- Cox Automotive warns that the long-term future of electric vehicles is threatened
- A “replace rather than repair” culture could be damaging residual values
- As a result, older EVs will struggle to stay on the road.
The notion of a vehicle reaching the mystical 500,000-mile figure could potentially die with the internal combustion engine, as experts warn that the manufacturer’s current focus on recyclability rather than repairability in modern electric vehicles is threatening the long-term future of the technology itself.
Speaking at the FT Future of the Car Summit in London, Cox Automotive’s European operations director for electric vehicle battery solutions, Antonia Stephenson, said it’s important for manufacturers to design batteries “with repair in mind,” adding that it was important to “keep them in the vehicle and then in the energy storage industry beyond that,” according to Auto Express.
Stephenson noted that the electric vehicle industry is currently focused on range, as manufacturers try to convince buyers to move away from gasoline and diesel by offering models that offer similar mileage to their fossil fuel-burning counterparts between stops.
As a result, Stephenson says “design has shifted toward less repairable batteries” and current legislation is based on recycling, rather than incentivizing manufacturers to make easy-to-repair battery packs.
The result of relying on replacing damaged or worn-out battery packs, rather than opting for cheaper repairs, could pose a major challenge to the residual values of used vehicles.
“Brand reputation is very important and with so many options now, people will think about repairability in the future,” he added.
Analysis: lack of repairability affects the technology industry
As we’ve seen with laptops, tablets, and smartphones, much of the consumer technology world is rushing into an era of irreparability, with most products now making it nearly impossible to repair or replace individual parts.
Now, more than ever, electric vehicles are being compared to the same pieces of consumer technology: essentially large computers on wheels.
While they may house AI-powered voice assistants and could one day drive themselves, they also suffer from similar consumer trust issues, with many buyers worrying about the value of their vehicles in, say, ten years… or whether any of the onboard technology will still work.
But purchasing a new vehicle is often cited as the second most important purchase a person makes, after purchasing a house or apartment, which means that the residual or second-hand value is extremely important.
As Antonia Stephenson points out: “If we keep throwing things away and don’t repair them once they’re out of warranty, there’s a huge storage problem.
“If a second-hand vehicle doesn’t have a warranty, if the only option for the battery is to recycle it and buy a new one, it’s not as cost effective as people would expect from a second-hand vehicle.”
This same problem is creating a large swath of EV skeptics, eager to keep their internal combustion engines because they know the parts can be easily sourced and replaced when they wear out.
Battery packs are one of the most expensive parts of a modern electric vehicle, and recycling and replacing them feels completely backwards and energy-consuming, rather than being able to easily replace damaged cells.
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