$10K Replacement? Debunking Myths About What Happens When EV Batteries Go Bad

Motor Trend

8 hours ago

There's a lot to love about owning an EV. Electricity is cheaper than gas and electric motors are more efficient, so EVs are less expensive to run, and with lower maintenance costs on balance, they're easier to operate in the long run. Studies even show that they're less stressful to drive than a car with a traditional internal combustion engine.
EV battery replacements are less common and costly than often claimed. Most EVs have warranties up to 8-10 years, covering significant costs. Battery prices are dropping due to domestic production. Compared to engine replacements, EV battery costs are increasingly competitive.
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Yet a lot of people seem to hate them. One of the most common bits of anti-EV rhetoric we constantly see shared on social media platforms and elsewhere is that their batteries can't be trusted. According to the experts on Facebook, they'll wear out in just a few years and leave you stuck with tens of thousands in replacement costs.
This largely false narrative has proven effective. A recent study from GBK Collective concluded that battery replacement costs are the biggest concern among those considering the purchase of an EV or hybrid. But is that really something to be worried about? Is the battery in a new EV really as fragile as one in a new smartphone, and are you really on the hook for a huge bill if it fails? Let's dig into the details. No, It's Not Like Your Phone Battery
Most of us have no doubt experienced the rapid degradation of our phone batteries at some point. It seems like it only takes a few months before your new iDevice starts struggling to get through a single shift at work. Will the battery in an EV suffer the same fate because it uses the same type of battery? Virtually all smartphones these days (and plenty of other consumer electronics devices) rely on lithium-ion batteries. This term refers to the major component of the cathodes in their cells: lithium. (If you need a little battery refresher, we have that for you right here.)
And yes, the majority of EVs in production today also use lithium-ion cells. They tend to be the most energy-dense option that's widely available today, which makes them an ideal choice for a car that wants to go as far as possible while keeping battery weight to a minimum. So, same-same as your phone? Not exactly.
"There's absolutely no need to be worried about a super-steep decline like what you would see in a cellphone," Liz Najman said. She's director of market insights at Recurrent Motors, an EV-focused platform for EV owners and shoppers.
Despite using the same chemistry, EV batteries have numerous substantial differences relative to those in phones, starting with their quantity. Phones generally have a single battery cell, just one source of energy while the phone is in use and one place to store it when it's charging. Your average EV has hundreds or even thousands of individual cells that make up its battery pack, often grouped into so-called modules. This means that charge and discharge cycles are evenly distributed across many individual batteries, all sharing the load.
Temperature is another consideration. Ever felt how hot your phone gets when it's charging? Nearly all modern EVs feature some sort of active thermal management to keep their battery packs in their happy place from a temperature standpoint.
And then there's the frequency of charging. Most folks run their phone down to near empty and then fully recharge every single day. A modern EV with 200 or 300 miles of range might only need a full charge once a week. Or, if charged more frequently, those charges tend to be smaller. Either way, it's far less stressful for your pack, meaning it'll last longer. However, the most significant difference between a car battery and a phone battery may be the warranty.
A good warranty is key whenever you're thinking about buying a new car, particularly if it's from a brand unfamiliar to you. That's doubly true when you're thinking about making the leap to an unfamiliar EV.
Thankfully, battery warranties across the board are generous enough that you should feel protected. Every EV sold in the United States comes with at least an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
Live in California? You're protected for even longer: 10 years or 150,000 miles. Some do even better, like Rivian, which covers up to 175,000 miles. If, after that period, your battery cannot sustain a certain percentage of its original charge (usually 70 percent), you're set to get a replacement.
It's worth pointing out that you're not guaranteed to get a new battery if yours doesn't meet the 70 percent threshold. You may receive a remanufactured one, but either way, you're not on the hook for the cost, and you're at least guaranteed to have a car that's still capable of achieving 70 percent of its former maximum range after eight years.
And chances are, you'll do better than that for even longer. Recurrent's most recent research showed that, outside of major recalls (like the Chevrolet Bolt debacle), only 2.5 percent of EVs have had battery replacements. So it's unlikely, but it does happen. And if it happens to a car out of warranty, it might not be as expensive to replace one as you think. Batteries are Getting Cheaper
The perceived boom in EVs may be taking a little longer than anticipated, but that isn't slowing down the supply chain build-up. It seems like every day, we hear about a new battery factory being built on American shores, bolstered by the need for domestic production to meet the present federal EV rebate regulations, not to mention lessening the potential impact of the current administration's tariff-based actions.
On top of that, there's been a huge rush to find more of the materials needed for battery production domestically, as well. As we've reported before, many of these materials have numerous issues with how they're sourced, so getting them locally should make that even easier.
More domestic production and sourcing of materials will only make these batteries cheaper in the future. Recurrent's Naijman believes that these factors, plus the rise of more affordable chemistries like LFP and potentially GM's new LMR, could mean the cost of replacing a battery by 2030 will be cheaper than replacing an engine.
We also spoke with Ian Nalivaiko, business development executive at Greentec, a company that has replaced tens of thousands of hybrid and EV batteries over the past 13 years. Nalivaiko said that battery prices are already dropping substantially for some models. A replacement 75-kWh pack for a Tesla Model S until recently cost $10,000. Today, he says it's down to $5,999.
But that's just one car. Let's look at some more examples. Battery Replacement Costs
Just like not all engines are created equally, different cars have very different battery costs.
Greentec services all sorts of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs, and some are easier than others. Nalivaiko said the car they most commonly service is the second-generation Prius, a battery swap that'll cost as little as $1,399.
What about full EVs? There, too, it depends. The 75-kWh Tesla pack for $5,999 is definitely among the more affordable options. But the bigger 100-kWh battery pack can cost as much as $15,500.
You can even go up to a bigger pack if you'd like. Greentec says it's reverse-engineered Tesla's battery management system, enabling upgrades—or downgrades. "With the Teslas, we've basically figured it out," Nalivaiko said. Engine Replacements vs. Battery Replacements
While some of those battery replacement costs may seem high in a vacuum, to get a better appreciation for how this stacks up, it's good to consider the internal combustion equivalent: a new engine.
Like swapping an EV's battery, replacing an engine in a modern car isn't a task that's easily accomplished by the average shade-tree mechanic. Likewise, it's not often something that's a good return on investment when it comes to an older car.
Still, it's the closest equivalent we have to replacing an EV battery, so we used Kelly Blue Book's repair estimator to determine some comparable engine replacement costs.
KBB estimates that the engine replacement cost for a Nissan Altima would be in the range of $6,000 to $6,500, quite a bit more than the $5,000 for a new battery pack on a similarly aged Nissan Leaf EV. When it comes to Tesla, that 75-kWh battery pack for a Model S, again, costs about $6,000. A comparable Mercedes-Benz, an E400, will set you back between $7,500 and $8,000 for a new engine.
For the Leaf, that replacement cost is probably more than the car is worth. But for the Model S 75D, probably still worth $20,000 or so, $5,999 for a new pack could be great value. It opens the door for some used car bargain hunting—if you're willing to go through the legwork of getting the battery replaced (a process that Greentec's Nalivaiko says typically takes between one to three weeks). "If you wanted to get [a used EV] at a steep discount and invest that money to replace the battery, you could have a luxury car that's going to last you for the next 15 years at a great price," Recurrent's Najman said.
As always, there are no absolutes when it comes to how much it will cost you to service a car over its lifetime, regardless of powertrain. But for EV batteries, at least, one thing is clear: The chances of you shelling out thousands to replace one for a newer car especially is remote at best—despite what you may have heard from the experts on social media.