Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Those are the huge strengths of an EV. Lower cost/time of maintenance, refueling from home, and low cost per mile.
EVs need those huge advantages because they suffer 1 serious disadvantage, and it's the battery. Essentially it's a $10,000 fuel tank, that doesn't hold very much fuel, takes a long time to fill, needs environmental conditioning, shrinks (degrades) over time, and weighs a lot.
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Mostly true. But again, these are tradeoffs with other potential costs on the other side.
$10k fuel tank: Seems a fair average cost, but consider that this is the cost for a new battery with full power and range, good for at least another 80k miles in most cases, even longer in many real world cases. An i3 driver recently posted a picture to the i3 facebook group of his odometer at 222,222km (138,082 miles) and still going strong. Coincidentally, my son's Ford Escape motor destroyed itself this last month at 138,xxx miles. It was dead in the water. No more range when the rods poke through the block!
The cost to have the work done with a used motor was over $4k. A completely rebuilt motor would have pushed that closer to $6k. (I chose the DIY route for about $1500 total and taking my chances on salvage motor, but my time isn't factored into that.)
Additionally, manufacturers are improving battery management and capacity ratings to provide as much as 80% or more capacity remaining at that 100k mile mark. My state mandates 120k miles and ten years warranty to no less than 80% capacity on all new EVs sold in recent years. I don't expect that to come up as an issue at all unless a module in my battery fails - in which case the modular design of the BMW pack allows replacement of just 1 of the 8.
I would expect a complete battery replacement to carry the full manufacturer warranty as well, which is 8 years and 100k miles.
Capacity: No contest. Clear win on range for ICE for most EVs currently on the road except Teslas.
Weight: Less clear. My i3 weighs less than 2900 lbs with the range extender. The battery only version weighs just a hair over 2600. Much of that is owed to carbon fiber and aluminum construction, but as such, the battery is able to be significantly smaller and lighter as well.
Fill time: Clear trade-off between local and extended miles driven. As I pointed out in the previous post, I plug in at home and spend comparatively no time doing it. Out of town trips are another story, but that is also why I got a range extender that I have yet to need in the 3+ weeks I have had the car.
Environmental Conditioning Requirement: Yes, and no. Over-hyped from what I have learned (at least where I live with an average winter low of 34F). The i3 won't even do anything with the battery if it is over 45 degrees even when set to precondition before departure. It's simply not necessary, and since I keep mine in a garage overnight which is warmer, it's rarely an issue on the coldest days at least when I leave. The worst range reduction happens as temperatures drop into the 20's and below, and a substantial portion of that is the expense of staying warm inside the car. Opting to forgo cabin heat can add 10-20% to the range. (Heated seats have a much smaller hit.) I can see that being a significant problem in other parts of the country if commute distance is long and parking is outside, but most people don't go more than 30 miles in a day.
High summer temperatures are also being better handled with newer EVs, having abandoned schemes like Nissan's poor planning with air cooling for the early Leaf.