Silver Lake Auto Center Inc.
36355 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc
www.silverlakeautocenter.com
Innovation: Hybrid battery reconditioning
Oconomowoc-based Silver Lake Auto Center Inc. recently started offering a service that reconditions the batteries in older hybrid vehicles to restore their efficiency and performance to like-new. Its Oconomowoc location is the only facility offering the service in the Midwest.
Silver Lake introduced the battery reconditioning service in January through a partnership with The Hybrid Shop, a national franchise of about 20 dealers, said Dan Garlock, co-owner of Silver Lake.
“What we can do is bring life back to the hybrid batteries,” Garlock said. “Over time, these hybrid batteries actually lose their capability of storing the power.”
Through the reconditioning process, Silver Lake is able to restore 95 to 98 percent of the original battery life. The cost for the process is $1,200 on average, Garlock said.
One of the facility’s four trained technicians pulls the battery pack out of the vehicle and tests each cell for power and energy capabilities, and also the battery pack’s balance. Most hybrid cars have between 13 and 19 cells.
If the battery is a candidate for reconditioning, it is discharged to a 0 state of charge using a specialized process that breaks down the chemistry and the crystals in the battery and then recharged.
“We do have an older (Toyota) Prius here right now where it actually had been leaking some of the acid or electrolyte out of it, so in that case there was no way to repair the battery (to brand new),” Garlock said. “We could replace the leaking cells individually and then rebalance the pack, but in this case the customer elected not to. We just brought the battery back to as best we can with what they have.”
The Prius was 13 years old and had about 200,000 miles on it, and even without replacing the leaking cells, Silver Lake was able to restore it to 75 percent of the original capacity.
Silver Lake was founded in 1973 and has locations in Oconomowoc and Hartland with a total of 22 employees. Its family owners have tried to remain at the forefront of vehicle technology over the years.
“We decided that we were going to take a leap forward and be the only one in the state and actually the only one in the Midwest to offer this service right now,” Garlock said. “We wanted to make sure that our shop can service these cars at a really high level. I’ve seen some of the demographics on how many hybrid cars are in Waukesha County, and there’s a lot of them.”
The company put four employees through a weeklong Society of Automotive Engineers training class to learn in depth about the theory and operation of hybrids. It also purchased the tools and equipment to provide the reconditioning service, for a total investment of about $60,000.
A battery discharger and battery charger, some computers and software, motor testers and thermal imaging equipment are used to recondition the batteries.
“It’s a special charger made for these type of battery cells,” Garlock said. “Really, it’s the math and the science behind the charging levels and how we introduce the voltage and current within the battery, and that’s how we can break down the crystals and the chemistry of the battery without damaging the battery.”
It’s not something a hybrid owner could do at home, because it requires special equipment and training.
So far, Silver Lake has performed about 10 battery reconditioning services. A battery reconditioning should last about two years, Garlock said. Customers are given a report on the process and what Silver Lake found out about the battery.
