Really would like to know as well!
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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Electric Vehicles
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Easiest car to replace the battery, the old Nissan Leaf. Would I recommend it in general? Only if you live in a place that does not get hot
What's wrong with hot? I've driven mine around North Carolina without an issue. Not sure if that counts as hot though
The Leaf has an air-cooled battery; most other EVs use liquid cooling. In theory that means it will not last as long in a hot climate. I don’t know if that has turned out to be a real problem though.
Fiat 500e
Replacing the battery might not be as important as you think. So far batteries seem good for 200k+ miles with 80% of their capacity remaining and the rest of the car is going to likely degrade by that point. Some vehicles like the leaf did get replacement services due to their popularity and the later upgrades to higher capacity but I am not sure how common this is going to be in practice given how many miles batteries are actually good for.
Can you find this magazine in your library or local publication distributior? https://share.libbyapp.com/title/10480961 The answer is anything you want if you build it or buy a commission built one.
I love the idea of building an EV from the ground up. I doubt I'll ever be in a position to take that kind of project on, though.
2014 Spark EV. Stupid small, but also stupidly overbuilt. 400 lb-ft of torque, can produce wheel spin on demand at just about any speed, and the suspension is tuned absolutely perfectly (best rude quality I've felt in a non-luxury vehicle). If you can deal with the limited range, and don't need tons of space, this is the one.
I would have one myself, but with my family the Soul EV was the saner purchase. Just not quite as fun.
I had a 2016 Spark EV before I upgraded to a Bolt. The only reason I upgraded was for the range, the Spark is otherwise an excellent car and super fun to drive.
I'll take a look thanks!
Bolt, Kona, niro probably. You can't, and don't need to, replace the battery in an EV.
Is the Bolt a “dumb” EV? GM is big on selling subscriptions and tracking you so they can sell your data to insurance companies.
Idk, less tech than a Tesla, but as much as any modern car. A Chevy spark, VW egolf, or Fiat 500e may be even dumber though.
I thought it's one of the most costly and issue prone areas of certain cars (ie leaf)? Also I know two people with battery issues on there evs that can't get them replaced because they had them for over 9 years and the battery replacement either not possible or in one case 2/3 the price of the car.
The Lead is an outlier. Yes they're expensive, so is engine and transmission.
Pretty much everything other than a new Tesla with "structural battery" are serviceable.
No not issue prone at all. Extremely rare as a matter of fact.
https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
Costly, yes. Issue prone, no. The vast majority of EVs never have anything go wrong with their battery. When something does go wrong, you hear about it, though. Either because it is costly to fix or because it caused a fire.
Yes, if you have a 10 year old car then a battery change might be almost as much as the car is worth, but modern EVs (i.e. not a first gen Leaf) have batteries that easily go 200,000 miles. And a normal car with 200,000 miles might need a new engine that costs almost as much as the car is worth. A normal car will also need a new transmission around then, and will have had more brake changes, more oil changes, more other changes than an EV.
The leaf was an especially bad case, as they went with “air cooling” for the battery, so if you live anywhere where summer temps get over 95F or so, you’re killing the battery every summer. Arizona or Florida would kill them super because it’s so hot for so long. I believe they went to liquid cooled in 2019.
9 years is beyond the life of most vehicles in places where winter road salt rusts out frames. So most people consider a nine year old car past its useful life. I’m assuming these people you know live in a warmer climate where salt isn’t used. Yes, you’re going to have problems if there’s no support for your older car. A lot of EV buyers are banking on 3rd party battery recycling/rebuilding becoming a thing. It’s an industry that’s just getting started, and we’re in an awkward place currently where it’s only offered in a couple places or you’re spending ridiculous money in freight. All of that is to say, if you’re buying new or gently used now, you’ll probably be fine in 10 years as that industry grows. But I wouldn’t buy anything used that currently has battery issues.
Well, you can generally. But it's like doing an engine swap on ICE cars. Only worth considering if you're getting a project car or have a very valuable new one that's met some kind of disaster. Essentially never a needed thing.
Swapping the battery in a lot of EVs isn't very difficult either. You just disconnect the main power lines, some coolant/airflow lines, and you can drop it easily. There's nothing in the way normally since the battery basically is the floor of the car.
The only issue is that they're heavy, but you can easily get jacks designed for the heavy wide load.
This really depends on the car. For the generally anti-Musk crowd here, yes, you're just about right because "EV" means a whole swath of different cars. If you say EV to the gen pop, they hear "Tesla" and those battery systems are buried much further into the vehicle. The Model Y's structural pack has a 343 step r&r process and requires interior removal. A Leaf's battery does drop out the bottom more like a traditional gas tank.