Keep Away From Fast Charging
Fast charging can damage the batteries by flowing too much current into them though it is very convenient when you require a quick refill. It will be hard to notice the changes occurring this way, but if we compare a battery using standard charging and another using fast charging for eight years, the former will have about ten percent more battery life.
Why Wont My Car Start
If your vehicle wont start, its most likely a problem with your battery or the ignition and starting system:
- Your battery is drained : Its the best-case scenario: you accidentally left on your lights, or some other battery-draining feature. A jump start will send you on your way, lesson learned.
- Your battery is too old to hold a charge: Its time for a new battery. If your jump start fails or your car wont start the next day have your battery tested.
- Your starting system needs service: Its not your battery. Theres a mechanical problem preventing ignition, draining your battery, or keeping your battery from charging as you drive.
If a single jump start doesnt solve your starting problems, have your battery professionally tested. If your battery is healthy, its time for diagnostic service, beginning with your starter and alternator.
Why Is An Electric Car Battery So Expensive
Though there are many benefits to an electric vehicle, obtaining those benefits will cost you a fortune in todays market. And a large chunk of an electric vehicles cost comes from the battery. It alone makes a difference of several thousand dollars. So, now that you know how much does an electric car battery cost, you might be wondering what makes electric vehicle batteries so expensive?
Several factors are playing behind the reason. First, the raw materials and expensive manufacturing processes are the primary reasons. Though its the typical lithium-ion batteries, they are much bigger in EVs. Additionally, there are expensive stuff like manganese, lithium, and cobalt rising the cost. Then comes the battery manufacturers, who separately make the batteries and send them to EV manufacturers. This outsourcing makes things more expensive.
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The Cost Of Car Battery Installation
Whether or not you’re planning to hire a professional to install your new battery will play a role in how much the battery costs. Car batteries aren’t always easy to access, especially in compact cars. The cost of car battery installation will vary based on the battery’s location and how long the installation takes. may cost you between $20 to $75, however most locations offer this service for free.
When Should I Replace The Car Battery
A car battery can typically last for six years if you drive in ideal conditions. However, the issue with new vehicle batteries is that they dont always give warning indicators that theyre failing. So, always keep in mind that a car battery can last around 3-4 years. These are some signs that warn you that your car battery is dying and its time to think of new battery costs.
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When Should The Car Battery Be Replaced
You will be forced to change the car battery when it fails to recharge and start the vehicle. Once the battery is dead, theres often nothing you can do but replace it. However, there are times when the battery isnt dead, but corrosion is keeping it from working. For this reason, its best to clean off the terminals before replacing it.
Additionally, you can have the battery tested if it appears to be dying. When the car gets harder to start or the electronics get dimmer, you can replace the battery before it dies. You want to check the car battery often, especially before the weather gets cold.
During many dealership maintenance appointments, the car battery will be checked too. Plus, you can drive into the local auto parts store for a free battery check if you dont know how to do it yourself.
Why Wont My Car Start If Its Not The Battery
If your vehicle wont start with a fully-charged and healthy battery, the usual suspects are problems with your starter, your alternator, your ignition switch, your spark plugs or your fuses. Its also worthwhile to clean your battery terminals and connectors if theyre dirty or corroded and see if your car will start. But the only way to be sure your battery is healthy is to test it with a voltmeter. When you have your vehicle towed to Midas, its the first thing well check.
Related link: Learn about Starter and Alternator service.
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How Tesla Replaces Your Car’s Batteries
There are numerous reasons why a Tesla’s battery pack will die. It could be a voltage regulator issue, a fuse issue, or other minor reasons. However, the entire battery pack is affected if the problem is within one battery module.
That’s because the voltages across all battery modules must be similar. Even if just one module displays a value far different from all the others, it could cause the complete pack to fail.
When that happens, you bring your car to Tesla, and the company will fix it. However, they won’t replace just one module. Instead, they install a completely new or remanufactured battery pack and then send the old one to their battery plants for repair and refurbishment. Once the old battery pack is fixed and checked, they return that pack into the system, ready to be installed in another car that needs a battery swap.
They don’t replace battery modules in Tesla shops because they want to ensure that the battery they install in your car has 100% health. For this reason, they have their professionals go over it in their plants instead of replacing just one part of the battery, putting it back in your car, and then calling it a day.
While this is an excellent process to ensure that your car returns to a near new condition when they service it, it’s also expensive and might be out of reach for some owners. This is where third-party repair shops come in.
