Plug In Prius battery life

[CRT1]

So I am in the beginning stages of considering the PIP. I am of the ilk that buys cars new and runs them for 15 years. So the life of the PIP battery is a primary concern to me.

Toyota says the PIP battery is 4.4 kWh Lithium-Ion (not sure the exact chemistry). Users say it takes 3 kWh per charge. That is 68% of full charge so it sounds like Toyota has program the thing to run from 84% to 16% or something like that.

Question: If I am cycling this battery 2x per day, living in the Boston area (not too hot or cold), how long is it reasonable to expect this battery to last? It needs to give 11,000 cycles over the 15 years of ownership. Will it follow the degradation that Nissan claims the for the leaf: 80% after 5 years, 70% after 10 years . . . 12 years? 15 years?

My commute is between 11 and 17 miles depending on route and stops. I am thinking with HM techniques I could get to work, charge, and get home all EV. If the battery stays strong I will make my additional investment over the regular Prius back no problem. As the battery degrades down to the 70% range all-EV won't always be possible making the vehicle a bit less compelling.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Assume 12,000 miles per year, 2/3 EV and 1/3 HEV.

[herm]

11,000 cycles of 70% depth of charge?.. I really doubt it, battery is too small and cycled too deeply, satellite lithium-ion batteries may do that but they have tightly regulated temperatures and very shallow cycles.

You need something with a much bigger battery and temperature control.. perhaps an LG battery.. LG appears to be the leader in this field. The Toshiba SCiB cells also have a good reputation.

[herm]

CRT1 check this thread out, the post yesterday:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopi...=8838&start=20

47k miles on a Leaf, owner estimates 8-10% battery degradation.. a 119 mile daily commute in Kent, WA.. That does not look bad at all.

[CRT1]

I drove the PIP last weekend and was impressed and not. It drove fairly well around town in all-EV and would kick-in the ICE if you floored it. Steering, brakes and road feel are numb compared the the FIT and my old 97 Civic, but not annoyingly so. Overall I liked driving the car, but the interior seemed really cheap for a $32,000k car, not much better than the FIT and I like the Honda ergo much better. The Leaf by comparison seemed much higher quality on the interior and was much more fun to drive, IMO. Torquey and overall just a little tighter.

All that said, I am going to hold off and drive the C-MAX Energi when it comes out. With the 7.5 kWh pack I could do a lot more EV driving. I would be able to get my whole round-trip commute into one charge with the C-Max. This means my employer would pay for both legs of my commute and I would only need to cycle the battery once per day instead of twice, thus making my 15 year target seem more attainable.