San Carlos & Valley Springs Auto Repair

  Hybrid powertrains Hybrid powertrains rely on liquid coolant to remove heat from the electric motors, batteries and inverters, which are often hidden behind the rear seats, under the floor or in the trunk area, and rely on carefully managed airflow combined with special coolant and radiators.  I remember a Honda Insight that lost this coolant due to a rock striking the grille area, setting a check engine light on the dash.  The owner ignored the warning and kept driving the car, until forced to stop on the side of the road.  That tiny pebble caused the hybrid power system to overheat and take out some other components - several thousand dollars in repairs.  Hybrid batteries use the car’s engine to turn an alternator or an electric motor to charge them, maintaining a complex balance of power to provide brisk acceleration or electric-only driving, then burning fuel to recharge the battery bank and extend driving range.  These cars and trucks are des ... read more

This is something that we are starting to hear more often. The great news is that we, as The Hybrid Shop Bay Area, are able to bring your existing battery back to life. If caught early enough, we may not even have to replace any cells within that battery. Be careful to all who are looking to find a replacement battery. There are a lot of places selling used batteries, or remanufactured batteries. The process to condition a single battery is fairly simple, but to condition a complete hybrid battery takes the proper equipment and scientific process to keep them balanced. There are but a handful of shops that have this capability. We have performed our battery conditioning process on many of these “other” batteries, as the failure rate is very high. Don’t pay twice, take your vehicle to The Hybrid Pro’s to have it done right, the first time. So if your Prius Hybrid Battery is dying, The Hybrid Shop has the necessary skill and equipment to effectively p ... read more

With all the cars of today coming out with a Hybrid version and some manufacturers coming out with all electric cars, we wanted to help clear the air in regards to the longevity of the HEV batteries. These Hybrid vehicles have been out since year 2000. They have now been starting to experience the joy of "Battery Module Deterioration". Well, the truth is, there is no battery that lasts forever. If there is, the cost to manufacture it must be astronomical. The HEV batteries from most manufacturers are under warranty for 10 years 150,000 miles in California, so there is some sweat off the brow, and they seem to survive that long before the trouble light comes on. The concern is, that well before that time, the battery is deteriorating, thus causing some performance loss and MPG loss. Our philosophy is that we should be able to service, or "condition" the pack before it goes "bad", which you will understand in a bit. You can now purchase replacement "remanufactured" HEV batteries wh ... read more