G. Crook Loc: Linden, TX

Of course, the truck and loader are electric, right?

Haenzel Loc: South Holland, The Netherlands

Common practice is a factory warranty of 8 years or 100.000 miles on the battery. Even a secondhand EV can be bought with warranty on it's battery. It is pretty easy to determine the health of the battery by the dealer. A healthy battery won't just die overnight....Just make sure it's on paper before you buy...Also, as EV market share increases, more and more companies will refurbish used batteries by taking the bad cells out and install new or good used cells.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

edmixon Loc: Orange County CA

👍🥲

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

what you are saying is all true, and many EV batteries that have reached an unusable point for an EV application can still be used in "second life" applications with lessor demands, so they still have value. But in that case the car owner at that point is still faced with the potential replacement and labor costs associated with the replacement. I am sure many owners of EV's like the woman in question may not be aware of their options when their battery croaks. Also, what are the average costs of refurbishing a battery likely to be?? Is it still a major expense although somewhat lower than a new one? I have no information on that, do you? And, obviously, battery technology is changing with more power, smaller sizes, and lower costs being the goals. Will lithium batteries be obsoleted as old technology in the near term therefore making the refurbishing of those batteries a dying industry? So many questions.

skylinefirepest Loc: Southern Pines, N.C.

Our government, aided strongly by our media, is pushing towards electric and there's a multitude of environmental, disposal, pricing, charging, off road, etc., etc. with the electrics. I simply won't take an electric to Moab or the Rubicon.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I have a 2006 Mercedes E350 that I bought new, and so far, after 139,000 miles, I am on my fourth set of tires, only the second battery (!), still on my second set of Akebono pads, and the original rotors. I have changed the lower control arm joints, 1 tie rod end, the tensioner and serpentine belt and hoses (proactively), repaired one broken wire going to the trunk lid, replaced both HID bulbs, and that’s it except for oil/filter, transmission fluid/filter, coolant, brake fluid and a set of plugs. I am planning on changing the shocks for new Bilstiens this year. The car has been always garaged, driven only by me and looks and drives like the day it was bought. Maybe $2500 in routine maintenance, $3,000 on tires, and < $1,000 on other maintenance (I do jobs such as pads, belts, plugs and hoses myself). On the downside, the depreciation on Mercedes is brutal, but I plan to keep it ‘till I die, lacking an accident. Not trading it in for an EV any time soon.

plumbbob1

I'd love to have a silent electric pickup to run around the woods in. But, one reservation, if I got of range for the battery and no cellphone for a tow even if they could find me, my preferences would be
a plain ole pickup and a can of gas in the back.

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

I'm not driving a truck, but my 2013 Ford Escape had 99,000 miles right now. Never had any maintenance or repair issues. 25 MPG in town, 30+ Highway. And it only takes 5 minutes to fill the tank.

My first Ford Escape had 137,000 miles when I got rear ended by a Ford F150 and pushed into the car in front of me. I was able to drive home, not a single headlight or taillight was broken. The F150 had to be towed. The insurance company ended up totaling my Escape because it was about 6" shorter after the crash.

Haenzel Loc: South Holland, The Netherlands

A refurbished battery is half the price of a new battery. The battery will have at least 80% of it's original capacity. These are figures I could find online.
The process of refurbishing is not really difficult. Make sure you have enough used cells to repair batteries. You can do it your self if you know how to work safely. So a dying industry? I don't think so. I think it will be a booming industry for many years to come.

In the end (10 years from now?) I expect hydrogen technology will take over, especially for long range vehicles and trucks / busses. For now I'm enjoying my smooth, quiet and above all, cheap short distance rides...

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I think that assumes that only a few cells in a pack go bad, which may happen, but in the long run, all the cells will reach the end of their life, and then the entire pack needs to be replaced and disposed of.

Valenta Loc: Top of NZ

Definitely not time yet to buy an EV......

BebuLamar

they don't have that many moving parts. The electric motor has very few moving parts. Most EV has 1 speed transmission that is no shifting gear and no clutch. You can also use regenerated braking which don't make use of brake pads.

Haenzel Loc: South Holland, The Netherlands

EV batteries, on average, only degrade at a rate of 2.3% of maximum capacity per year..
Tesla is not far from producing a million miles battery. Time will tell...

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

Ok, so they're still pretty expensive if half the price of new. I saw a piece discussing a replacement on a Tesla, and it was going to be $22,000 dollars, half of that for a refurb is still a lot of money as would be the case for the Ford in my story at $7000 dollars. Now, let's look at that Ford story. She never mentioned the year of the used Ford that she paid $11,000 for, but if the battery died, let's assume it probably was around a 2011-2013 car, and $11,000 was a fair resale price when she purchased it. (not considering the state of the battery) Now, several months later she needs a battery and she does go with the refurbished one at $7000 dollars now making her total purchase price for the car with the battery refurb of $18,000, and probably more than what that car was worth. There's an old expression here in the US that might fit in that story, "....throwing good money after bad." I suppose it's the old Caveat emptor when purchasing any used car, but when a repair on one costs around 3/4's of what you paid for it many would say the buyer bought a lemon! Thanks for your comeback!