So what can you expect for an electric vehicle’s battery lifespan? We have the important answers.
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A little further into the article, there's a section titled "How to Prolong the Life of Your Electric Vehicle Battery" and Number One on the list is Avoid parking in extreme temperatures.
Okaaay..... even before this fabricated climate change, the Western United States has always had temps above 100 degrees during the summer. So now people need air conditioned garages to preserve their batteries? And what about parking your electric scooter on steroids outside in the parking lot in the broiling sun all day while you're at work? It gets so hot in California that when I worked for Safeway at their warehouse, guys would routinely set their lunches on their dashboards at the 9 AM break so they could have a hot meal for lunch two hours later - and that's in the mid-morning before it got really hot.
Hey Kenny, Been awhile since I been around I know. Now this is just my opinion working for a Ford dealership and owning a Fusion Hybrid but also seeing the issues as they have developed over the last couple of years tells me that the battery itself, at least for the Ford electrics, are not going to be what does em in. It's the electrical connections between the various systems. 20K seems a bit steep I think the batteries are really more in the 8 to 10K range but the rare metals needed to conduct the power into the drive systems make those connectors expensive. Using lesser metals also makes them burn out fast. Even with the high grade metals those connectors take a constant degradation from the current and will break down much faster than the battery. Of course I am not an electrical engineer but I do know there have already been issues in that area. A recall on the MachE if someone cares to look into it. Leads me to think with the longer term warranties on batteries an owner will throw in the towel or go broke long before the battery becomes the issue.
ReplyDeleteIf the connectors break down, they will overheat from the high current flowing through them and start fires. Is this why electric cars catch fire?
Delete101F at my house in SoDak last Sunday. F electric vehicles.
ReplyDeleteEVs are NOT our future - in our current living arrangement.
ReplyDeletePetrol moves the earth.
QHM
For 20 K you coulda bought a Mercedes in good shape with med low miles.
ReplyDeleteRight now I've a pile of Dewalt work tools, drills, circ. saws, lights, oscillating, cut-off. They're up to 20 years old.
ReplyDeleteRight now we have tens of thousands EV vehicles parked in fields or scrapped even though they're still functional, but the battery replacement charge is too high. Or, not available from the manu.
*Everyone* of my Dewalt tools I can still get new batteries for. If I don't like the yellow and black price, I can get aftermarket.
So the EV thing is just not there yet.
Big difference between the power toll battery pack and an EV battery. Density and number of separate elements; Last battery pack I opened up had about 12 separate batteries, EV's the battery pack/unit has hundreds if not thousands. The EV pack MUST be cooled, that is why the total available power for driving is limited to (last I heard) 85% of what's available, since the EV pack must be cooled or it can explode or burn. For tools and small scooters the batteries just aren't buried that deep.
DeleteFor Lithium batteries, 'fast charging' regularly reduces the life span of the battery. So I don't expect them to ever match the ICE gasoline vehicle for speed of refuel.
Just gang up all those DeWalt batteries until they have the same watthours as your EV, problem solved.... lessee... what would that cost.
DeleteNope. EVs are not ther yet, nor will they every be. The laws of physics preclude that.
Next, Top Ten Tips for Commuting By Horse-drawn Carriage...
ReplyDelete(I can find fuel for that.)
And the emissions are *organic*.
DeleteGrew up in Nebraska, and got to experience temps above 100 degrees during the summers, and lows in the -20s(not including wind chill) during the winters. Had one winter where it got down to -25 during the night and had a daytime high of -5 for one month. Maybe those who come up with these ideas need to be moved into an uninsulated hut in similar climates :)
ReplyDeleteIt's not just hot weather. Extreme cold, like North Dakota in winter or Buffalo, NY, will affect battery life.
ReplyDeleteHere in Florida? You better replace your car battery every three years due to the heat. Friends tell me up north frozen way they do the same. Three years for a car battery that's supposed to last 4 years or more...
Lmao - platinum edition Ford F150 pulling a 6500 lb camer went 100 miles before needing recharging
ReplyDeleteGood luck
ch
Drive-in refrigerators!
ReplyDeleteProblem solved!
CC
I'm not moving my beer so you can park..
DeleteIn fairness, add the cost and amount of the electrical power used to cool the EV to safe temperatures to the range calculations.
DeleteFrom March 2022 from Clif High when lithium was $6500/ton....
