Electric cars have many qualities, but many potential buyers are still hesitant to say goodbye to the heat engine. One of the reasons they don’t take the plunge is the supposed fragility of EV batteries. A company specializing in used electric cars has looked into the matter.
The noise runs like electric motors have a shorter lifespan, and even worse, in the event of an accident or breakdown, they are impossible to repair. Experts consider that the electric battery constitutes 50 to 70% of the purchase price of a car, which would make them difficult to make profitable. The Recurrent company has looked into the matter and is responding to the prejudices that prevent the sector from developing.
Indeed, if manufacturers claim that their vehicles should last no less than 20 years, there is nothing to confirm these statements; electric cars are only beginning to become popular and are still rather rare on the roads. Recurrent, a company that wants to develop the second-hand EV market, has observed the health of a fleet of 15,000 automobiles to take stock of their state of health.
Only 1.5% of the EVs studied had to be equipped with a new electric battery
Most of the vehicles studied are very recent, 30% of them having been purchased in 2022. This probably explains why a very small proportion of them, exactly 1.5%, have had to be equipped with a new battery since their purchase. The industry has clearly made great progress in the field, since the replacement rate has continued to decline since, if we exclude the major recall campaigns, of the Chevy Bolt in 2021, for example.
Moreover, battery performance degradation only really occurs after several years. Performance will drop, of course, but it won’t become unusable. Remember that the age of the French car fleet is estimated at 10.5 years and that the optimal mileage to obtain a good price for your car on resale is 60,000 to 70,000 km. The doubt still persists concerning the rapid recharging of the batteries. According to Recurrent, this technology is too recent for us to draw any conclusions about its “harmfulness”. Experts say, however, that if you’re on the fence about buying an electric car, don’t worry about its battery.
Source : Recurring Auto
