Just as a petrol or diesel engine is once worn out, the battery pack of an electric car also has a maximum lifespan. But most car manufacturers like to remain silent about the price of such a new battery.
That battery packs are expensive, discovered the Briton Ranjit Singh recently when he saw the price tag of replacing the battery of his Mercedes-Benz hybrid. That would cost him more than 17,700 euros. His Mercedes had a current value of just over 14,000 euros and was therefore in fact a total loss. Many owners of an electric car can also have that bad luck in the coming years. Batteries of electric cars are also much more expensive than those of hybrids because they are usually much larger.
The industry is trying to avoid potential problems by offering generous warranties on electric car batteries. Most car brands will exchange the battery for free if it can store less than 70 percent of its original capacity within eight years or 160,000 miles of purchase. Toyota even offers a battery warranty of ten years or 1 million kilometers for its only electric car, the Lexus UX 300e. Mercedes-Benz follows at some distance with the Mercedes EQS: The electric S-Class also has a ten-year battery warranty, but only 250,000 kilometers as a maximum.
‘Tesla most taciturn’
But what happens after eight years? In other words, how much will a replacement battery cost if the old one dies? To this question from car image many manufacturers tried to avoid an exact answer. They emphasize how unnecessary a full exchange is or only mention the prices per battery module. Some manufacturers even claim that there is simply no replacement battery as a spare part. Tesla is the most taciturn. “Unfortunately, Tesla generally does not communicate prices for batteries,” a Tesla spokesperson told its counterpart. car week†
Audi, Fiat, Opel and Tesla do not publish prices. Even Volkswagen cannot or will not give exact battery prices after repeated requests. A new battery for models in the ID family (ID.3 and ID.4) should cost between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. For the older models based on MQB, the e-Golf and e-Up, between 10,000 and 20,000 euros has been calculated. “The fluctuating prices are due to the complexity and number of items,” said a VW spokesperson.
Mercedes is transparent
Mercedes is one of the few major manufacturers that is transparent. A battery pack for an EQA costs 15,209 euros, the batteries of the EQS cost 19,603 euros and for the EQV a new pack costs 27,230 euros. A replacement battery for the Smart EQ fortwo and the Smart EQ forfour should cost 6,538 euros. The condition is always that the old battery is handed in. Honda charges 7283 euros for a replacement battery in the Honda e. A replacement battery pack for the Dacia Spring costs 6770 euros. The prices for the Renault Zoe, Kangoo ZE and Twingo Electric are around 9000 euros each. For the light car Twizy, a battery costs about 4000 euros. Nissan charges 10,306 euros for the small Leaf battery (40 kWh) and 15,516 euros for the large (62 kWh).
Volvo, Hyundai and Kia only give the prices per module. The reason: if the battery fails, only the defective modules are replaced. According to them, the failure of a complete battery is very unlikely. Again, no one likes to comment on the fact that batteries eventually break down due to age. Addition of the number of modules by car image results in the following prices: Hyundai Kona-e (100 kW) 20,177 euros, Kona-e (150 kW) 33,772 euros, Hyundai Ioniq 20,177 euros, Kia e-Niro (39.2 kWh) 6940 euros, Kia e-Niro ( 64 kWh) 10,410 euros, Kia e-Soul (39.2 kWh) 5826 euros, Kia e-Soul (64 kWh) 8739 euros, Kia EV6 10,365 euros, Volvo XC40 Recharge 37,854 euros.
‘Market in transition’
According to the Bovag, the obscurity about the price of a new battery pack is partly part of a market in transition. ,,We are of course in favor of transparency, but it is also a bit of a search for car manufacturers. It is indeed rare that an entire battery has to be replaced and because of the falling prices and new technologies, I understand that it is sometimes difficult. On the other hand, I can imagine that car manufacturers do not want to frighten potential buyers by mentioning high prices for complete battery packs. In fact, it often remains with partial repairs. And luckily, modern cars come with many guarantees, both legally and via the Bovag.”
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