We are not a mechanic shop or a diagnostic facility, nor do we have the resources to field calls all day to hear what may or may not be happening with a customer’s vehicle/battery. Our expectation is that when you contact us your vehicle has already been properly diagnosed, and it been determined that in fact the battery is bad or has failed. It’s at this point we can offer our product and services.

GOOD BATTERY

BAD BATTERY

This can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the climate the vehicle resides in, what type of driving style the vehicle generally undergoes, how often the vehicle is driven, whether the miles are more city or more highway, etc.

Having said that, most hybrid vehicles owned by a private person and used for their everyday driving can last up to 10+ years and over 300,000 miles of driving (not all will reach those numbers, but most will get easily half of that). Fleet vehicles will not see these same results because of the nature of their driving and the use and abuse the car takes. Some fleet vehicles put on up to 10,000 miles a month. Some fleet vehicles will need to replace their original battery within one to two years’ time.

Most batteries have a measured life to them, whether it be from cell phones, lap top computers, flashlights, etc., Hybrid and Electric batteries are no different. Although many advancements have been made in the field of batteries and it is quite remarkable what modern hybrid and electric car batteries are capable of, the batteries, either in part or whole, eventually fail or reach such a diminished state that they will no longer perform at a level that is required by the vehicle.

Battery cells and modules that make up the whole battery tend to degrade at different rates over their life. Typically, what happens are that certain cells and modules get to such a weakened and degraded state and generally fall out of balance with the rest of the battery pack, and this results in the vehicle triggering a failure or error code, to have your battery replaced.

The graphs below show the difference between what a bad or failed battery looks like, when compared to one that has gone through our refurbishment process. As you can see, the refurbished one shows how tightly matched the battery modules are in their tolerances versus the failed battery and which shows how degraded and out of line some of them are compared to others.

The short answer is, NO, you cannot get good long term results this way. Just using a volt meter to capture static voltages of battery cells or modules won’t cut it. Doing this won’t even replicate what your battery is doing when it’s operating in your vehicle, so you’re not even getting an accurate picture of battery and its health.

There are a number of reasons for this, but battery refurbishment, along with the know-how, requires proper technology, specific hardware, and software that most people don’t have, and even some companies are unwilling to invest in.

There are very few companies that have the means necessary to refurbish hybrid or electric batteries properly. There are many companies and people trying to refurbish batteries that cannot and should not, and unfortunately have given a bad reputation to companies like ours that do a good job.

The answer to this question depends on your specific needs. We believe that new batteries are the best choice when replacing your hybrid battery, in order for your vehicle to function optimally, providing the best fuel economy. A diminished battery will not perform the same as a newer battery and can deliver diminished gas mileage as a result. So you may save costs by not buying a new battery, but you may incur more expenses at the gas pump by not getting the best fuel economy. There are some instances when buying a cheaper battery than a new one (used or refurbished) makes more sense. For instance, a used car dealership may have bought a car at the auction that they plan to sell, but has a bad hybrid battery, and they don’t want the expense of a new one. They may buy a used or refurbished battery to save on cost, and the vehicle will still function to an acceptable standard.

One of the options of the batteries you sell are new modules. Are these the same as a new battery that I would get from a dealership? If so, how can you offer them for a cheaper price? Yes, the new battery modules we sell are exactly what you would be getting in a new battery from the dealership. For the best overall results and your vehicle to function optimally, this is the way to go.

Due to the large size and scope of our business and the relationships that we have, the price at which we can offer new battery modules is cheaper that what you would pay for a complete new battery at the dealership. The components and battery housings we use are from existing inventory that we have, but the battery cells/modules themselves are brand new and are what you would get from a dealership.

No, absolutely not. Most people or small companies offering rebuilt or refurbished batteries do not have the expertise or more importantly do not have the proper equipment to refurbish the batteries, contrary to what they may tell you. Too many people see an opportunity to make money by offering batteries for sale, unfortunately they are generally going to be problematic batteries fairly quickly, if not immediately

Yes, the possibility is potentially there just due to the nature/behavior of batteries. There can be internal shorts or leaks that can crop up and present an issue, but this is generally not the norm and will be less likely to happen when using a quality company like ours.

In our opinion companies, offering a 3 year warranty is more of a sales or marketing gimmick than anything else, hoping to earn a customer’s business by what appears to be a great warranty.

The biggest reason we don’t offer such a warranty is we do a lot of business with fleets and taxis, which put huge demands on their vehicles and batteries.  New batteries won’t even typically last 3 years in most taxis or fleet vehicles (some of which will put up to 10,000 miles a month on them) that put on a lot of miles. Some of the companies that offer 3 year warranties have had huge battery returns from fleets and have shied away from trying to earn their business, or under the fine print of their warranty terms, they don’t cover fleet or taxi vehicles under warranty. Other companies know the same problems that we do when offering a long term warranty on batteries that go into fleets/taxis.

