Volvo XC40 aka Geely full electric car has battery life predicted of only 3 to 5 years

Electric vehicles are being made and marketed as the ultimate 'throwaway' item.

They are claimed to have a theoretical lifetime of the battery module between 3 and 10 years depending on brand, there is no way to tell what the 'servicability life' is when buying a used electric car, and the costs for a replacement battery module are horrendous, plus (at least here in Australia) there is zero recycling for them.

Volvo XC40 full electric is a Chinese made Geely product, and it's battery lifetime is predicted to only be 3 to 5 years before it has to be replaced to maintain full charge capacity and range as per the published specs.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

This is a serious problem - and hardly unknown but brushed off by the all-electric enthusiasts. I think that predicted average of 5 years is typical, not purely that of the particular Volvo.

Proponents of battery cars reply to those saying they can never afford such a car, that the second-hand costs will make them affordable to many. Perhaps - if you ignore the replacement battery cost and that if a battery-powered car is being re-sold only a few years old, it is probably because the batteries are expiring.

The batteries can and should be salvaged, as far as practical. The metals within them are recoverable but I do not know if the materials of the cases can be - possibly not.

The car itself can be scrapped in the normal way; although modern cars use a lot of plastics that might not be recoverable except in very limited ways.

'''

Volvo: Swedish. MG: British. Both now owned by China!

(MG has introduced a rather ironical product, a battery car with near sports-car performance which seems hardly meeting the virtuous point of it all!)

Iwillwait · M

Just wait, the whole planet will be filled with obsolete power cells, that cannot be recycled and will eventually punch a while through our lovely Paradise.

Roundandroundwego · 61-69

People successful enough to afford an electric car most definitely understand the need for pedestrian friendly cities and mass transit.

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butterflybaby75 · 46-50, F

@Roundandroundwego Yet few if any cities have any sort of 'masterplan' for encouraging personal transportation using bicycles and trunk public transport linking it all together. And everyone is now being pushed to get an e-bike which is just an EV in miniature so the problem of EV's replicates with e-bikes, e-scooters, etc. and nothing is actually solved.

Roundandroundwego · 61-69

@butterflybaby75 the soul crushing ecocide is still a visible project everywhere capitalism sits pretty. People are accepting of it and naturally assault nature and everyone who doesn't help kill it.
Yesterday a man weed eated my spring garden of veggies because he hated me and had a gas powered machine and everyone in my neighborhood is happy about it. I know the people.
Ride a bike and be a target? They're bold and armed.

butterflybaby75 · 46-50, F

@Roundandroundwego Yes Cyclists are hated universally it seems yet people are encourage to use 'eco-transport' that is not eco friendly ie electric cars, e-bikes, etc. I know as I'm a cyclist and like the attention I get about how I look but not the stupidity and idiocity of many motorists who think any cyclist is a target for their 'killing machine' to mow down.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

[quote]
Electric vehicles are being made and marketed as the ultimate 'throwaway' item.
...
battery lifetime is predicted to only be 3 to 5 years before i[/quote]
Predicted by whom?

The dinosaurs keep repeating this canard. And every year the batteries last longer.

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ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@butterflybaby75 [quote] 'panel of experts' whoever that is.[/quote]

So. the supposed opinion of a group of unidentified people. Sounds really trustworthy.

butterflybaby75 · 46-50, F

@ninalanyon I just don't believe the bullshit that the eco warriors spout as there's little if any real-world data for anything other that Tesla's and other EV models that have existed globally (but not in Australia) for around 10 years or more yet.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@butterflybaby75 I don't have any solid statistics handy by I've just read a statement by Viking, a big Norwegian company that provides roadside assistance for car owners and they say:
[quote]Det har gått mange myter om hvor lenge et elbil batteri holder, men nå som elbilmarkedet har fått noen år på baken, ser vi at alle erfaringer så langt tyder på batteriene vil vare hele bilens levetid og vel så det.

Nissan gikk ut med at et elbilbatteri holder i gjennomsnitt 22 år, og en elbil har i gjennomsnitt 10 års levetid. Det er med andre ord ikke bruken, men etterbruken, som er utfordringen med dagens elbilbatterier.[/quote]

Translated by Google because I' too lazy to do it myself
[quote]There have been many myths about how long an electric car battery lasts, but now that the electric car market has had a few years under its belt, we see that all experiences so far indicate that the batteries will last the entire life of the car, and that's fine.

Nissan assumed that an electric car battery lasts an average of 22 years, and an electric car has an average lifespan of 10 years. In other words, it is not the use, but the after-use, that is the challenge with today's electric car batteries.[/quote]

Nissan have a press release from 2018 which says:
[quote]Rolle, Switzerland, 23 March 2015: Five years and more than 35,000 European sales since the launch of its all-electric LEAF, proprietary data released by Nissan for the first time shows that 99.99 percent of its battery units remain entirely fit for purpose.

The failure rate of the battery power unit is less than 0.01 percent - or just three units in total - a fraction of the equivalent industry-wideꜞ figure for defects affecting traditional combustion engines.[/quote]
https://web.archive.org/web/20181016105923/https://newsroom.nissan-europe.com/uk/en-gb/media/pressreleases/131212

ElwoodBlues · M

You can glean some info by looking a how much battery lifetime a car company is guaranteeing. Let's start with Tesla. Eight years, 100,000 miles is their shortest warranty.

[quote]Before 2020, Tesla provided an eight-year, unlimited-mileage warranty on Model S and Model X batteries and drive units. That guarantee has since been revised to eight years or 150,000 miles for those vehicles. Tesla's less expensive models have shorter mileage limits. The Model 3 RWD is covered for 8 years or 100,000 miles, while Performance, Long Range AWD, and Standard Range AWD versions of the Model 3 and Model Y are guaranteed for 8 years or 120,000 miles. The company specifies its batteries will retain at least 70 percent of their original capacity (also known as 30 percent degradation) during the warranty period.[/quote]

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