Disregard Google Maps: LG only on 9th St
Ah, the joys of the internet! It was a miracle to get Google to recognize a new address at all, let alone over the weekend of our move. I screeched with delight, running around the chaos of packed oil filters with my hands outstreched giving the victory sign! But Clementina was always a street of tenacity, and our old listing has risen from the flotsam of discarded information.
In the meantime, as l clean up the various source pages pointing to the old address (which have caused the GoogleBot to think we have two locations) please disregard the Clementina listing. It is a lovely building, but no longer luscious.
LUSCIOUS GARAGE, THE ONE AND ONLY:
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Facility »
Rebuilt HV Battery Packs - Toyota Prius Hybrid et al.
(This blog focuses on our rebuild services; read the original blog on Gen 1 battery failure here.)
Rebuilt HV batteries for the Gen 1 Toyota Prius are a convenient and cost-effective alternative to brand new.
New ones cost $2299 list (which is a pretty reasonable IMO), but when you add up tax (9.5% in our dear city) and four hours in labor ($480 at LG; other shops/dealers will surely vary), you’re looking at three grand out the door. You know what you’re getting (the same thing you had) so life expectancy should be nearly the same. In our experience with *genuine* failures—cars that actually needed a pack, not just a wire harness (read the blog about P3030) or a cleaning (read the blog about P3009)—the probability bell curve peaks at 150,000 miles, tapering off in both directions.
Besides offering new assemblies (purchased directly from Toyota) Luscious Garage also rebuilds battery packs in house. I can’t honestly remember what prompted us to figure it out, two years and dozens of packs ago. It was probably a combination of plug-in conversion work (which inherently goes “out of the box” regarding HV batteries) and the drive to find a better way. (There is also a shop in North Carolina—Taylor Automotive, d.b.a. ReInvolt Technologies—also selling rebuilds, for which LG is the Bay Area installer. I’m not sure who was first, but, having spoken with Dave Taylor in person, our process sounds very similar.)
The benefits of rebuilds:
1. Rebuilt packs offer a significant cost savings. We sell ours for $1500 (38 modules at $36/each and a new sensing harness for $120); with tax and six hours labor (two additional hours to cover the building process, which is therefore untaxed) the repair comes to $2361. That’s over $600 less, which is real money.
2. The modules come from young Gen 2 Prius (sourced from early totals or plug-in conversions) which have an upgraded design over the original Gen 1 module (pic: metal sided is Gen 2, all plastic is Gen 1) with better heat dissipation and lower internal resistance. The difference is evident in the cars we service: all Gen 1s will have an HV battery failure; Gen 2s rarely do (despite many with very high mileage).
Thus, though the price is lower and the batteries are second-hand, we expect the rebuilt packs to last as long if not longer than the originals. For most Gen 1 owners, this confidence combined with the cost savings will drive the decision.
All packs are load tested to confirm battery health, and the results are included in the work order (learn more about battery testing here). If I may say so, we build mighty strong packs, with identical performance to brand new units.
All of our rebuilds are guaranteed for one year (the same as new from Toyota) but we have yet to have any come back (and we don’t expect them to).
REBUILT BATTERY PACKS:
Labor: $720
38 NiMH, Gen 2 Prius Modules @ $36.30: $1379.40
Sensing Wire Harness, 82165-47030: $119.43
9.5% Sales Tax: $142.39
Total: $2361.22
Click here to book an appointment
View of our HV battery service area:
Stacks of bad Gen 1 modules:
Gen 2 module stacks:
With low mileage and plenty of future:
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Repair »
Team in Training Fundraiser, Saturday 8/14
Little Al and the Peanut Bandits invite you to a fabulous party to support Team in Training:
Saturday, August 14, 6p
Live band after the raffle!
Luscious Garage
475 9th St, SF (link to map)
The party, in honor of Peter “Peanut” Togasaki, starts at 6, and the drawing for the AWESOME raffle prizes will be at 9. You won’t want to miss it! (See the invitation below.)
Live music, beer, wine, and snacks are in store for you. $25 entry at the door, which gets you free food and drink plus 2 FREE RAFFLE tickets, with an opportunity to buy more raffle tickets (and you know you’ll want to).
Silent auction items also await, like a three course dinner for 2 with wine pairings at Jardiniere in San Francisco (http://jardiniere.com/), a free “Vitals” service at LG, and more!
Items for sale include handmade bracelets from used bike tubes, magnets, and pins.
We’d love to see you, not only to help us raise money to cure blood cancer, but also to have a great party!
“We have marauded across the roads of Northern California, destroying the composure of all wild turkeys and small rodents who cross our tires (the lizards are, in particular, visibly disturbed). Our fearless and intrepid leader, Little Al, was plucked from the world of puffin chucking because of her burly calves and cycling prowess. Her vision and label maker brought the Peanut Bandits from a rag-tag group of motley hooligans to a finely oiled mechanism of speed and progressive ideals. With a twinkle in our eyes and a spin to our cadence we will attack the hills and flats of Lake County, breaking hearts and pilfering peanuts!”
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High Voltage Battery Test - Gen 1 Prius
High voltage battery testing is now available on first generation Prius, model years 2001-2003, a reliable means of determining battery health.
The test is run using the car’s own operating paradigm; we do NOT use the Midtronics HYB (Hybrid Battery System Analyzer) for lack of proven performance in the field.
Cost: $50
Time: 30 minutes
**We are still developing dynamic test methods for other hybrids.
First pic: Failing HV battery; note climbing Delta SOC (green) as SOC (blue) plummets.
Second pic: Good battery (one of our rebuilds, tested before delivery); note Delta SOC (green) does not change as SOC (blue) goes down. Max/Min block voltage levels do not diverge.
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Carolyn presents on EV panel, Wednesday July 28th
Sustainable San Rafael presents:
Achieving Zero Emission Transportation:
Climate Cool Options for Your Next Car (or Bike)
The Marin Youth Center
Map to 1115 Third Street, San Rafael
7pm, Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Presentations:
Why Electric Vehicles Make Sense and What You Can Buy this Year
Dale Miller (SF Electric Vehicle Association)
Mainstreaming EVs: The Nissan ‘Leaf’
Ron Coury (Northbay Nissan)
Converting Your Current Hybrid to Plug-In
Carolyn Coquillette (Luscious Garage)
Re-thinking Your Transportation Needs with an Electric Bike
Spokey Godfrey (The Bicycle Works, San Anselmo)
Learn why Electric Vehicles—from bikes to roadsters—are key to transitioning off carbon and achieving Marin’s and San Rafael’s Climate Change Action Plan objectives. Plugging your EV into rooftop solar panels or Marin Clean Energy’s deep green electricity gets you most of the way towards the 10/10 Goals that scientists say we must meet to reverse climate change—reducing our carbon footprints by 10% for each of the next 10 years. (Not to mention that EVs are fun and affordable, and you’ll never pump another gallon of gas from BP or other oil companies.)
Donations appreciated, but no one turned away for lack of funds.
Program at 7:00 pm. Gather at 6:30 for cookies and popcorn.
1115 Third Street, San Rafael
Sustainable San Rafael, San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association, Interfaith Power & Light, The Marin Youth Center, Sustainable Marin