More efficient manufacturing, falling battery costs and intense competition are lowering sticker prices for battery-powered models to within striking distance of gasoline cars.
More efficient manufacturing, falling battery costs and intense competition are lowering sticker prices for battery-powered models to within striking distance of gasoline cars.
My main two concerns are battery replacement (and affordability of replacements including a third party market for compatible parts) and battery restoration/recovery. Alternatively, if we could massively increase battery life span (not a single charge - but how many charge/discharge cycles they can survive) that might also allay my fears - but I think the first one is better.
You want ‘resilience’.
Added to my lexicon!
Why do you think the cyclic life of current or 10 year old batteries is not already good enough? Do you know how often they fail? How much they degrade after 10 years?
The US DoE puts EV battery half-life at 8-12 years for most current vehicles. That’s insanely short compared to ICE.
Do you have the link for that? Many old Model S’ are still getting well over 50% of their range; closer to 85-90%. The only way I could see that being is if a large portion of the batteries in the sample were Nissan Leafs which were air cooled and degraded horribly in extreme heat or extreme cold.
Yeah, I can’t do that. As little as I drive, they would last longer, but still. I’ll be retired or close enough in 12-years, won’t be able to afford a fresh battery. My ICE convertible and truck are 02 and 04 models and run fine.
Knowing there’s a hard limit on usage, with a wildly expensive repair at the end, that’s tough to swallow. I can keep my 04 F150 running forever. (For certain values of forever.)
It’s not a hard limit, it’s a variable capacity reduction over a decade that estimates a maximum 50% reduction in range, similar to the lost efficiency of an ICE engine as the tubes , pipes and cases erode.
You add in the far lower fuel/repair/ maintenance costs and that optional new battery is costing you less than you’re paying in gasoline, oil changes or other basic and common maintenance.
How long should a battery last compared to an ice engine… and how much should it cost to replace? If you actually look into the statistics, battery packs (at least on Teslas) last longer than ICE motors by a factor of 2 to 5. And their replacement costs are currently around 2x, but will come down over time. Regardless, I’d never replace a battery pack, just like I’d never replace an ICE motor.
If you run the numbers down to a per mile cost, EVs… especially Teslas… outlast and are significantly cheaper to operate than any ICE vehicle on the market. There is a huge amount of disinformation out there around EVs.
That’s not to say everyone can afford to spend the money (or get the loan) to go electric up front… but if you can manage it, it will pay off in the long run. I’ll never buy another ICE vehicle as long as I live. It‘d feel like I’m flushing money down the toilet.
I’ve always driven gasoline vehicles until repairs are more expensive than replacement, which has meant 10-15 years. At that point they’re worth almost nothing, which also means I don’t need to get too worked up about getting a good deal.
Average battery life span used to be shorter due to early leaf’s not having active cooling
I hope EVs are similar, and read stories online about Tesla batteries lasting 12-15 years. Assuming that pans out, EVs are already no different from gasoline vehicles.
I’ll let you know in 15 years