Hybrid battery repair in Holbrook, Arizona

Holbrook grew up around the railroad in 1881–82 and has been the Navajo County seat since the county was formed in 1895. It is a city of about 4,900 on I-40 and old Route 66, home to the 1950 Wigwam Motel and a Northland Pioneer College campus, and Petrified Forest National Park lies 28 miles east. It is cold, dry high desert: about 8 inches of precipitation a year, with large swings between day and night.

• January nights average about 22°F, and the record low is −20°F. Winter is when a tired 12V battery gives out here.
• July averages about 94°F, well short of Phoenix, so packs here usually outlast Valley cars of the same age.
• Long I-40 and SR-77 miles at steady speed wear a pack evenly, so when one is done it tends to be done all over.
• Open plateau and unpaved lots put dust into the cabin air that cools the pack.

You get genuine summer heat but nothing like the Phoenix low desert, and you get actual winter nights. That combination is its own kind of stress: the pack ages in summer, and the wide daily temperature swings are hard on the 12V battery year-round. Hybrids here generally do better than Phoenix cars of the same age — but the 12V fails just as often, for different reasons.

• Milder summers mean pack ageing is slower than in Phoenix. Don't assume Phoenix-based advice about lifespan applies to you.
• Cold mornings reduce regenerative braking until the pack warms up — a shorter electric range on the first few miles is normal, not a fault.
• The engine runs longer on cold starts to reach operating temperature. That's expected behaviour, not a failing battery.
• Large daily temperature swings are hard on 12V batteries. Test annually.

This is a long way from Phoenix, and we come out here. A trip like this is scheduled ahead rather than same-day, so call with the year, model and what the car is doing and we'll set a date.