Posted on 03/20/2023 5:55:02 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
A scratched or slightly damaged electric battery might be enough for some insurers to write off entire cars, as for many electric vehicles there is no way to repair battery packs after collisions.
As a result, the consumer — who likely acquired an electric vehicle wanting to reduce monthly costs — faces higher premiums and some countries are starting to see electric vehicle batteries piling up in scrapyards, according to Reuters.
Matthew Avery, research director at automotive risk intelligence company Thatcham Research, said the goal of electric vehicles was sustainability, but a lack of reparability is creating a whole new problem.
"We're buying electric cars for sustainability reasons," Avery said, Reuters reported. "But an EV isn't very sustainable if you've got to throw the battery away after a minor collision."
These battery packs can also cost tens of thousands of dollars, representing as much as 50% of an EV's price tag. This also makes replacing batteries uneconomical.
These cars also pile up in scrapyards, usually with low mileage, exacerbating the problem.
According to Reuters, EV salvage sales in the U.S. and Europe includes low-mileage Teslas, Nissan Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co, Stellantis, BMW, Renault and others.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
Get a horse!
If they didn't weld together a thousand or so D cell size batteries into a single cell maybe they would be more repairable. They could definitely e more modular maybe look into resizing these tiny cells into something more repairable.
Knowing Tesla, if some put a replacement battery in their car that wasn’t made by or refurbished by Tesla, they would probably brick the car.
someone*
Are there stations where you can swap out your gas tank rather than filling it up every time it gets low?
2020 election: Not an election.
Would you trust your electric car not to explode in flames after any accident damage was repaired as just 1 bad battery can cause a runaway fire.
This is true of all EV's sold in California. There is a law that all manufacturers must replace the battery pack in an 8-year period, if it fails to provide power within a certain range.
Some independents already do this, refurbishing battery packs and installing them on customer's EV's.
Redwood Materials is in the business of recycling EV batteries for many auto makers. They don't refurbish the packs. What they do is salvage good batteries and put them to use in lesser products, such as golf carts, forklifts, and storage systems. The batteries that can't be used are reduced to their material elements and used in manufacturing new batteries, similar to how lead-acid batteries for ICE vehicles are recycled. There is no reason to junk EV batteries in junkyards or landfills, they can be recycled now by existing companies.
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