Second Life Of Ev Batteries
When an automotive EV batterys performance dips below 70 percent, it can have a second life when it is no longer useful to power a vehicle. There are many applications to repurpose EV batteries for renewable energy sources including home battery storage systems and powering manufacturing plants. In Japan, Toyota has installed EV batteries to store power generated from solar panels.
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Bottom Line
Whilean electric cars battery life can vary, advancements in technology have helped ensure that it typically lasts for the lifespan of a vehicle. The main factor for prolonging a batterys lifespan is to limit the number of charging cycles each battery cell goes through. Battery cells die when a battery reaches its empty or full state of charge for too long, so make sure you charge your vehicle according to manufacturer’s instructions to minimize battery degradation.
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Electric Car Battery Life: Everything You Need To Know
Regardless of the simplicity of electric cars, many buyers are concerned that the electric car battery life will only make it to a maximum of 65,000 miles before needing to be replaced.
An electric car’s mechanisms tend to be much simpler than those of a standard-powered vehicle. A few examples listed by My EV include the following:
- An electric motor has fewer moving parts than a gasoline engine.
- An electric car is fitted with a single-speed transmission.
- Unlike conventional automobiles, electric cars are not equipped with many of the usual parts that eventually break and need to be replaced or repaired.
Regardless of the simplicity of electric cars, many buyers are concerned that the electric car battery life will only make it to a maximum of 65,000 miles before needing to be replaced. However, while an electric car battery will likely lose its ability to fully charge over time, it will most likely not die all at once.
Expected Life Span Of Electric Car Batteries
Todays EV batteries are built to last but ultimately degrade over the years. This leads to reduced capacity, similar to what happens to the lithium-ion battery in your phone. Youll still be able to drive your car but with less range due to time and usage. Its estimated that the average EV battery will lose about 2.3 percent of its starting range annually. Thats not bad, but it is something to keep in mind if you plan to hold onto your car for a while.
If your battery has unusually low capacity or fails completely, you may be covered for a replacement. Federal law requires automakers to warrant electric vehicle batteries for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. This can help cover unexpected repair costs and is one of the many ways that electric vehicles save you money. And with some brands, the warranty is transferable from the original owner.
Under normal driving conditions, EV batteries can last 10 years before they need to be replaced. Thats much longer than most people keep a new car. So unless youre shopping for used vehicles, you may not have to worry about how long an electric car battery lasts. Especially when automotive technology is improving so quickly. GM is developing a battery designed to last a million miles, and competition always breeds innovation.
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Electric Car Battery Warranties
Car makers are well aware that potential buyers are concerned about the longevity of their cars batteries, and many offer warranties tailored for EV owners. On the Leaf, for example, Nissan offers a warranty covering the battery and electric motor for up to five years or 60,000 miles.
Elsewhere, Renaults warranty covers the Zoe electric hatchback for up to 100,000 miles or three years, while Tesla offers an eight-year warranty on the Model S thats not subject to any mileage and can be transferred between owners.
Estimating Ev Battery Life
EVs haven’t been on the road in large numbers for long enough to provide sufficient data on battery longevity. Of the 1.4 million electric cars sold in the United States since they were introduced in 2010, only around 400,000 are older than five years.
Battery efficiency and energy density also continue to improve on a regular basis. But the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated in 2014 that EV batteries may last 12 to 15 years in moderate climates .
A lithium-ion battery stores lithium ions in separate parts of the battery called anodes and cathodes. A solution called an electrolyte carries positively charged ions from the anode to the cathode, creating the electric charge that runs into the circuits. The battery recharges when the flow of electrons movesfrom the cathode to the anode.
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Are Electric Vehicles Reliable
Electric vehicles are relatively new to the automotive industry, but many modern examples have proven to be reliable across the board. With fewer moving parts compared to a traditional gasoline-powered car, there are fewer things that can go wrong. Theres no oil to change, no gears to shift, and no fuel to combust. According to Consumer Reports, entry-level EVs like the
Maintenance costs for electric vehicles are also much lower, with batteries being the most expensive component to replace when the time comes. Youll still have to replace normal wear items like tires, brake pads and windshield wipers, but those are relatively simple and straightforward. Overall, you should expect fewer visits to the dealership service center or your local mechanic.
Think its time to swap your gasoline powered car for an EV? Weve rounded up lists of the best electric cars and best electric SUVs, outlining all the pros and cons you need to know. For a deeper dive into the world of electric vehicles, be sure to check out our EV buying guide. And when youre ready to buy, you can use TrueCar to shop and get an upfront, personalized offer from a Certified Dealer.
