We had a local resident email us with some AMAZING questions about electric vehicles. They were so good, we decided to share them with you on our web page. This is Part 3, talking about end of battery life.
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Q: What happens when the battery can no longer be charged? Is there fair warning in advance, or does one end up surprised and stranded with a dead vehicle — and what options does one have to fix or replace it?
If you’ve owned anything else, like a cell phone, you know batteries lose their charge. And just like your cell phone, the battery doesn’t die immediately. Typically, you will observe a slow decline in how many hours the phone will work until you need to charge it again. Same goes for EVs – in fact, the current battery technology is the same as your cell phone. So you would start to notice you don’t seem to get as many miles per charge as you used to. In the case of EVs with battery degradation, the issue is observed over months or even years. So it definitely doesn’t happen “on the spot.”
Repair options will depend a lot on the brand of vehicle – frankly, some do better than others in the service department. This is where certain brands get higher ratings than others. We would always recommend to do your homework – check with other owners, check publications like Consumer Reports, etc. – before making a purchase.
Of course, all of this is dependent on if you even need to replace the battery at all. A recent long-term study shows that Tesla Model S and X batteries have only degraded about 12 percent on average after 200k miles. Here’s the link.
Q: I’ve heard when the battery dies you basically end up paying nearly the same as for a new vehicle. How is that ever going to be affordable on a modest, or a fixed income?
In the earliest days of current electric vehicles (circa 2005), the batteries could be incredibly expensive. However, these costs have lowered due to economies of scale (basically, the more you make, the cheaper each one becomes to make). And in those earlier days, the batteries suffered from greater reliability issues. However, now that EVs have become more mainstream, and more companies are making them, the costs have continued to go down. Now, it is typical if your battery did have to be replaced it would fall under the vehicle warranty. If it exceeded those miles, the current estimate would be to cost about the same as a new engine in an ICE car.
As electric vehicles become more mainstream, costs of production will continue to fall. The EV incentives portion of the IRA bill is designed to offset the difference between an EV and a comparable gas car. The incentives are also designed to go away after a few years, as it’s expected EVs and gas cars will be roughly the same price by then. So if you need to watch your pennies (as I do), your best options will probably be either: 1) leasing a new EV, or 2) purchasing a used EV that qualifies for the $4,000 credit.
These rules can and will change over time, so it’s best to check the IRS website for the official vehicle lists and qualifications to get the credit. And don’t forget: leasing instead of buying may work better for your situation. Be sure to check with your accountant or tax advisor to see what works best for you.
In our next post, we’ll talk about charging with solar.
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