Heidfirst]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The hybrid battery warranty varies depending on when the vehicle was first registered - see https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/warranty/toyota-warranty.json - although an Auris hybrid registered between June 2010 and March 2014, does have the 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty.

 

doesn't really matter initial terms as long as you get an annual/10000 mile Hybrid Health Check you'll get up to 11 years & unlimited mileage cover.

[Tiger Cup]

Thanks for all of the info guys. After the first few replies here I actually went out to test drive a local 2011 model I've had my eye on and ended up putting down a deposit! It was really nice to drive and I was surprised how it was more like driving the Nissan Leaf I had a drive of yesterday than a regular petrol car. 

I'll be picking it up at the weekend so expect more questions then :)

[Anthony Poli]

7 minutes ago, Tiger Cup said:

Thanks for all of the info guys. After the first few replies here I actually went out to test drive a local 2011 model I've had my eye on and ended up putting down a deposit! It was really nice to drive and I was surprised how it was more like driving the Nissan Leaf I had a drive of yesterday than a regular petrol car. 

I'll be picking it up at the weekend so expect more questions then :)

Sounds like what happened to me, I just went to have a test drive in a hybrid. As it turned out I had picked the end of the hybrid promotion and there only a few cars that I could have driven. It was an Auris that I had my first drive in a hybrid and I took to it straight away, the bit that swayed me away from a prius was the normal looking dashboard and handbrake. Put a deposits down on the same car.

Now after 15 months later, my MPG is still increasing. Halved my fuel spending from the previous car