Replacing the battery makes it essentially a new car from drivetrain perspective.
Also, Leafs typically last as long as gas powered cars. Gas cars have the same problem - the entire engine and transmission are expensive to replace and the car is usually scrapped. The problem you outline is not unique to electric cars.
Why does everyone say replacing the battery gives you a new drivetrain? It would be like replacing the gas tank. The drivetrain equivalent in an EV would be the electric motors.
They’re uninformed, or fanboys. 10k for a battery might get your range back to stock, but you’re still going to have worn cv axles, control arm bushings, wheel bearings, and ball joints that typically start needing replacement after 100k miles. There are still bearings on the motor, gearing to the differential, and winding insulation that also wear with age. I’d expect those to last 250k easy, but to think a new battery is a panacea for your clapped out commuter car is asinine.
$10k gets you the battery pack, but then there is the controller you need to replace as well, a good $4-8k. Plus the labor, +$300/hr for a certified technician. Meanwhile, my 2007 mini can get the engine and transmission swapped for $7000, with performance modifications and labor included.
There is maintenance you have to do, bearings that can and do fail, windings that fail.
The problem is the percentage of that cost compared to the second hand value. A full ICE drivetrain for a FWD car is not the same price as a fully functional second hand ICE vehicle. Whereas a battery back can be the same to double the price of a functional second hand battery EV. You can also rebuild an ICE drivetrain, or buy used there as well, things that aren’t yet possible with batteries.
ICE sucks, and we need something else, batteries suck just as much in different ways.
Replacing cells is far from simple and can be deadly if done wrong by someone who does not know what they are doing. Wet chemical batteries are terrible at storing energy compared to dry chemical batteries and super-capacitors, which are both close to mass production, but far from being implemented in the automotive world right now. I agree they are good for what we have now, but need to be replaced with something more sustainable, save and clean.
Replacing the battery makes it essentially a new car from drivetrain perspective.
Also, Leafs typically last as long as gas powered cars. Gas cars have the same problem - the entire engine and transmission are expensive to replace and the car is usually scrapped. The problem you outline is not unique to electric cars.
Why does everyone say replacing the battery gives you a new drivetrain? It would be like replacing the gas tank. The drivetrain equivalent in an EV would be the electric motors.
They’re uninformed, or fanboys. 10k for a battery might get your range back to stock, but you’re still going to have worn cv axles, control arm bushings, wheel bearings, and ball joints that typically start needing replacement after 100k miles. There are still bearings on the motor, gearing to the differential, and winding insulation that also wear with age. I’d expect those to last 250k easy, but to think a new battery is a panacea for your clapped out commuter car is asinine.
$10k gets you the battery pack, but then there is the controller you need to replace as well, a good $4-8k. Plus the labor, +$300/hr for a certified technician. Meanwhile, my 2007 mini can get the engine and transmission swapped for $7000, with performance modifications and labor included.
ICE BAD ≠ BATTERY GOOD
Don’t electric motors last pretty much forever?
It’s equivalent because in an ICE car the big cost to replace is the engine and the big cost to replace in an electric car is the battery
There is maintenance you have to do, bearings that can and do fail, windings that fail.
The problem is the percentage of that cost compared to the second hand value. A full ICE drivetrain for a FWD car is not the same price as a fully functional second hand ICE vehicle. Whereas a battery back can be the same to double the price of a functional second hand battery EV. You can also rebuild an ICE drivetrain, or buy used there as well, things that aren’t yet possible with batteries.
ICE sucks, and we need something else, batteries suck just as much in different ways.
Thanks for the info.
You can fix individual cells in a battery pack so some are repairable.
I think batteries are the answer we are just in thr early days of this tech still.
Replacing cells is far from simple and can be deadly if done wrong by someone who does not know what they are doing. Wet chemical batteries are terrible at storing energy compared to dry chemical batteries and super-capacitors, which are both close to mass production, but far from being implemented in the automotive world right now. I agree they are good for what we have now, but need to be replaced with something more sustainable, save and clean.