How long should an electric car last? How many years does an electrician's battery replace? [ANSWER]

Electric cars only last a few years before the battery can be thrown away? What does an electrician's battery replacement mean? How much should an electric car withstand in the sum of its parts? How many components are in it?

Two days ago we described the situation of an Australian engineer whose Nissan Leaf (2012) lost almost 2/3 of its range in 7 years. After 5 years, the car traveled only 60 kilometers on a single charge, two more years later - in 2019 - 40 kilometers in summer and only 25 kilometers in winter. When replacing the battery, the salon billed him for the equivalent of PLN 89:

> Nissan Leaf. After 5 years, the power reserve dropped to 60 km, the need to replace the battery was equivalent to ... 89 thousand. zloty

There were many comments on this topic after the publication. Let's try to treat them.

Table of contents

• How long should an electric car last? How long should the battery last?
  • What about electric motors and gears? Professionals: millions of kilometers
  • How are the batteries?
    • 800-1 cycles is the basis, we are moving towards several thousand cycles
  • If he's so handsome, why is he so poor?
    • Standard - warranty 8 years / 160 thousand km.
  • Summation

Start with this mechanical parts of electric vehicle Oraz body they are no different from those found in combustion vehicles. The stabilizer links will wear out on the polish holes, the shock absorbers will stop sticking, and the body can get rusty. This is normal and depends on the type of components that will be similar or identical to similar models of the same brand.

BMW iNext (c) BMW exterior

What about electric motors and gears? Professionals: millions of kilometers

Well engines today is the basis of the global industry, their autonomy is determined from several tens to several hundred thousand man-hoursdepending on design and load. One Finnish electrical engineer said it was 100 man-hours on average., which should be expressed in millions of kilometers:

> Tesla with the highest mileage? Finnish taxi driver has already covered 400 kilometers

Of course, these "millions" can be reduced to tens of thousands if the engines have design defects or we push them to the limit. However, under normal use, the consumption should be as shown in the photo below − This is a Tesla Model 3 drivetrain with 1 kilometer range.:

How are the batteries?

Here the situation is a little more complicated. Today, 800-1 charge cycles are considered a reasonable standard, with a full charge cycle being considered to be up to 000 percent charge (or two to 100 percent battery capacity, etc.). So if a car drives by Indeed 300 km from battery (Nissan Leaf II: 243 km, Opel Corsa-e: 280 km, Tesla Model 3 SR +: 386 km, etc.), then 800-1 cycles should be enough for 000-240 thousand kilometers... Or more:

> How often do you need to change the battery in an electric vehicle? BMW i3: 30-70 years old

According to the Central Statistical Office, this rate corresponds to 20-25 years of operation.

But that's not all: these 240-300 thousand kilometers is NOT the limit beyond which the battery can only be thrown away... It only reaches 70-80 percent of its original capacity. Due to its too low voltage (weaker power), it is no longer suitable for automotive applications, but it can be used for several or several years as an energy storage device. Domestic or industrial.

And only then, after serving 30-40 years, it can be disposed of. Recycling, in which today we can recover about 80 percent of all elements:

> Fortum: We recycle over 80 percent of materials from used lithium-ion batteries.

800-1 cycles is the basis, we are moving towards several thousand cycles

The mentioned 1 cycle is considered the standard today, but laboratories have already gone beyond this limit. Recently published research shows that it is possible to develop lithium-ion cells capable of withstanding several thousand charges. Thus, the previously calculated 000-20 years of operation must be multiplied by 25 or 3:

> The lab, powered by Tesla, boasts elements that will withstand millions of kilometers.

If he's so handsome, why is he so poor?

Where does the Australian problem come from? engineer, if its battery needs to last much longer? It should be remembered that its battery uses technologies that have appeared at least 10 years ago, possibly since the first iPhone hit the market.

Even in the most advanced cars sold today, we have technology that was developed at least 3-5 years ago. How is this possible? Well, the more slowly cells decompose, the longer it takes to experimentally test their capacity.

Audi Q4 e-tron (c) Audi

The second reason is no less important, and perhaps more important: Nissan was one of the few manufacturers to choose passive battery cooling.. Cell wear and capacity loss were greatly accelerated when the car was driven and charged at high temperatures - just like the Australian scoundrel.

The hotter it is, the faster degradation progresses and for this very reason the vast majority of manufacturers use active air or liquid cooling for batteries. In the case of the Nissan Leaf, the climate also saves. The aforementioned Australian traveled less than 90 thousand kilometers, and the Spanish taxi driver already 354 thousand kilometers before he had to change the battery:

> Nissan Leaf in hot climates: 354 kilometers, battery change

Standard - warranty 8 years / 160 thousand km.

Today, almost every EV manufacturer has a warranty of 8 years or 160-60 kilometers and reports that they will replace the battery if only a fully charged one has only ~ 70 to XNUMX percent of its original capacity.

So, let's try to consider three possible scenarios:

1. Battery loses capacity quickly... In this case, the replacement is likely to be under warranty, i.e. an aftermarket car buyer will get a battery car with much lower mileage, possibly more advanced. He won!
2. The battery is slowly losing capacity. The battery will become unusable after about 1 cycle, or at least 000-15 years, depending on the annual mileage. Whoever buys a car at the age of 25+ must take into account the risk of significant expenses - this applies to absolutely all types of driving.

There is also a third, "medium" option: the battery will become unusable immediately after the end of the warranty. These cars should just be avoided. or negotiate a price. Their cost will correspond to the cost of cars with a break in the timing belt in an engine collision.

No normal person would buy such a car at full price ...

> Current prices for electric cars: Smart has disappeared, the cheapest one is VW e-Up from PLN 96.

Summation

A modern electric car should drive without problems at least some years - and this is with intensive use. Under normal, typical driving conditions, its components withstand:

• battery - from several to several decades,
• engine - from several to hundreds of years,
• body / body - the same as that of an internal combustion vehicle,
• chassis - the same as that of an internal combustion vehicle,
• clutch - no, then no problem,
• gearbox - no, no problem (exception: Rimac, Porsche Taycan),
• timing belt - no, no problem.

And if he is still afraid of electric cars, he should read, for example, the story of this German. Today it is already in the region of 1 million kilometers:

> Tesla Model S and mileage record. The German traveled 900 kilometers and has changed the battery once so far.

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