Posted on 12/26/2023 1:30:16 AM PST by Libloather
**SNIP**
“It’s getting to the point where [the car] is almost like a consumable, like a TV,” Benoit said.
Benoit’s experience heralds a problem that early adopters of EVs, as well as electric micromobility devices like e-bikes and e-scooters, are beginning to face: These vehicles contain big, expensive batteries that will inevitably degrade or stop working over time. Repairing these batteries can have sustainability benefits, saving energy and resources that would otherwise be used to manufacture a new one. That’s particularly important for EVs, which contain very large batteries that must be used for years to offset the carbon emissions associated with making them. But many EV and e-mobility batteries are difficult to repair by design, and some manufacturers actively discourage the practice, citing safety concerns. The small number of independent mechanics who repair EV or e-bike batteries struggle to do so affordably due to design challenges, safety requirements, and a lack of access to spare parts.
“There’s a lot of batteries in the recycle bin that could be repaired,” said Timoté Rouffignac, who runs a small e-bike battery repair business called Daurema in Brussels, Belgium. But “because they are not made to be repaired, it’s quite hard to propose a good price.”
A lithium-ion battery in a smartphone contains a single “cell” consisting of a graphite anode, a metallic cathode, and a liquid electrolyte that allows lithium ions to move from one side to the other to generate an electrical potential. An e-bike battery often contains dozens of cells. EV batteries, meanwhile, can contain hundreds to thousands of individual cells, which are often packaged into “modules,” and from there, bundled into a battery pack. In addition to cells and modules, electric car and e-bike batteries typically include a battery management system that monitors the battery’s state of health...
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
The clock on the 30 second warranty starts when you arrive at the repair shop.
ping to you
BOGO fire sale?
What “repairs” are in order for a battery?
The only thing that comes to mind is cleaning corrosion on the terminals (that is increasing electrical resistance).
If corrosion is on the negative terminals, that indicates undercharging. On he positive, overcharging.
These big batteries are huge assemblies of small lithium cells. Individual cells can go bad, and that compromises the entire battery. When I was flying RC airplanes at the dawn of lithium technology it wasn’t uncommon to have dismantle a pack to replace a cell, but those batteries were usually only three or four cells. It’s different when there’s a thousand of the little buggers.
Moving to computers - I used to collect “failed” Dell C and D series loptop batteries from our IT guy. He loved that because otherwise he had to fill out haz-mat paperwork to dispose of them. I took them apart to salvage the 18650 cells. As often as not, what had actually failed was the charge management board. All individual cells took and delivered charge just fine. I used them in the airplanes. I don’t fly anymore, but I still have several dozen of them around. Can you replace the charge management electronics in a Tesla battery? Don’t know. But if I were facing $20,000 for a replacement I’d sure look into it.
My airplane packs were air cooled, but these car batteries have to have an active cooling system, (I assume some sort of liquid is pumped through the matrix.) So there’s another point of failure that might be repaired if you knew how and had the tools.
Needless to say, what with the voltages and short-circuit current capacities of these big EV batteries, they are a bomb waiting to go off the moment you open them up.
ping
One rotten apple spoils the barrel (of apples)
So in the Tesla battery you have a few cells out of 100? That fail before the others. Locate them and replace them. This all can be time-consuming.
Failed charge management board can be a factor too.
Then after all of the above is done on an 8 year old Tesla battery. The car is running great. But due to the battery’s age some more battery cells fail within 12 months? Then the owner and repair shop are back to zero.
Unless the repair shop can locate and replace battery cells that are 40% unhealthy and replace them too. On the first battery repair that is done.
What Tesla and other EVs makers need are 10-20 battery specialist repair shops in the USA. That have all the advanced battery repair tools. You bring your EV into a lower level repair shop for battery evaluation. If it looks repairable, it is shipped to one of the 10-20 battery repair super-shops.
Turn around time 7 business days is what is needed. While you are given a more reliable ICE loaner car to drive. Like a 2012 Toyota hatch back with a dent on one side. And a leaking sun roof. (I once had one a 1988 model)
Another reason not to ever buy an EV.
I defend Tesla on many things, but their management of batteries is undefensible. Their batteries normally do last a LONG time, far longer than their warranty. But in recent years, the’ve made the battery almost impossible to replace.
Eight years, 100,000 miles is pretty good. And unlike your printer or your John Deere, “unauthorized tinkering” is a major safety issue... and FR reports every...single... Tesla fire like it’s the OJ Simpson chase. But that doesn’t excuse deliberately making the battery so difficult to replace or recycle.
Interesting...
.
If All the Cells were ‘D’ sized batteries
Standardized replacement would be less
Intimidating.
The resale value sucks for electric cars. Why ? Because it costs more to replace the worn out batteries than the car is worth. There are huge junkyard lots filled with used electric cars because nobody wants them.
Gosh - if “healthy” batteries can catch fire and be impossible to put out, what might happen to “refurbished” batteries?
Just to show my age, I sued to test repair equipment that used TTL ICs. HP was known for grinding off Texas Instruments part numbers and putting on their own part numbers with a commensurate vast increase in price.
This was to maintain the HP legend of “Quality”.
I suspect this battery cell thing to be much of the same. Tesla has an image to maintain.
Full disclosure never hire a 17 year experienced Electronics tech that earned a degree. We know our shit and what is shit. We can spot BS in a second. FPGA and VHDL is the way to go in the future. except where you need galvanic action to absolutely guarantee safety.
IOW, Big Brother is watching you....................
EVs are worse because at least a failed car battery could be swapped out.
A lifespan of eight years and 100,000 miles sucks. The current average car age is 12.2 years old.
I now drive company cars so they are new. But in my personal cars, it’s rare for me to own one with under 100,000 miles.
You’d have to be a literal moron to buy a car that you know will be valueless once it hits 100,000 miles. Of course, moron perfectly describes most EV owners.
I do not recognize FPGA nor VHDL.
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