Hybrid Batteries Get Lifetime Warranty

[Hyundai NEWS]

Hyundai’s wide-ranging warranty coverage extends up to a full 10 years/100,000 miles on its gas-only vehicles, but it’s no surprise that the automaker’s Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, with its advanced technologies, doesn’t get quite the same coverage—the shocking thing is that the latter car’s warranty goes even further: The Sonata Hybrid’s innovative lithium-polymer battery pack will now carry a lifetime battery-replacement guarantee. Hyundai will even cover recycling costs on the old unit.
On the other hand, the automaker probably doesn’t expect many folks will need to take advantage of this new protection. Hyundai engineers put the Sonata Hybrid’s Blue Drive technology through extensive reliability testing, showing the car’s hybrid powertrain can operate for more than 300,000 miles with only a minimal loss of performance. A key to this advantage? The individual cells in older lithium-ion batteries expand and contract noticeably during the charging process as they warm and cool, and this can lead to significant cracking and loss of operation.
But the cells in Hyundai’s next-gen lithium-polymer technology—the first of its kind in the auto industry—leverage a different chemistry that is much more resistant to expansion/contraction, and without the need for the kind of heavy cooling system found on rivals.
“The Hyundai brand was built on outstanding quality backed by the industry’s best protection program which we call Hyundai Assurance,” said Michael O’Brien, vice president, Corporate and Product Planning. “Expanding Hyundai Assurance to include Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee was another opportunity for us to demonstrate our confidence in the durability of our product, and pass that peace-of-mind on to our owners.”