Hybrid-vehicle electronic failures....

[3930dave]

Hybrids have been on my mind today, after a buddy picked up a 2008 Escape Hybrid.

A quick look at the Internet re. that one vehicle turned up serious electric-steering failures, and power-electronics cooling pump failures.

Non-hybrid vehicles can experience electronic module failures too.... but given the higher concentration of electronic systems in hybrids, I'm curious how they are standing up..... the above two failures caught my eye, as they can easily take a vehicle out of service.

If you own a hybrid vehicle, what has been your experience ? Do you plan on keeping it past factory warranty ?

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

A friend had a first-generation Prius. They drove it to I think 340,000 miles without anything beyond basic maintenance (IE breaks once or twice tires and the usual suspension parts). It started have a coolant leak from battery pack so they traded it in on a new one and from what I understand are quite happy with that.

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Your friends had a good run Aaron with that Gen I.

My friend is in BC (some of the heaviest fuel taxes in Canada, not that the rest of us have anything like non-Cali USA pricing....) so has had a few used hybrids. Long-term reliability on his Gen 1 Priuses has been spotty, and also a similar gen Civic.

One thing Toyota did Gen II was to changer motor drive electronics (went to higher voltage, therefore lower current drive), as some of the Gen I motors had winding failures.

The steering problems I was reading about on the Escape:

79 Complaints: 28 Ford Escape Hybrid Steering Problems

Not necessarily a hybrid-only issue (?) with the Escape. I'm not a fan of electric steering in general.

Planes have been doing fly-by wire for a long time - it's not that it can't be done well, but there's a big difference between a $20 motor/actuator in a car and a $2000+ one in a plane.....

The challenge is cramming more and more tech into a production automobile, while keeping the price point (relatively) down..... get it wrong, and reliability suffers. I can live with an infotainment system down (OK, boring on a long drive....), but I don't have a sense of humour re. steering, driveline, or brake faults.

Rgds, D.

 

[milkman]

I bought a used hybrid with 43K miles and now it has 174K miles. Total repair cost has been 1 low beam headlight. I replaced the 12v battery two years ago because it was five years old, still going strong on my generator. I have original brakes and on second set of tires after the originals. I get 51 mpg when I drive it, the wife gets 48 mpg, don't know how she does that.

 

[3930dave]

I bought a used hybrid with 43K miles and now it has 174K miles. Total repair cost has been 1 low beam headlight. I replaced the 12v battery two years ago because it was five years old, still going strong on my generator. I have original brakes and on second set of tires after the originals. I get 51 mpg when I drive it, the wife gets 48 mpg, don't know how she does that.

Prius ?

Rgds, D.

 

[milkman]

Yeah and i'm still heterosexual LOL

 

[Sysop]

Not necessarily a hybrid-only issue (?) with the Escape. I'm not a fan of electric steering in general.

Planes have been doing fly-by wire for a long time - it's not that it can't be done well, but there's a big difference between a $20 motor/actuator in a car and a $2000+ one in a plane.....

I can't say anything about the hybrids, but both my wife's 2014 Escape Titanium and my 2015 F150 Lariat have electric power steering and it is NOT drive by wire. If you hit the start button without pressing the brake to turn on in "accessory only" mode, that unlocks the steering wheel; you can then turn the wheels with manual steering (although like a hydraulic system, much heavier than simple manual steering). The electric power steering on both of these vehicles is merely "power assist" much like hydraulic systems have been for decades. The physical connections between the steering wheel and the tires on the ground all still exist as they have for decades. Only the way your efforts at the steering wheel are assisted have been changed.

As far as I know, drive by wire on most vehicles is limited to the accelerator. Some newer cars are starting to include braking in the drive by wire systems. I haven't seen any mainstream production cars with drive by wire steering. "Drive by wire" indicates there is no direct physical link between components; only wire.

 

[Wood_Butcher_Dav]

Our new charger has a lane assist feature and will actually bump the steering wheel to get you back between the lines. Not sure how that systems ties into the steering system. Oh and the Charger is the opposite of a hybrid .

 

[newbury]

We've got a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid with about 100,000 miles. Replaced the battery pack under warranty several years ago. Had one headlight bulb burn out during a winter, couldn't get my hands in there to change easily took it to the dealer. Still gets about 40 plus mpg.

 

[scdeerslayer]

I can't say anything about the hybrids, but both my wife's 2014 Escape Titanium and my 2015 F150 Lariat have electric power steering and it is NOT drive by wire. If you hit the start button without pressing the brake to turn on in "accessory only" mode, that unlocks the steering wheel; you can then turn the wheels with manual steering (although like a hydraulic system, much heavier than simple manual steering). The electric power steering on both of these vehicles is merely "power assist" much like hydraulic systems have been for decades. The physical connections between the steering wheel and the tires on the ground all still exist as they have for decades. Only the way your efforts at the steering wheel are assisted have been changed.

As far as I know, drive by wire on most vehicles is limited to the accelerator. Some newer cars are starting to include braking in the drive by wire systems. I haven't seen any mainstream production cars with drive by wire steering. "Drive by wire" indicates there is no direct physical link between components; only wire.

I thought there was a federal rule that there has to be a physical connection between the steering wheel and the tires. Seems I heard that about 15 years ago or so when somebody was trying to make all hydraulic conversions on some extreme off road vehicles. Would seem smart so that you have some control when the system fails.