The girl I car-pool to work with is considering a hybrid and I was curious because I've never really researched it, whether or not there is any additional costs to owning a hybrid vehicle. I know you get better gas mileage and even tax breaks, but is there any routine maintenence (sp) that'* not associated with a regular gas combustion vehicle. Just curious.

Joe.

My aunt has a Prius and doesn't have to do any additional work to it.

Nothing much different in maintenance engine-wise. The batties shouuld be fluid checked a few times a year, the electric motors have their own cooling system which needs to be checked in addition the the motors. The battery array may have its own heating/cooling system also.

The big expense comes when its time to change out the battery pack(*).

How often is that?

Joe.

Maintaining a hybrid doesn't cost any more than a conventional car, and may even cost less due to decreased wear and tear on the engine and braking system. You’ll probably want to take your hybrid to a dealer, especially considering that Toyota offers a 100,000 mile warranty on emission components and battery pack, and that Honda offers an 80,000 mile warranty on the same—on top of the traditional 3-year/36,000 mile warranty on the conventional systems. Dealer service centers do usually charge a little more, but classes are popping up all over the country to teach independent car mechanics about hybrids. After all, there will be hundreds of thousands of these cars on the road in the next couple of years, and mechanics will have to meet this demand. This timing works out well for new hybrid buyers. By the time your warranty is finished, there will be many more qualified hybrid mechanics available to you.

http://www.hybridcars.com/faq.html

Toyota says 8 years on the Pruis. it uses a nickle metal hydride battery like my wifes cellphone. I know my wifes cellphone doesn't last 2 years like they say it should...

Also keep in mind that currently the car will be worth less than the battery pack by then and that their is nothing in place to recyle these battery packs and they are considered toxic waste (may even cost you $$$ to recycle them)

iuno how the toyotas work but the ford escape hybrid, the engine completely shuts off at times, that concerns me since startup is the time of most wearing, if the engine is constantly starting and stopping i think itd wear out faster

Good point.
I'm sure it would last the length of the warranty but will they hold up to 200,000+ miles like we see with the 3.8?

Toyotas prius works the same way. Ford actually borrowed most of the patents from toyota for thier escape hybrid. They both use some sort of special starter combo and pump to save wear and tear from constant restarts...I read that somewhere though.

Well, the warranty is 8 years. No telling now how long they'll last...

I recall hearing about some test mules hitting well past 200,000 miles in Vancouver I think. I was at a whole SAE student presentation to engineering students involved in racing teams and stuff, they spent a whole shitload of time talking about the Prius' setup. They did have something to address that startup wear/tear issue... beats me, I wasn't paying attention

Here'* a pic I took of the whole system: