Frequently Asked Questions

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A core charge is a deposit to ensure that we receive your old battery back. The old battery has value to us. We can fix some of them and recycle the rest. This helps us keep the cost of remanufacturing down which is how we are able to offer such low prices. A core deposit is required on all remanufactured batteries that are shipped prior to receiving your old battery back. Our pricing of remanufactured batteries is calculated based on the fact that we will be receiving your old battery back to reuse the casing and components for future batteries. Customers buying a battery without being able to return a core will pay an additional non-refundable fee equivalent to what the core deposit would have been.
YES! Most hybrid battery manufacturer warranties only cover the purchaser listed on the original paperwork and any name change or transfer of ownership automatically invalidates the warranty. At Electron, we understand the beneficial value of selling a hybrid vehicle that’s still under warranty and that’s why we’ve made our hybrid battery warranty completely transferrable. The original purchaser can transfer the time remaining on his warranty to a new owner as long as the transfer is made within thirty (30) days of the vehicle sale date. Only one (1) transfer of ownership is allowed during the warranty period and Electron must receive the new owners name, address and telephone number within 30 days of the official date of transfer in order for the warranty to remain valid for the duration of the warranty period.
When a hybrid battery fails it is usually because of one or two of the smaller batteries failed. So why not use a volt meter to find the bad ones and just replace them instead of replacing the whole thing? Well, when one or two fail, there are always several others on the verge of failing too. Many people “cell switch” their Prius battery to get it working again, but it is almost always short lived. There are many YouTube videos claiming that they fixed their battery for $50 and it lasted them several more years.
This is a great method if you are in a pinch, but from our experience we have yet to see such good results from a “cell switch”. Using a volt meter to test hybrid batteries is a very crude method and only tells you if a battery is totally bad. It does not tell you if it will be failing soon.
Professional test equipment is required to determine the remaining life in a battery and its overall state of health.
Every hybrid and electric vehicle battery is made of multiple batteries. Even your 12 volt battery is made of 6 smaller batteries referred to as cells. In regular hybrids they are connected in series, one to another, positive to negative. Each time you add an additional battery in series the voltage increases. With this type of configuration high voltage can be easily achieved.
However, just like older Christmas lights, if one fails the whole battery fails.
We first disassemble the battery assembly to it’s core. Once we reach that point, the battery is ready for testing. There is no single test or simple way to test the true health of a hybrid battery. It takes time, experienced hybrid technicians and sophisticated computer software. We run a series of very specific tests in each module to determine it’s health and life expectancy and we enter each modules results into our hybrid database. This process can take anywhere from 2-4 days depending on the type of battery and the condition its in.
We then enter each modules identifying characteristics into our proprietary software to receive a comprehensive report on the state of health for each module. Off-the-Shelf or “Store Bought” battery testing software doesn’t have the ability to dig deep enough to totally optimize your hybrid battery’s true potential, so we developed our own proprietary technology.
We developed our technology to give our customers the longest lasting and most dependable remanufactured hybrid battery on the market today and we are the only company licensed to use it. Our tests allow us to take an up-close and personal look at each cell and provides the most comprehensive cell analysis available in today’s public marketplace. This information allows us to accurately predict the health and remaining life expectancy of every cell in every battery.
We send all short-life cells to environmentally friendly recycling centers and the healthy long-life cells are matched and balanced with similar cells to create hybrid batteries that re-energize your hybrid vehicle performance and life expectancy for years to come.
Yes, you can install a hybrid battery by yourself. Many of our customers prefer this option and are amazed at how easy it is. We provide Do-It-Yourself detailed installation instructions, step-by-step “how to install” videos, list of basic tools needed and free technical support from one of our ASE certified technicians. We make sure that you have everything you need to install your hybrid battery safely and properly. Installation does take some time and you should know your way around basic DIY tools.
Most hybrid batteries range from 140-280 volts which can be painful at the least. This high voltage can be very dangerous but we feel that most of what we hear and read about the danger servicing these batteries is just stigma.
