I am sure there are a lot of factors that will impact battery life. I am betting the climate of Utah with the swings in hot to cold will shorten expected life. I am not sure how true it was but seem to recall hearing that it would cost 25k plus to replace the batteries in a Tesla.
I stated this in Skippy's Tesla thread. My buddy just replaced his battery in his S60 last fall. Cost was 14k.
I heard a claim on the radio today that that vast majority of EV's have a life expectancy of 3 years, as that is the battery life, and the cost to replace is more than the vehicle. That seems like a lie to me. I can see 5-7 years.. but 3??
Anyone have real working knowledge on it?
My friend has owned his 2013 Tesla S60 for 6 years (just paid it off last summer) His battery lasted from 2013-2021. 8 years....this was in Utah (at least his 6 years).
I have heard that 6-8 years is the most common...and usually why EV's lose value fast around the 5 year mark. The battery replacement is not cheap....his S60 (had to replace with a S75 battery) was $14k. His Brother-in-law sold Nissans for awhile and really liked the Leaf but had heard thise replacements were around 8k....granted this was likely 1st gen Leaf.
My buddy loves his Tesla but right after paying it off he had to replace the battery and right ag.fter that had to replace the drive motor....all that was around $20k. So not a cheap repair. Granted he has had to do basically zero in the 100k miles he's owned it. He now expects to drive at least nother 5 years...then he hopes Rivian will have their SUV out by then.
In the long run though I think he has not saved a dime. If he deove a car that got 25 mpg and drove 100k, let's use an average gallon of gas at $2.70 for premium over the past 6 years, he would have paid $10,800 in fuel. Granted there are other maintenance costs but I am not sure he'd match the remaining $3200 to replace the battery....not to mention electricity increase to charge at home. I believe he is at a slight lose on costs. Obviously with gas going to $4+ the savings start.
I also believe 3 years is a popular ysed age range because many manufacturers push very heavily(or did) for leasses. The financing deals used to be pretty crazy for them. I also think it would be the way to go for an EV. Just to avoid the cost of battery replacement.
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