Some electric vehicles (EV)
in the United States are
almost 10 years old.
mainly Nissan Leafs,
the first widely available
EV in the U.S. market.
EV owners have begun
complaining about
the diminishing
driving range of
their "fully charged"
batteries.
Here's the potential
environmental problem,
that should have been
solved by now:
Automakers
do not have
a global solution
for the disposal of,
or recycling of,
aging EV batteries.
For electric vehicles
the driving range
will gradually
become an issue,
worsening every year
until the car becomes
undesirable.
An Automotive News
interview with a
Mr. Ravi Kan-ade,
revealed that
his 2012
Nissan Leaf SL's
total driving range
declined by 50%,
over 60,000 miles
of driving.
That’s bad news,
because his car’s
24-kWh battery only
started out with
a driving range
of 84 miles !
Hybrid vehicle owners
are facing similar problems
related to the oldest
hybrid vehicles on the road
( hybrid = gasoline & electric ).
Hybrid vehicle owners
are concerned,
to a lesser extent
than EV owners,
because hybrid
vehicle batteries
are less expensive
than EV batteries.
For EV owners,
a big concern
is resale value.
Almost no one wants
a used electric vehicle,
so they are very cheap.
Potential buyers are
very concerned with the
health of the batteries.
One of the reasons
the initial Nissan Leaf
can't maintain it's
initial driving range,
especially in warmer
climates, is that it uses
an an air-cooled battery.
Liquid battery cooling
is gradually becoming
the norm, but all batteries
will still lose charging
capacity (driving range)
over time.
In Japan, Nissan Leaf
battery refurbishment
costs around $3,000
and battery packs
are coming from
a battery recycling plant
inside the country.
That is obviously
the right solution.
Nissan offered a U.S.
battery replacement program
for $5,500, but then quietly
raised the price of a
new battery pack to $8,500,
which is very expensive,
and more than a used
Nissan Leaf was worth.
That is obviously
the wrong solution.