Why Is There Such A Difference In Car Battery Price From Dealer To Dealer
Without a doubt, anybody who has owned a car will understand the important role their car battery plays. Yet, as with so many of the components housed under the bonnet, it wont last forever.
Your new car battery cost can vary by extreme amounts from dealership to dealership, and youll find just as much variation throughout independent garages and retailers.
So, I can already hear you asking: why is that?
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Diy Method Vs Going To A Mechanic
First, if you plan on a DIY method, you should expect to spend between $100-$450, but these numbers can vary a lot depending on where you get the replacement parts and tools. If you go to most auto parts stores, you can find batteries for almost every application.
If you dont plan on replacing the battery and instead intend to have a certified mechanic do the job, the prices will again differ depending on the mechanic you go to.
That being said, you can expect to pay roughly the same price as a DIY method with the additional $30-$50 cost of labor if you get a battery installation from a service center.
While a DIY method can save you money, I highly recommend taking the route of a mechanic if you are not familiar with cars because you can fry sensitive electronics if you do it wrong. The good news is that a full-blown mechanic or dealer isnt always required. In a lot of cases, the Big Box store where you buy the battery can replace it for you in a few minutes.
However, regardless of which course you choose, youll still need to know the ins and outs of what determines a batterys selling price.
The main things to consider are the type of battery, the brand, the manufacturing date, and the seller. All of these will play some role in the final price, so read on to learn about each of them in more detail!
How Can You Make A Vehicle Battery Last Longer
As we have actually already said time and time again today, the car battery cost isnt that high at all. You should not be terrified about needing to change it at some point. However, you need to do everything that you can to make certain your car battery lasts as long as possible. This is in fact quite easy to do.
Here are a few of the steps you can take to extend the life-span of your car battery:
- Limit the number of shorter car rides that you take
- Be sure you turned off your cars interior and exterior lights when leaving your vehicle
- Clean any rust on your car battery as fast as you see it
- Make a habit of checking your car battery as often as you can
- Avoid plugging a lot of electronic devices in your automobile
Youre not always going to get years of additional life out of your car battery by doing these things. However, you should guarantee that you do not need to deal with the car battery cost any faster than you would usually have to.
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Electric Car Battery Recycling
As much as we appreciate the electric vehicle industrys growth, certain drawbacks have a massive impact on our environment. EVs are known as eco-friendly, but what about millions of dead batteries from those cars?
The scariest part is no one seems to talk much about this issue. Though the car is eco-friendly, the battery manufacturing process emits global warming. However, few initiatives have been taken to recycle these batteries.
In the past, only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries were recycled, but the number is increasing slowly. Nissan and Volkswagen are also opening recycling plants to address this issue. After recycling, these batteries have tremendous potential to become an excellent energy storage solution for residents.
What Is An Ev Battery
Both hybrid vehicles and EVs use high-voltage batteries known as traction batteries, but they use them in different ways:
- Hybrid vehicles have traction batteries that work in conjunction with a small internal combustion engine to propel the vehicle forward and recharge the battery.
- Plug-in hybrid vehicles take this concept a bit further by providing a slightly larger EV battery that can provide 15 to 42 miles of total range before the internal combustion engine kicks in to charge the traction batteries and provide forward motion.
- Electric vehicles dont have any internal combustion engines. Instead, they use huge traction batteries to power the multiple electric motors in each vehicle.
Most EVs and hybrid vehicles also have auxiliary, 12-volt batteries to power low-voltage systems throughout the vehicle, but dont confuse these small batteries with the traction batteries that make these cars go.
Traction batteries are typically assembled in a series of battery modules that are connected to make a battery pack. Lithium-ion batteries are the most common type of battery module found in these battery packs.
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Bmw I3 Battery Replacement Cost
- A BMWi3 battery pack with originally 22 kWh of capacity, but with approximately 17.14 kWh of capacity today is selling for $2,500 on ebay. This equates to roughly $145/kWh.
- In 2016, BMW reported that replacing an i3 battery would cost about $16,000. This was for the 2013-2016 model years which have 22 kWh packs, equating to $727/ kWh in real 2016 dollars.
- InsideEV reported in 2015 that a 21.6 kWh battery pack would cost $13,725, equating to $635/kWh. These prices were based on an online parts ordering store.
Benefits Of Car Battery Replacement
Your cars battery is what enables you to start the engine by providing power to the starter motor. It also provides power for your cars lights, stereo, window motors if fitted, powered seats, computer and anything else that works by electrical power.
If your cars battery doesnt work properly you will experience problems in starting your car and in the way that the electrical systems function. Quite simply put, no electrical power, no drive so making sure your battery is up to the job it is intended to do is a vital part of maintaining your car.
