Damaged and needs to be replaced – How much does an electric car battery cost

In the world of fossils, the diesel and gasoline engines make up the heart of the car. In the world of electricity, it’s a little different. The electric motor is not only maintenance free, but without moving parts and is extremely durable. In the electric car, the battery is the heart, and many electric car owners fear that the price to replace the battery is too high if it is damaged or defective.

However, this fear is not justified. Gradually the guarantees against battery deterioration during use are very good. The problem is if the battery is damaged in any way.

The price of a replacement battery for an electric car is high. Many have tried to get an answer from their car dealer, but few can offer a price. The answer is usually “We’ve never tested that the battery needs replacing, so we don’t have a price.”

Hard to get answers

We asked five major Norwegian importers of electric vehicles – Volkswagen, Nissan, BMW, Tesla and Hyundai – how much it would cost if the battery was damaged and needed to be replaced. The cars we asked for prices are e-Golf, Leaf, i3, Model S and Kona Electric.

All these cars have been for sale in Norway for many years now.

The only person who can give us an award is Marios Tignbey, Director of Communications at BMW:

– This would be a pure desk exercise, because we do not replace entire batteries, but individual units if necessary. The 2014 BMW i3 has eight cell units and one unit costs NOK 16,950. This means that the price, if the entire battery pack is to be replaced, is NOK 135,600. To my knowledge, no BMW i3 customers have yet had to replace an entire battery pack at this cost, says Tegneby.

Gives “error” a much longer range

It only replaces units

We’ve also received answers from communications directors at Nissan and VW. They are almost the same: “We rarely change battery packs, as it is often more convenient to change the units in the battery. It’s cheaper and an equally good solution. That is why we do not have a price for a full battery.”

The importer of Tesla and Hyundai did not respond to our inquiry..

The German company AutoBild has also tried to find the price of batteries for many of the most popular electric cars. They recently found a 2013 Tesla Model S for sale online for 6,900 euros (66,900 kroner) – without the battery. Another Model S of the same model, with the same mileage, but with a battery, was announced for 30 thousand euros (290 thousand kroner). Thus, the price of the battery, including installation, is estimated at more than 20 thousand euros (190 thousand kroner) when the repair costs are taken into account.

The car blew up with dynamite

That was also the price a Finnish Youtuber got when his eight-year-old Model S ran out of battery. He saved himself these expenses and Instead, the car blew up in the air With 30 kilos of dynamite and documented it in the video

Less than 400,000: these go the farthest

As for AutoBild, VW cannot determine the exact battery price for different electric vehicles. A factory spokesperson suggests a price tag of 10,000-15,000 euros (97,000 and 145,000 kroner) for the battery against ID.3 or ID.4. For an older generation of cars such as the e-Golf, the price ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 euros (97,000 and 194,000 kroner).

200,000 kr

Mercedes-Benz sets the battery price for the EQA at 15,209 euros (148,000 kroner) and the EQS at 19,601 euros (190.000 kroner). The condition is to return the old battery. “Demand for replacement batteries is at a mile-wide level,” says a Mercedes spokesperson Ten Autobuildt.

Volvo, Hyundai and Kia only mention the price of the battery unit. According to the manufacturers, the reason is to correct any defects by replacing individual units in the battery. AutoBild multiplied the unit price by the number of units in different car batteries and got the following prices: Hyundai Kona-e 20176 € (196,000 kroner), Kia e-Soul 8,739 € (85,000 kr), Kia EV6 10,364 € (97,000 kroner) kr), and the Volvo XC40 charges 37,854 euros (367,000 kroner).

good guarantees

In other words, we are talking about rising costs. However, the warranty offered by car manufacturers to batteries is beginning to improve. The battery in the first generation Leaf only guaranteed Nissan for five years or 100,000 kilometers. When the paper received a 30 kWh battery, the warranty was increased to eight years and 160 thousand kilometers. This is the same warranty that most manufacturers now offer on their batteries.

Cautions: electric car pig trap

However, some go further than that. The new Toyota bZ4X coming in June has a 10-year battery warranty and one million kilometres. Then the effect on the battery should remain at least 70 percent of what it was when the car was new. However, this warranty does not cover damage to the battery, for example, by the owner.

When the battery is damaged

Sigmund Clementz is IF’s Director of Communications and has a lot to say about the price of the batteries:

– It’s relatively rare that we have customers who have had battery damage, but there are a few dozen during the year. This usually happens in connection with getting off or driving towards an elevated curb. It’s relatively rare in terms of crashes, says Clements, who says they’ve tested the battery costs more than a new car.

million kroner

– Some manufacturers accept repairing the battery after it has been damaged, while others require the entire battery to be replaced. This is covered by regular hull insurance, but if you don’t have it, you have to pay for it yourself. Hull insurance also does not cover rust and other damage over time.

We tested the price of one million kroner for a damaged car battery. The car is priced at 300,000 new crowns. The price of batteries is a challenge when it comes to sustainability. When a battery pack costs more than a car costs, relatively new cars may have to be condemned. Here, auto manufacturers have something to think about, says Clements.