LEXUS gives 10-year warranty on high-voltage battery of its e-car

The electromobility market seems to be becoming increasingly popular and thus also more competitive. The biggest challenge for many automakers is to hold their own against the competition. Now Lexus has pulled an ace out of its sleeve that could make many other companies pale in comparison. Lexus wants to offer a ten-year warranty on the batteries of its electric cars.

Durable battery technology

Lexus has made a huge push with its guarantee that the battery will be able to last ten years, or a maximum of 1 million kilometers. Toyota’s upscale brand is in fact eradicating the very weakness that still scares many potential car buyers away from an electric car today – the longevity of the battery. After all, many customers complain that they lose a lot of mileage after just a short time. Ultimately, they fear having to replace them with an expensive, new battery.

Lexus is getting ahead of these fears. This is obviously not just a mere marketing gag. Rather, the company emphasizes that it has great confidence in its own battery technology. Its batteries are not only said to be powerful, but also to have a long service life. It now wants to emphasize this with a ten-year warranty on the high-voltage battery.

Lexus is serious

That this is not just a mere marketing gimmick, but apparently really a customer promise, becomes clear once you take a look at the fine print. The warranty does not only cover a total loss of the battery. The warranty also applies if the battery suffers any kind of malfunction within the first ten years or a distance of 1 million kilometers. This even applies if the battery capacity drops below 70 percent.

Of course, the whole thing is also tied to certain conditions. In particular, the warranty agreement only applies if the vehicle owner regularly visits the service center. The car’s integrated maintenance system reminds them to do so at certain intervals. The inspection must, of course, be carried out at an authorized Lexus workshop.

Modern battery cooling

Toyota’s subsidiary can justifiably claim to offer arguably one of the most advanced battery technologies in the entire electric car market. This becomes especially clear when taking a closer look at the battery of the brand-new Lexus UX 300e. Here, Lexus has tried first and foremost to create the best climatic conditions for the battery. After all, extreme temperatures are poison for batteries. At very high temperatures, a sophisticated air cooling system is to ensure that the performance of the high-voltage battery is always unrestricted. According to Lexus, the battery cells should always be kept at a temperature that ensures high energy efficiency and battery endurance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8OGjjaEcME

According to Lexus, the in-house cooling technology is superior to conventional cooling using water. This not only concerns the safety of the system. On top of that, air-based cooling naturally weighs far less than a water-based counterpart. The cooling system is also ingenious because Lexus kills two birds with one stone. Not only the battery itself is cooled. It is also used as an air conditioning system. Since Lexus completely seals its high-voltage battery, it should not only be protected against the ingress of dust, dirt and liquids. On top of that, there should be the best possible airflow.

And in winter?

Anyone who has ever driven an electric car knows that the battery’s true nemesis is cool temperatures. But Lexus would also like to have found the right solution for extremely low temperatures. According to the car manufacturer, the individual modules of the battery are equipped with a kind of heating system. This is supposed to ensure that the battery’s maximum performance can be called up even in winter. Accordingly, Toyota’s premium brand also provides suitable figures to support the advantages.

The battery of the UX 300e would need 25 hours to reach its full charge capacity at temperatures of approximately -30 °C without using the heating elements. With the heating turned on, it should only take about 8 hours. If the promised advantages can finally be proven in practice, Lexus has obviously finally developed a reliable battery concept independent of the weather. We are curious!