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Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Now compare that to a full sized EV battery. The 24kWh OEM Nissan Leaf battery costs some $8,000 and has only gone up in price even before COVID-19. We have yet to see if cheaper-per-kWh aftermarket solutions will actually last.
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On one hand the Nissan Leaf is a poor example as they are the only company that I know of that went cheap and put an air-cooled battery in an EV. That is why they have some many failure in hot climates.
However, they are also a good example as their design failure also makes them the first large manufacturer that has needed to offer replacement battery packs on a somewhat large scale.
So let say I have a Leaf and the battery fails at 8 years / 100K miles right when the warranty expires. I then buy another new battery from Nissan with another 8 year / 100K mile warranty. If it also fails right at the warranty it will have cost me $1000K a year / $83 a month or 8 cents per mile. Add another 3 cents per mile for electricity to charge the battery and the "fuel" for my EV has cost me $11 cents per mile. That is the equivalent of a gas car getting 33 mpg with gas at $3.50 a gallon. So worst case I'm coming out ahead of buying the typical gas car in the USA. (Currently 24.9 mpg)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Then add to that the structural aspect we're talking about. There have been a few Tesla owners who have had a single battery module go out and Tesla now won't replace just the module. Thankfully some have figured out how to do it and have saved themselves the cost of a whole new battery. There are similar stories with Prii and Leafs. But with a structurally battery the whole thing is one module! Now what?! Replacing just the bad cells will be very prohibitive.
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Tesla is the oddball when it comes to battery design. Both that they use small cylindrical cells and that they glue their battery together. If you look at designs from traditional automakers they are using much larger pouch or prism cells that are in pack and modules that are mechanically fastened together. This not only makes them easier to repair but also easier to repurpose and recycle at the end of life in the original vehicle.
You can make a battery pack a stressed member in the chassis without gluing it in place. Engines are stressed members in motorcycle frames and they are still bolted in place and can come out for service.