Hymax Battery - Fitted and Love It Already!

[AshGS450h]

Hi

I just wanted to post to give some positive feedback to Richard at Hybrid Battery Solutions.

I decided to take the plunge and purchase a Hymax Battery for my GS450h and have collected the car today. I have only driven home (130 miles) and the car felt so much better to drive with the Battery being ridiculously stronger than the original one.

I haven’t had chance to see the benefits with regards MPG as I have been enjoying the endless Battery power. I only managed to get it to drop to 4 bars once and most of the time it was at 6 even when given a boot full 🙂

If you are thinking of buying one, do not wait as it will be the best decision you ever make with this vehicle, and Richard’s customer service is second to none.

Thank you very much.

P.S. I’ll try to post an update in a couple of months when I’ve stopped enjoying it too much 😁

[Farqui]

Hi Ashley, good to hear that you see any improvement to the hybrid power. I'm interested to hear about the improvement as my car is wasn't new when I acquired it and a dealer CT loaner was more modern with different characteristics.

Was your hybrid Battery suffering before you took the plunge? Any codes or issues before hand? What made you change the traction Battery?

As you say, monitor mpg over a few tanks and report back with any changes.

When we hop over to Derbyshire for the day, I often see a full Battery after rolling down those steep hills. It's pretty flat over here.

Reckon I'll go check out Richards website again...

[Farqui]

For reference http://www.hybatt.co.uk/hymax-batteries/

[AshGS450h]

Hi Farqui

My car is an 07 model with 120+K on the clock and despite having the battery refurbished about 12 months ago, it was already appearing to be weak - giving it a bit of toe would take the Battery from 6/7 bars down to 2/3! The Battery charge would be up and down like a brides nightie!

It had thrown the lights/warning up when the car had been stood in a hot car park a few weeks ago.l and the MPG had also dropped to 26/27.

I live in Derbyshire near the “most dangerous roads” in England, so the Battery does get a workout pushing it up the hills and out of bends, so the MPG is never going to be the same as riding round a nice flat city or somewhere like Lincolnshire but considering it’s power and bulk it’s very impressive.

[Farqui]

Thanks for the reply Ashley, my vehicle is a similar age/mileage to yours so it's interesting to read about your experiences.

Ah, so your traction Battery was showing early signs of degredation yet a refurb didn't completely resolve the issue(s)?  I've read that certain refurb's are quick/dirty cell replacement or you can/should take more time to perform a thorough refurb and analysis of each cell.

The Hymax batteries claim to be quite a bit more powerful, so lets see how your mpg improves with all the extra electric boost you now seem to be getting.

Cheers, Lee

[AshGS450h]

Yeah the Battery was obviously getting tired (nothing lasts forever). When it was refurbed by Richard it was very strong, but a combination of the terrain (hilly and plenty of twists) and my “spirited” driving style doesn’t give it the easiest life.

I don’t think the hotter weather has exactly helped either (soaking the car in 8hrs of direct sunlight at work) as I have been getting in, wacking the air con and cooled seats on full blast before leaving and climbing a nice steep hill (550ft in 2 miles - 1-in-6 climb) is fairly hard on it. Discharging a large amount and regening back down the hill quite hard is just increasing the heat factor in the Battery “wear”.

[Farqui]

Ashley@AshGS450h, now that you had your new Battery for a few weeks...has your mpg changed much?

It's still running okay i presume?

[AshGS450h]

Hi Farqui

Sorry for the long time until replying. I have now had the Battery 3 months and finding on long runs I’m getting about 3mpg more than before and around town about 2mpg more.

The attached photo is from doing about 40miles of a mix of 30/40/50/60 (mainly 50) on reasonably level terrain so I’m pretty satisfied with the Battery and the improvements.

[Farqui]

Impressive, thanks for updating us [emoji106]

[Lexusls400 =)]

@AshGS450h Any chance of an update on how your HyMax Battery is performing after over a year of use?

[AshGS450h]

Hi

Yes I am still very happy with it. It is still very strong and performing the same as the day it was fitted.

This morning I did what would be a normal commute for most people (stop/start traffic, and crawling along barely above walking speed for about 20 minutes), but I was impressed with the "electric only" distance I managed with Air-Con and Heated Seat (I know a bit daft but I like a warm rear and cool air!) both on. The Battery was "full blue" / 6 bars when beginning the crawl of about 1.8 miles, and by the end it still has 3 bars just as the traffic began to move the engine fired and on accelerating it dropped briefly to 2 bars before beginning its regen/recharge back to 6 bars within another 3ish miles of steady 40mph driving.

Fuel consumption is obviously dependant on terrain / driving style / speeds driven, but can still get low to mid-40s on a level-ish longer steady run, but on shorter town driving it returns 32-33mpg (keep meaning to do a manual calc "fill-to-fill" but fuel consumption isn't my biggest concern with such a large/heavy/powerful motor).

Would still definitely recommend as I am chuffed with the results.

[Lexusls400 =)]

Hi Ash, that sounds very good indeed! It’s good to know that there are multiple options available know for dealing with the hybrid Battery. Makes the car’s future much more secure!

[twolexii]

Hello AshGS450h 

re your Hymas replacement Battery. It’s pleasing to read that you’re happy with your purchase.

I have a concern: the supplier’s 3 years warranty can only be as good as the continuing life of the supplying Company. Did you consider that before spending nearly £2,400? Or was extending the life of your nice car more important?

My related thought: a GS450h owner told me last month that Lexus had only charged him around £1,600 to supply and fit their replacement hybrid Battery, presumably covered by their 15 years warranty - if it’s checked every year for £59. Implication: one CAN negotiate w/Lexus, particularly for an older car. You’re probably aware of their discounted “essentials” maintenance fixed charge. BTW that deal does NOT apply to the older LS600h. One reason I sold my LS600h L RSR and replaced it with my (more fun) ‘07/94k GS450h SE-L.

The other thought: Youtube shows USA reconditioned GS batteries at very good prices. Has any one imported one? With what outcome?

BTW, driving with care, using its 450 horses sparingly to overtake, my ‘07/94k car is delivering 37+ mpg; whilst the Battery generally only shows 2 missing bars. So my questions are - currently - academic.

Thanks for reading.

Edited October 9, 2020 by twolexii
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