Toyota Motor Corp. is selling the Prius hybrid with a choice of newer-generation Lithium ion (li-ion) or more traditional Nickel-Metal (NiMH) Hydrid batteries.
The power packs cost the same to make, deliver basically the same performance and provide almost the same fuel economy.
Most of Toyota’s current hybrid lineup are capable of easily trading off between the two battery types for one chief reason: flexibility.
In being compatible with either one, the company can more smoothly react at a factory or vehicle level to supply shortages or price pinches—for raw materials like lithium or nickel, for instance.
The lithium battery is 16 kg lighter and is installed in upper-trim cars.
The reason the lighter battery is fitted on the higher trim models is to enable Toyota to pack an additional 15 kg of extras options into higher-end models and achieve the same performance according to the chief engineer of the Prius.
In higher grades, the mass is increased so it’s harder to get good fuel economy. So in those Toyota use li-ion batteries.
Toyota is adjusting it to the mass. So whatever grade it is, the fuel economy will be the same. Even if it’s a higher grade the fuel economy will be similar.
The lighter batteries helps offset the rising curb weight of the heaviest Prius. The basic Japan-spec fourth-generation car weighs 1,360 kg, 10 kg more than the outgoing version and 140 kg more than the first generation that debuted in 1997.
The decision aims to make it so that all versions get about the same fuel economy.
Starting with the 2015 model year, the Prius has used lithium-ion batteries for some Prius models, while others use nickel metal hydrid batteries. With the refreshed 2019 Prius lineup that remain the case.
Globally Prius sales are divided 50-50 between lithium ion and nickel-metal hydrid batteries.
Current NiMH batteries can handle sudden power demands just as quickly as lithium-ion batteries—which is partly why certain areas of consumer electronics have stuck with NiMH. But the strength of lithium-ion packs is their ability to perform long charge cycles. That’s why all plug-in hybrids, like the Prius Prime, have li-ion cells.
On the other hand, Toyota’s all-wheel-drive hybrids, like the 2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e introduced last week at LA, will for the foreseeable future use NiMH— because it can withstand extreme cold far better, and perform better in the cold temps where you’d expect an AWD vehicle to be used.
The lithium ion packs cost about the same to manufacture as the nickel-metal hydrid because they use only 56 cells, compared with the 168 cells in the nickel-metal packs. Voltage is similar: 207.2 volts for lithium, 201.6 volts for nickel-metal.
The two batteries are also about the same size. The lithium batteries are 30.5 liters, while the nickel-metal ones are 35 liters. Both are smaller than the outgoing battery, and that allows them to be placed under the back seat to free up more storage space in the rear.
It seems very difficult to know exactly which vehicle has which battery, however looking at current Toyota Prius grades the ZVW55 seems to be fitted with the Lithium battery and the ZVW50 and ZVW51 be fitted with the Nickel-Metal on Japan Market. The best and surest method to know which one is fitted is to check the battery reference itself which is not easy if the vehicle cannot be accessed.
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