If you’re driving a hybrid – may God help you! The highest percentage of irreparable failures and the highest costs of battery system failures are being recorded in hybrids (not in EVs). As things currently stand, the largest number of bankrupt vehicle owners will likely be those driving hybrids, since hybrid batteries are, in many cases, even more expensive than EV batteries. Due to high charge and discharge currents in small battery packs, combined with an under-designed system that wouldn’t be adequate even for a basic quad, these systems often fail. Overly complex and needlessly complicated electric drive units integrated into automatic transmissions – praised under the guise of “technological progress and optimization” – are turning into financial disasters for owners. For example, in the Audi Q7, the electric motor inside the transmission costs €18,000, the battery €28,000, and a new diesel engine €22,000, according to the official service price list. The real issue arises when no sustainable, adequate, or economically viable repair solutions exist – no replacement motor blocks, no spare stators, no individual cell replacements – the entire component must be replaced. The European auto industry has lost both its compass and its balance. BMW hybrids are currently in an “automotive armageddon” phase of failures, breaking records for the number of inquiries and failed battery systems. Weekly, we receive 5 to 10 service requests for vehicles with completely failed battery systems, often with just 100,000 km on the clock. It’s not possible to replace just one cell – once a new one is installed into the old system, the next weakest cell fails within days. The entire process becomes an exorcism – both for the car and the owner. That’s why at EV Clinic, we don’t replace just the faulty cells – we replace all of them with new ones. A new module at a BMW dealership costs €1,800 for just 1.3 kWh of capacity – which adds up to over €10,000 just for parts. However, thanks to our industry connections, we managed to secure brand-new modules at factory prices, although in limited quantities – allowing us to use old modules for research purposes, analyze more battery system samples, and offer a practical solution to vehicle owners in parallel. In most of the samples, we identified severe degradation of the upper modules inside the housing – in some cases up to 68% capacity loss. Additionally, after cell replacement, there’s no option to reset the SOH (State of Health), meaning the range displayed on the dashboard doesn’t return to original values seen when the car was new. It takes several charge and discharge cycles for the system to recalibrate. Until then, the dashboard shows reduced range, even though the actual number of kilometers driven is greater – something we always warn customers about before the procedure begins. The system uses Samsung SDI cells, with six modules in a 16S configuration per module. Currently, we only have 3 hybrid repair kits left – the remaining few million hybrid owners should start saving up their “fuel savings” now, in the amount of €12,000–15,000, for a visit to the authorized dealership. Common DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Codes): 21F1F6, 21F2B1, 21F123, 21F257 Internal resistance of 16S module at 100,000 km: 18–25 mΩ ACIR Internal resistance of new 16S module: 8 mΩ ACIR OEM repair cost: €11,000 EV Clinic repair cost: €4,800 Armageddon: 100% Bankruptcy: 100% Fuel savings: 0% A hybrid is not an EV! The least problematic hybrid: Toyota