Batteries discharge their electricity when drawn upon, but the alternator puts electricity back into them as the vehicle is driven.
Most people will have heard of the term dead battery often used when a car wont start. Batteries that have completely discharged all of their electricity will not be able to start a car, but it does not mean that they are completely dead then can be recharged either through a battery charger or through the car being given a jump start with electricity from another vehicle being used to start the engine and then driven so that the alternator can do its work and recharge the battery. When a battery becomes worn through frequent use, it can no longer be recharged and needs to be replaced.
The benefit of replacing batteries regularly is that you eliminate the possibility of being stranded without a running car.
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How Do I Replace A Car Battery Myself
A confident do-it-your-selfer can replace a vehicle battery. Start by checking your vehicle owners manual for the batterys proper size and location. Find the positive and negative posts. The positive post will have a red plastic cover over it. Look for a + sign stamped onto the battery or printed on a nearby label. Loosen the negative terminal bolt and remove the cable. Be sure not to touch the positive post. Once you loosen the bolt, use a terminal puller to remove the cable. Repeat the sequence with the positive post.
Now remove the clamp or retaining system that keeps the battery in place. Carefully lift out the old battery. Look for any corrosion on the cables and remove it with a wire brush or terminal cleaning tool.
Drop in the new battery so that the positive post lines up with the red cable. Secure it with the battery retaining clamp that you removed earlier. If the battery has anti-corrosion washers, put them in place now and use a thin layer of anti-corrosion grease to prevent buildup. Tighten the positive cable and then do it all over again with the negative black cable.
Make sure the battery is secure and congratulations: youve replaced your cars battery!
If you need more help, be sure to read our full article about battery maintenance and replacement.
Normal Life Of A Car Battery
When it comes to vehicle maintenance, “normal” is determined by a number of factors that exist in theory but rarely come to pass. For instance, a battery has an average normal lifespan of four years under normal conditions. “Normal” in this case means the battery goes through full charge cycles, isn’t subjected to extreme temperatures, is attached to a reliable and consistent charging system and isn’t providing power for a ton of accessories.
But normal just isn’t normal. In the real world, temperature extremes, vibration, short trips down the street and an ever-increasing array of smartphones, aftermarket navigation systems, and other devices all take a toll on the battery.
If you look at a typical lead-acid maintenance-free car battery, it’s easy to make sense of why these factors affect normal battery life. Inside the plastic box are plates of materials like lead and lead dioxide. The plates are suspended in a mix of water and sulfuric acid, which forms an electrolytic solution. This solution allows electrons to flow between the plates that flow of electrons is essentially electricity.
Driving style can affect the reaction, too. Starting the car takes a huge jolt of electricity, so the charging system has to step in to replenish the battery. That means if you have a short commute or take lots of brief trips, the battery never gets fully charged. This constant state of undercharge results in acid stratification.
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Dispose Of Old Battery
You cant throw your old battery in the trash. It contains hazardous materials that must be disposed of properly.
When you are finished with your old battery, return it to the auto parts store. You can also take it to local recycling centers. Just check your local laws to find out the appropriate drop-off locations near you.
Tesla Model 3 Battery Replacement Cost
Current Automotive posted the 2020 receipt of one customerâs replacement of a remanufactured 75kWh battery in a Tesla Model 3:
- Battery: $13,500
- Labor $2,299.27
- Total: $15,799.27
This equates to $180/kWh which is about 31% higher than the Bloomberg cited average of $137/kWh. Since Tesla Model 3s are so new, there is likely very little data on repair costs in the public domain.
However, there is the occasional accident that requires a battery replacement in a Model 3. Based on data we’ve seen for more recent, accident-related replacements, the total amount has come down to $10 – $12,000, with 80-90% of that going for the battery itself. However, it is encouraging that the total price has dropped, landing the cost between $133/kWh – $161/kWh. This is more in line with the Bloomberg estimate.
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What Are The Cheaper Ways To Replace Electric Car Batteries
Among the ways to purchase a cheaper battery, EV owners can struggle to go for fewer options because of their personal choice and car needs. One thing to note is that recycled batteries come as the best selection they are not only easy on the purchasers pocket but also good for the collective gains of the people and environment around them.
Though so far, the lithium-ion batteries recycling industry is lagging behind the necessary transformation, we can expect the recycling industry to turn around soon. Purchasing a recycled battery can have multifold benefits. It will lower the cost, reduce the risk of environmental degradation, and contribute to lowering the pressure on the mining of new metals, which means lowering global prices too.