Electric car costs and additional costs

dipsomaniac

i know its early days and this is supposed to be the way forward but the cost and longevity of the batteries is key.  I am really impressed if the batteries are still running at 94% capacity after 8 years.  i just hope the guarantees on batteries don't have too much small print?

oscarward

dipsomaniac said:

DrEskimo said:

dipsomaniac said:

DrEskimo said:

dipsomaniac said:

DrEskimo said:

dipsomaniac said:

5000 miles and you pay £0 VED at the moment?  At least you can't complain about the state of the roads.

I would be really worried if a 2 year old car didn't sail through the next 2 MOT's.

What happens at 8 years if the batteries cause too much range anxiety? How much do they cost to replace? Does the car get scrapped?

Yes I can. I still pay tax....

Why would I suddenly have range anxiety after 8yrs? It's lost 2% in 4yrs, so even if it for some reason accelerated and lost double that in the next two years (and all data suggests the complete opposite happens, that degradation is fastest in the first years, and then levels off), I would be at 94%....why on earth would I worry about replacing them at 94%?

That equates to an average loss of about 9miles of range, given that I average 150miles all year round.

How much does it cost to replace the batteries?

Range anxiety is a problem with ev. I can get in my £200 focus and drive anywhere in England without stopping. You can't do that in a £40k+ ev car

I don't know. 

that would have been my very first question before buying a ev car.

How much does an engine replacement cost?

Obviously depends on what engine you are replacing. In 30 years of driving I have never had to replace one.

I have , mainly because I could only afford bangers when I was younger and it was often cheaper to replace than repair sometimes. But you don't buy a brand new engine to put in a older car, you get a reconditioned or in my case an engine from a scrap yard and fit it yourself.  By the time batterries need replacing en mass hopefully a market in useable second hand/ reconditioned  batteries will emerge much as the same as is currently with ICE power units.

DrEskimo

dipsomaniac said:

i know its early days and this is supposed to be the way forward but the cost and longevity of the batteries is key.  I am really impressed if the batteries are still running at 94% capacity after 8 years.  i just hope the guarantees on batteries don't have too much small print?

Battery warranties typically include the entire drivetrain and are pretty comprehensive. If there is a fault it is covered.

Battery degradation will be covered at a specific threshold. For instance I believe mine will cover a repair or replacement battery if the State of Health drops below 66%. Sometimes this SoH can be managed through software though. The gross battery capacity is not useable, so there will be a proportion locked away to cover degradation and stop 100% recharges. So it's not uncommon that when the SoH reports a percentage, that this can be improved by simply 'unlocking' some of that extra capacity.

There will also be more third parties coming up that can do battery refurbishment or even replacement. A lot of the time new models will have increased battery capacity through increased density, meaning the physical size of the battery remains constant through generations of the vehicle. This means an old 22kWh Zoe can be upgraded to a 41kWh battery without any modification.

Some companies have already started offering this on Zoe's and Leaf's for around £4-5k. Not bad given you could completely renew the life of a older car to run for many more years.

born_again

dipsomaniac said:

The title of this thread is ev costs yet can't see any mention of battery replacement costs

Have you tried a google..
In 2015 a nissan Leaf battery was sub £5K

https://drive-green.co.uk/ev-info/electric-car-battery-faq

Makes good reading.

robertosherman

dipsomaniac said:

i know its early days and this is supposed to be the way forward but the cost and longevity of the batteries is key.  I am really impressed if the batteries are still running at 94% capacity after 8 years.  i just hope the guarantees on batteries don't have too much small print?

That's right. That's the one aspect I look forward to. The maintenance of the battery is crucial.

Ganga

What about the cost of the drive motor/motors ,sorry i know nothing about electric vehicles ,i do not know the difference between self charging/ hybrid/plug in cars, i know full electric have a battery and no petrol/diesel engine ,but the rest is all a grey area .

AdrianC

Ganga said:

i do not know the difference between self charging/ hybrid/plug in cars

Hybrid means electric plus internal combustion

There are four types of hybrid
1. Mild hybrid. Basically an electric power-boost, no more.
2. "Self-charging" hybrid. You can only charge the battery from the ICE. Small battery, very short electric range, very slow electric-only.
3. Plug-in hybrid. Bigger battery, usually ~30 mile range, usable performance but not fast on electric. Can recharge itself, or can be plugged in.
4. "Range Extender". Drives on electricity only, has small ICE motor to charge battery as required - ICE motor does not move the car directly.

Grumpy_chap

The OP for this thread may be interested in the view of another suggesting EVs are now priced to match ICE:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6229914/what-will-happen-to-ice-car-values-now-that-evs-are-getting-closer#latest

SPlatten

A quick google on the VW ID3 the price is over £30K, so that's no where near the quoted monthly repayment of £269.

AdrianC

SPlatten said:

A quick google on the VW ID3 the price is over £30K, so that's no where near the quoted monthly repayment of £269.

That's not how PCP pricing works...

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/offers-and-finance/new-car-deals/id3
Now click on the "Finance Calculator" button, and play with the finance options.
£266/mo for 10k/yr over 4yrs is easily doable - £6k up-front. And that's with 4.9% APR... £13k balloon.
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/offers-and-finance/finance-calculator#!/view/screen-2?annualMileage=10&periodOfMonths=48&deposit=5999.00&modelId=30270&trimId=30270-life&derivativeId=E113MJ-2021-MAAUE2K-GP04P04-GW1RW1R-MBOW1S3&pageIndex=0&productType=SOLUTIONS&paymentBreakdown=deposit

Bring the mileage down and the deposit up to the max the calculator will allow, £7246, and the monthlies come down to £224.