Knowing Your Electric Car’s Range
Knowing the range of an electric car is essential to ensuring it is always charged and ready to go.
As with anything thats battery-powered, electric car ranges vary between models and manufacturers. For example, listed below are the different ranges of MGs range of hybrid and electric vehicles:
– MG5 EV Long Range: 250 miles- New MG ZS EV: Up to 273 miles- MG HS Plug-in Hybrid: 32 miles
Once you know the range of your electric cars battery before it needs fully recharging, you will be able to plan journeys accordingly and eliminate any potential range anxiety.
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Discover More About Ev Charging
While battery life and range capacity are some of the main concerns of those considering switching to electric mobility, there are other questions drivers have about electric cars and charging. What does it cost to charge at home, how long does it take to charge an electric car publicly, what is fast charging and how does it work? What cable should I use? Read our extensive EV charging guide to learn everything about EV charging.
How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Actually Last
John Bogna
John is a freelance writer and photographer based in Houston, Texas. His ten-year background spans topics from tech to culture and includes work for the Seattle Times, the Houston Press, Medium’s OneZero, WebMD, and MailChimp. Before moving to The Bayou City, John earned a B.A. in Journalism from CSU Long Beach. Read more…
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Ev Batteries Require Less Maintenance
The battery, as well as many other components of an electric vehicle, require far less maintenance than their gasoline counterparts. As there are far fewer moving parts in electric motors compared to ICE enginesover two dozen fewer automotive componentsthere are fewer parts that could eventually fail or need replacing.
Plus, with fewer fluids, such as engine oil, as well as regenerative braking technology reducing brake wear, there is simply less which EV drivers have to worry about.
This fact alone has got dealers and mechanics worried about shrinking margins on EVs. Servicing and maintenance provide almost half of the average dealerships income and EVs are also expected to outlive gas vehicles, so many of their clients wont be upgrading them as often. However, whilst some are worried, Lawrence Burns, the ex-vice president of R& D at General Motors Co says that fundamentally, this is just a better way to design and engineer a car.
What Do Industry Experts Say
With modern battery tech, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that batteries could last between 12 and 15 years in moderate climates.
Similarly, JB Straubel, Teslas co-founder and former CTO, said in a recent interview that batteries should last for a good 15 years.
Its a subjective thing depending on what peoples goal is for the car, but I think its going to easily be 15 years in most cases. I think battery life will probably track the life of the vehicle.
Along the same lines, Britishvolts chief strategy officer Isobel Sheldon, has suggested a 12-year lifespan.
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Tips For Conserving Energy While Your Tesla Is Idle With Heat On
Since the battery life of your Tesla is majorly dependent on how you use it, here are some tips that can help you conserve energy while your Tesla is idle:
- Use the range mode setting on the climate control. This will help minimize the amount of energy used by the climate control system.
- When its not too cold, open the windows to let fresh air in.
- Avoid using other features like the radio or heated seats.
- Close the windows and sunroof to prevent the car from heating up too much.
How Long Will An Ev Battery Last
You might have noticed that it is tough to get a straight answer to questions about an EVs battery lifespan. What you may find instead are assurances that batteries are covered by warranty should something go wrong. Typically, battery coverage is 8 years or 100,000 miles, but this will vary by manufacturer and country.
Warranties are reassuring, and so too is the fact that battery costs are decreasing significantly year over year. Since 2010, the price of an average Lithium-ion battery pack has dropped by over 80%.
An automakers guarantee of their battery technology and the promise of decreasing costs should inspire some confidence. However, most of us would find more comfort knowing how quickly our batteries are expected to degrade, and how to minimize this loss.
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Electric Car Batteries Environmental Impact
Are electric car batteries bad for the environment? Well, we’re here to tell you that the future of EV batteries looks bright.
EV batteries can be fed back into the energy cycle for factories, and homes once its life powering a car has come to an end. Repurposing EV batteries could create a closed-loop system for recycling. Meaning that the factories that produce the batteries could eventually be powered using the repurposed batteries once their lives powering vehicles comes to an end.
Large car manufacturers have already begun to repurpose EV batteries in other areas. For example, Nissan plans to use retired EV batteries to provide back-up power to the Amsterdam ArenA the world-famous entertainment venue and home to Ajax Football Club.
Toyota also plans to install retired batteries outside convenience stores in Japan in the near future. The batteries will be used to store power generated from solar panels. The energy stored will then be used to support the power of drink fridges, food warmers and fresh food counters inside stores.