Fortunately, most are equipped with safety plugs, covers over the wires and bus bars, and redundancies that force you to disable the battery before removing or opening it. Once the safety plug is removed the voltage drops to a much lower level which is much safer and workable.
In our battery remanufacturing department, we do not use safety gloves when working with our batteries. It is not because we take risks or that we are very skilled. It is because once the safety plug is removed and the battery disabled, it is not possible to get a high voltage shock. Technically, it is possible to get a shock if you know exactly where to touch, but it is not realistic and at a much lower voltage.
What if I have a problem when installing my battery?
Simply call us and speak with one of our ASE certified technicians. We will walk you through the trouble shooting process and get your hybrid up and going again!
Most batteries ship the same day if ordered before 2:00 pm PST. Rebuild Kits take 1-3 days to arrive and complete battery assemblies take about 2-5 business days.
After our testing, we are able to see virtually everything about each individual battery’s state of health. That gives us the ability to predict life expectancy and performance. We segregate our batteries into different warranty lengths based on their performance in our testing process.
Which ever warranty you purchase, we make sure to exceed the life expectancy of your warranty.
We offer returns only if the packages are unopened. If you are returning an unopened package, you will be charged a 25% restocking fee. There are no returns on opened packages. Please be sure to have your vehicle diagnosed first, so that you know our hybrid battery will fix your issue. If you install the battery and your problem is not fixed and it is because the hybrid battery was never the problem to begin with, you will not be able to return your battery because the package has been opened.
We do offer local installation. Please contact us for rates. We are capable of installing most hybrid batteries away from our shop. Our technicians are ASE certified and will bring all the tools, training, and knowledge they need to replace your hybrid battery at your convenience. Please note that the fee for mobile installation is not refundable. You are reserving a time slot on our calendar for us to send a technician from our facility to your location. If the technician arrives and we cannot contact you or you are not at the location or available, the fee for the installation still applies due to the travel time. If you need to reschedule please let us know in advanced.
Hybrid battery replacement is the common recommendation at most dealerships. Unfortunately, battery replacement can cost as much as the value of the hybrid vehicle itself, or sometimes more, while only providing a 1-year warranty.
In cases where a hybrid battery failure is verified, and all other possibilities have been eliminated, even then only one or two modules in a hybrid battery pack may be at fault, however, the computer may go as far as disabling the vehicle when a single module drops below a voltage threshold held by the 28 to 40 modules within a battery pack depending on the design of the hybrid battery.
At Electron Hybrid Solutions, our proprietary hybrid battery technology gives us the ability to evaluate battery modules individually, based on their voltage, resistance, amp hours and approximate energy, in real time. Upon diagnosis of your hybrid battery, we provide a printed certification of the quality of the hybrid battery.
We have top quality remanufactured hybrid batteries in stock for all of the top hybrid makes, models and years and our remanufactured hybrid batteries provide a much more affordable solution to dealership battery replacement. We have an extensive inventory of top quality hybrid battery modules and modules of equivalent quality are stored together.
We also offer brand new batteries with brand new cells for customers who would prefer a brand new battery instead of a quality re-manufactured hybrid battery.
Hybrid vehicles have come a long way in the last 20 years and we don’t want to lose sight of what they’ve accomplished in the past and how much they’ll help our environment in the future. Electron Hybrid Solutions is strongly entrenched in doing whatever we can to help our environment and we actively practice the 3 R’s: Repair, Remanufacture and Recycle.
These practices not only save you money, but they also promote the environmental benefits of green energy and reduces the impact on landfills.
Yes. We sell remanufactured battery modules for just about every hybrid vehicle on the road today. Toyota remanufactured battery modules are $59.99 each and Honda remanufactured hybrid battery modules are $119.00
Absolutely! We created our own proprietary hybrid battery technology to ensure that our customers received top quality, high performance batteries at affordable prices. Low priced competitors can’t match our technology, quality or expertise and they stay in business by selling poorly tested lower quality batteries to customers looking for the cheapest price. You can always buy cheaper lower quality batteries, but you can’t find a longer lasting, better performing hybrid battery at an affordable price than Electron.