We offer less of a warranty than some other companies but we also offer more competitive pricing. We do this in order to protect ourselves from many of our fleet and taxi customers that put a huge demand on hybrid batteries that are almost certain to have their batteries fail in less than 3 years.

On our new battery modules, we offer the same 1 year warranty that you would get when buying a new replacement battery from the dealership.  When choosing the new battery option, a private individual’s car (that is not a fleet/taxi) should not have a problem with that battery for years to come (generally long after 3 years), we are just not going to guarantee our new battery modules for 3 years in order to be protected against the fleets/taxis that we sell to that go through hybrid batteries in less than that time.

Only the customer can determine what is their best choice, but the better quality battery is definitely the “New” hybrid battery. Some people are lured in to buying a refurbished battery from some companies that offer a 3 year warranty because it’s cheaper than a new battery and a 3 year warranty sounds more reassuring to them. Our company predominately serves the fleet/taxi industry which go through batteries quickly. Most fleet/taxi vehicle’s hybrid batteries will fail in less than 3 years, therefore if we offered a 3 year warranty, most every battery sold to a fleet or taxi would potentially be getting a free replacement, if they failed, and we would not have a sustainable business. Any company would go out of business very quickly built on that model.

Another unforeseen expense to be aware of is, even if a company offers a 3 year warranty and your battery fails during that time, unless you install or remove your own battery (not necessarily suggested), you will incur the expense by a dealership or shop to have the failed battery removed and then replaced with another warranty battery. Therefore, you may consider going with the more dependable option of a new battery even with our shorter warranty (which just so happens to be the same warranty as the dealership offers), knowing the new battery is better quality. Keep in mind that we offer new replacement battery modules cheaper than the dealership offers new hybrid batteries.

If a new battery is going into a private person’s vehicle (not a fleet), it should generally last well, well beyond the 3 year warranty, so the 3 year warranty that some companies offer, should NOT be the most important factor when determine which battery to buy, especially if you will incur the expense of having to change out that battery, even if the battery is covered under warranty.

Yes, it’s very important that we get your old hybrid battery back, as we need them as part of our battery refurbishment program. You will be charged the core charge when purchasing a battery from us; and upon us receiving your core battery back, we will credit or return your core deposit back to you.  If you do not return the core battery, we keep the deposit.

Yes, we do. You can avoid being charged a core charge if you initially send us your bad/core battery where we will then ship out your replacement battery. It’s as if your shipping your core battery to us first, and then we’ll ship out your replacement battery. This may be difficult to do if your car is your daily driver that you cannot be without it, but if the car you need a hybrid battery for is one that can sit for a short period of time, this may be an option for you to avoid the core charge.

This option can work well for fleets/taxi companies that may have a number of core hybrid batteries sitting in their shop, that they can send out for replacements that they can then keep on hand as they need them. Please inquire about this option with us.

Although a refurbished battery can be a good option for many people/companies, it’s obviously not going to be exactly on par with the quality of a brand new battery. The process of refurbishing a battery pack is breaking down the battery and testing and grading each cell/module in the battery and determine the quality standard of each of them, against the bench marks we set, in order to qualify to be used again in a refurbished pack. Battery packs are then assembled and end of line tested before shipping out.  We also perform periodic real world battery tests with the batteries in their respective vehicles, just to maintain quality standards before they ship out.

Used batteries are an affordable option depending on your specific needs. Somethings to be aware of with used batteries are:

– hybrid vehicles have now been around for many years now, so their batteries have aged and degraded just as the cars have.

– you won’t always know what the mileage of the car that a used battery is coming out of, in order to know how good or bad that battery is. It’s kind of like “rolling the dice.” Even if you do know the mileage, the fact that the car is older means the battery has aged and degraded and won’t be near what a new battery is, which often times results in poorer gas mileage overall.

– with the used hybrid and electric batteries we sell, we take measures in knowing what type of vehicle the battery came out of, the vehicles mileage, how long the battery has sat without being driven, etc., in order to have a pretty clear understanding of its quality. Don’t expect a used battery to be what a new battery is but they are a good affordable option than buying a more expensive new battery.

We always do our best to meet our client’s needs in a timely manner, but please don’t ask for or expect the impossible. If you work with or have a fleet of vehicles and need multiple batteries at a time, we suggest you let us know your needs well in advance so that we can do our best to accommodate them. If you think you’ll need a bunch of batteries next month, it’s best to order in advance of you needing them, so they’ll be in your possession ready to go exactly when you need them.

We can ship batteries almost anywhere. When shipping in quantity shipping will need to go LTL/Freight which can have some limitations on delivery locations and can require a liftgate if the recipient does not have a fork lift to unload them. Again, please inquire with us as to what your specific needs are.

In the case of a warranty issue, as long as you are within the warranties terms of service and warranty period, you would send us the battery in question and we would send out a warranty replacement battery.