With more of these opportunities arising, there will clearly be life beyond an EV. Once a battery has finished powering an electric vehicle, it can be used to power our homes and businesses.
How To Make Your Car Battery Last Longer
There are several tips that you can use to try and increase your electric car battery life:
– Charge the electric car battery between 20%-80% – The lifespan of the battery pack often depends on how much its charged. You can extend the life of the batteries by only charging them between 20% and 80% and trying not to let them drop below 50% too often. Going beyond these limits can increase the rate that the battery deteriorates over time.- Avoid overcharging – Overcharging can cause chemical changes inside the battery itself, which again could negatively affect how efficiently it can store energy. Ultimately, you are looking to reduce the number of charging cycles that your battery goes through in its lifetime.- Reduce exposure to extreme temperatures – Extreme cold or heat can negatively affect your cars battery and therefore the range you can travel
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What Affects Battery Life
Lithium ion batteries have been studied a lot. While most of the scientific foundations for this understanding comes from laboratory experiments on battery cells, the principles generally hold for the larger packs used in cars.
Batteries generate energy via chemical reaction. Since the chemical reactions happen in a physical cell, unwanted or waste reactions also occur. This is unavoidable and it doesnât mean thereâs anything wrong with the battery. Some of these side reactions can even help the battery last longer, if other conditions are favorable. The best practices to avoid battery degradation are things that either reduce the physical stress of the chemical reactions on the battery or avoid things that speed up the chemical reactions.
Heat
Early LEAF batteries taught us something important about the longevity of lithium batteries — they do not like the heat. The earliest LEAF batteries had no active coolant, meaning that EVs in hot climates degraded more quickly than expected and many did need to have a battery replacement. Although many automakers learned from Nissanâs early misstep and installed thermal management in their battery packs, it is still true that batteries last longer if they are kept as cool as possible. Since not all thermal management systems operate the same, this means parking in the shade, cooling your car before charging, and considering more active cooling if you live in a hot climate.
Charging
Depth of Discharge
How Long Do Car Batteries Last
It wasnt that long ago that car battery makers marketed their products as 48-, 60-, 72- or 84-month batteries as a universal indicator of the expected durability. In more recent times, theyve backed away from that because it was never a reliable predictor of how long a battery would last. There are too many environmental and use factors at play. Far too many post-purchase variables affect the life of a vehicle battery to label them universally.Youll still see those phrases, but with the word warranty afterward, not battery. And really, thats how it always was.
There are some differences in the quality and relative lifespan of batteries. Still, instead of attaching a misleading number to the product, most manufacturers have settled on something along the lines of a good, better, best marketing strategy and aligned their warranties accordingly.
On average, no matter the warranty, a traditional car battery has a reliable and trouble-free lifespan of about three years36 months. While many batteries last much longer, thats the point where a measurable decrease in performance can be detected. Unfortunately, few car batteries ever see five years of service, much less six or seven those that do last that long operate at a significantly reduced capacity. But if you pay for a 60-month battery and it fails in regular use before that, youll get some money toward a new battery on a pro-rated basis.
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Studies Of Older Electric Car Batteries
Lithium ion batteries start to degrade as soon as they are made. Itâs an unavoidable part of battery science that you might have noticed in your cell phone, your laptop or maybe even your car. Even if you never use them, they slowly lose power and efficiency as they sit on the shelf.
The good news is that your EV is far more complex and sophisticated than other batteries in day-to-day life! EV batteries degrade slowly and most estimates suggest that they should last at least 10 years, if not longer than the car itself.
The best indication we have about the life of lithium ion batteries is looking at how the oldest electric cars on the road perform today. Nissanâs LEAF first hit the road in 2011, meaning we have a decade of data, and many of those batteries are still going strong. Francisco Carranza, Managing Director of Renault-Nissan Energy Services, points to data collected from 400,000 European LEAF cars to suggest that even the oldest batteries should last 22 years.
Another EV thatâs been on the road many years is the Tesla Model S. It launched in 2012 so battery scientists have a lot of data. Maarten Steinbuch, who shares community-sourced Tesla data, suggested in 2020 that drivers can expect faster decay in the first 25,000 mile with a much slower decay to 175,000 miles.
How Much Does It Cost To Replace An Electric Car Battery
Currently, the averagecost to replace an electric car battery is $5,500. Batteries are one of the more expensive components in an electric vehicle. And if you need to replace a battery after your warranty expires, its helpful to know how much youll be spending out of pocket. We recommend getting your battery installed at the dealership, which can source and install genuine OEM batteries certified by the manufacturer.
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