The batteries in EVs do degrade, they are extremely expensive and they haven’t been around long enough for us to really know how long they will probably last. So the public is right to be wary.
That said…
The main issue is that the oldest cars that sold in any volume are the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf. And it’s the latter that is mainly causing the general concern due to its lack of active cooling and thus high degradation. The public don’t understand the tech so they just know that there are so many old Leafs that are near dead this this is an electric car issue (even though it’s a leaf issue).
If people though it through a little more and looked at how long Prius hybrid batteries have been lasting, despite the fact they are so small and thus have a lot more cycles on them used as they are, there is less reason to be concerned.
As data comes out showing degradation numbers of cars like the Model 3 and the Y, we’ll have a better idea of where we stand.
The general public is also blissfully unaware how expensive modern engines can be. If you get a catastrophic failure in some of them you’re talking EV battery replacement money for a new one… I know someone who had to pay over $30k for a new 3.0L v6 Land Rover Discovery Engine in a 2 yr old vehicle after it was physically damaged in a way not covered by warranty). That’s a car that costs the same as Tesla Model Y but the engine replacement costs double what a Model Y battery replacement costs. Yes that’s catastrophic failure but still….
However I am concerned about the seeming lack of repair ability if these batteries, I feel the government needs to set some repair ability rules…
$49,000.