ReplyDeletehttps://clifhigh.substack.com/p/vox-populi-legislator-be-advised-96a
Today’s lithium price is $71,558/ton....
https://www.dailymetalprice.com/metalprices.php?c=li&u=mt&d=1
I’ll wait a while.
But wirecutter...didn't you see the warning about parking your EV at least 50 feet away from your garage? These batteries self-immolate when they fail. They'll take your house if you're not careful.
ReplyDeleteThose lithium-ion battery fires cannot be extinguished, only contained and it takes tens of thousands of gallons of water to do so. They basically go out when the fuel is exhausted and the runoff in all that water is a toxic mess.
DeleteLithium-ion battery fires are unusually toxic. They release poisonous gasses, including hydrogen fluoride. When this stuff comes into contact with moisture – such as is present on the surface of the human eyeball, for instance – it converts into hydrofluoric acid and that can cause rapid destruction of corneas, resulting in permanent blindness.
DeleteBreathing the stuff can cause death from cardiac arrhythmia and fluid build-up in the lungs.
Gasoline by comparison is safe and reliable. And when a gasoline fire is put out, it’s out.
The real issue with EV batteries is the materials used to make them. If every ccar in North America was replaced with an EV you'd consume the world's known reserves of lithium.
ReplyDeleteIn roughly 8 years they'd need new batteries. But not all of the lithium is recoverable, so in8 years your next supply of EVs is smaller.
Unless that is you find more lithium or develop a new type of battery. Hoping that that happens is not a plan. It's a letter to santa....
I still heat up my leftovers for lunch that way. I like to think I'm being green using my truck that way.
ReplyDeletePhoenix AZ is... rather warm in the summer. I would make car dash cookies. Make your cookie dough of choice, and put your cookie pans out on the dashboard. By the time I got off work they'd be nicely done. The hard part was not eating them all on the drive home from work.
ReplyDeleteI'm used to replacing car batteries every 2 years or so. Electric car batteries last a bit longer, but am told they fail in 5-6 years, depending on if you have covered parking. So much for low maintenance!
If you must, get a Toyota. The Prius is only(!) $4K to replace the battery. Personally, I'm sticking with a V-8 and 4WD.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law's Lincoln hybrid got 40 mpg until last year. It started getting worse fuel economy to where it is now getting in the low 20's. The dealer has diagnosed a new battery pack and new connecters to the tune of $18k with parts and labor. It is an 8 year old car with 45k miles on it. BTW: That is 9 grand less than she paid for the car when new.
ReplyDeleteHey, maybe if that nasty climate change™️ would just stop happening, it wouldn’t get so hot or cold and E-vehicles might be feasible! >>>>NOT!!!<<<< By the way, fuck john kerry!!! And blow me, joe!!!
ReplyDeleteThere actually IS a way to make electric cars feasible, economical, and usable. Electrify the highways. If you only need ~5 miles (on average, always less than 50 miles) of range away from the highway, and the highway is continually charging your car (via overhead and in-road rails) then suddenly you only need about $2k (at most) in battery power, and can use cheaper batteries (like lightweight lead acid.)
ReplyDeleteEven better, there's a way to do it that'd be gradual and private-sector funded (mostly.) Have the regional bus line people electrify their routes and switch to electric-only buses. This would require some research into how do make a connection from the bus that's stable and can handle freeway speeds without wearing down excessively, but it's totally doable. And then you rent out access to the rails to private citizens. Meter the power and charge them for the electric and the wear and tear on the rails. There's so many commuters in urban areas that spend SO MUCH money on gas and maintenance that it'd be a no brainer for them to convert even existing cars. Maintenance IMHO is the real Achilles heel of gasoline engines. No engine and endless cheap power means you build it MUCH heavier, and it lasts forever and a day. Can do heating and AC too. When the rails start paying for themselves, take that fact to the bank to get a loan to expand the system, and in no time the links between major cities would be electrified, and a few single-route semis would be electrified. Within ten years the entire freeway system would be electrified, and almost all state highways too. Then you'd see most semi trucks on the highways being electric, with drop-off yards to hand off trailers to the short-haul diesel trucks.
You will not find ANY other scheme which even hints that semi trucks might someday be electric, because without an electrified road, it's flat-out impossible. Nevermind the F150 needing a recharge after 100 miles, the semis would need a recharge every 2 or three miles, less on hills.
That nobody wants to even think about it is IMHO just another proof that they don't actually give a damn about electrification, it's all about jacking up the cost of living.