An electric car is much simpler than a liquid-fueled car. In an electric car there are far fewer moving parts compared to a gasoline or diesel car. So in electric cars the parts that can break are much less than in the rest of the vehicles.
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Do electric car batteries degrade over time?
However, many owners of these cars are very worried about battery life. A recent study shows that 46% of electric car owners say that the battery of such a car will last a maximum of 100,000 km.
How much does it cost to replace the battery in an electric car?
How much does it cost to replace the battery in an electric car?After this number of km, the battery will have to be replaced and to be more concrete, the cost of replacing an electric battery is quite high. For example, in a Chevrolet Bolt EV, the cost of replacing the battery can reach up to 6,098.84 or 8,131.80 USD, plus the labor.
Pretty much, isn’t it?
The battery at some point will fail and can no longer be charged, but this happens over time, we can say that the battery will slowly but surely give way after a certain period of time.
The principle of operation of a battery
Lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars are much to those used on mobile phones or laptops, only they are much larger.
They are much different from lead batteries used in internal combustion vehicles and have a higher energy density than nickel-metal rechargeable batteries. It is also highly unlikely that such a battery will discharge if not used.
The capacity of a battery of an electric car is expressed in terms of kilowatt-hours, abbreviated kwh.
If you want to buy an electric car with a power of more than kwh, it’s like buying a car with a larger tank, to make a long trip before you have to charge the battery again.
For good performance and durability, the management system of an electric car, prevents the battery from being 100% charged or 100% discharged.
As in the case of fuel-powered cars, excessive speed driving will use more battery power. In other words, if you’re passionate about speed and own an electric car, then you’ll have to recharge the battery much more often than you would if you were driving within speed limits.
Also, the more charged the car or the maximum number of passengers, the battery life will be reduced.
Extreme temperatures, especially low temperatures, can hinder both battery performance and its ability to accept a charge. Also, using air conditioning will decrease battery performance. A recent study shows that the use of air conditioning decreases the battery’s battery life by up to 17%.
Electric Car Battery Longevity – Everything You Need to Know
Some electric car buyers take extensive warranties to get rid of the fear that the battery will run out in a very short time.
Currently the batteries of electric cars, sold in Europe, have a warranty of 8 years or 150,000 km, some companies, such as Kia or Hyundai give a longer warranty of batteries.
Note that most electric car manufacturers only offer warranty when the battery loses its ability to be charged, which is very rare. Instead, other manufacturers such as BMW, Chevrolet, Nissan, Tesla and Volkswagen will replace the battery if it loses its ability to charge.
For example if the battery can only be charged maximum 60-70% then you will benefit from a new battery, obviously if it is still under warranty.
How long does it take for an electric car to lose its ability to be fully charged?
A question we all think we’d ask ourselves if we were interested in buying an electric car. As I said above, an electric vehicle battery tends to degrade slightly with each charging and unloading cycle.
For example, Tesla says the S will lose only 5 percent of its original capacity in the first 80,000 km, and Tesla owners reinforce those claims by saying they have lost only a few percent of battery capacity after a few years of use.
One thing to remember is that a climate like ours, with a hot summer, is not at all beneficial to an electric car, excessive heat being one of the great enemies of lithium-ion batteries. The big manufacturers also thought about such a problem and added a liquid – based cooling package to the batteries.
Another problem would be the frequent charging at the fast charging stations, at such a station you charge your battery in maximum 30 minutes, the problem is that such a battery the faster it charges the hotter it heats up and thus the battery will malfunction much faster than if it will be charged under normal conditions.
Although some recent studies show that this cannot be disastrous for a battery, demonstrating that fast charging of the battery at charging stations would affect the battery’s durability by a maximum of 2-3%.
As a conclusion, if properly cared for, the battery of an electric car can last up to 200,000 km, before it deteriorates.
Some surveys show that the average lifespan of such a battery would be somewhere between 320,000 and 350,000 km, which means a lifetime of about 10 years at an average drive of 30,000 km per year.
The good news comes from Tesla, who say that they are working on a technology that allows batteries on electric cars to sustain up to 1,600,000 km, which surely such a battery will basically last longer than the car itself, but until then let’s settle for what we have today and enjoy this technology of electric cars.
