this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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The #1 problem with EVs is not the energy and materials used to create the battery because that is eclipsed many times over by not using gas during the battery’s life- the biggest problem is that the entire car becomes e-waste as soon as the battery is damaged or degraded in any way.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/yikes-the-60000-hyundai-ioniq-5-battery-replacement-saga-continues-226590.html
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/florida-family-electric-car-problem-replacement-battery-costs-more-vehicle
They also produce just as much tire waste as an ICE car.
I hope moving forward, EVs will be regulated and have modular parts, and can still be user repairable, unlike (most) smartphones.
I don't want them to have that "vendor lock in" that Apple and Samsung are famous for, component wise.
There's already a few videos of home mechanics replacing their own battery packs. Not a big thing yet, but as an engineer in related systems, it's great to see a first effort already happening.
The replacing the battery is simply a supply issue.
There is such a demand and so little supply, that if you want to buy just a battery (and not the entire car) you are out of luck. They'll put that battery in a new car and sell it before selling it to you as a replacement.
But that's short term. There are a huge number of battery plants already breaking ground and coming online.
In 2 years or so, the price to replace the battery will be a HELL of a lot lower, and the issue you linked above will be long gone.
I hope so but I doubt it. It’s not the price that’s so much of an issue but the fact that the packs are non-standard, non-serviceable, and the car is worthless without it. Manufacturers make money selling their own custom batteries at markup. It’ll take government regulation to force companies to begin using a modular system because there is literally negative incentive for manufactures to do it on their own.
government regulation to force companies to begin using a modular system
Yeah, that's fair. But the issue is also similar to cell phones.
Each battery is unique because it needs to fit the unique layout of the vehicle. Not to mention the battery tech is moving so fast, that the chemistry of the battery itself is changing every few years.
I suspect China's approach to a vehicle where you hot-swap the batteries instead of charging will be the way it goes. Someone will do it, it will be most $$$ efficient and therefore profitable, and then it will force them all to adopt the same approach.
I totally agree, hot swap modules are the only way it can work- treat them like propane tanks!