inliner311
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I don't think you understand the topic.
The current battery tech is rated for about 10% degradation after 1000 full charge cycles. Since it's incredibly rare to hit a full charge cycle, this number is realistically doubled to 2,000 half-cycles (Anything above 30% is considered a half-cycle).
2,000 charges gets you close to that 8-year warranty that Tesla offers. With progressive degradation, you're probably still going to have a car that's at least 80% of its original battery capacity 15+ years into ownership.
Also, instead of taking my hypothetical breakdown, here's some actual data from 286 model S owners: https://electrek.co/2016/11/01/tesla-battery-degradation/
For the people saying "a battery" costs $5k+, your terminology is really off. The Model S contains 7,104 individual batteries. That $5k+ cost is the price to replace the entire battery pack.
With fewer moving parts and lower cost of maintenance, there's no reason for a modern electric vehicle to not hold its value well past where a traditional combustion engine would be scrapped.
Also, we're nearing more major breakthroughs in battery technology. There are a lot of companies out there doing some pretty cool things, like batteries configured so that you can drain the reduced charge fluids from a lithium-ion battery and replace it with new fluids. Boom, back to 100% of your initial battery life.
The downsides right now would be the cost of production for the electric vehicle. It's not cheap and it's not environmentally friendly to produce. But once you get past those two, I think the only obstacle left is the American fear of miles per charge.
I understand that it's cells but look at the price of a Prius that has a bad battery code. The dealer wouldn't sell you a cell, you have to buy a whole battery. It's a DYI and not to many mechanics will go thru the trouble to replace a single cell. Overtime it's not cost effective to change out cells on a individual bases because of the labor cost. Right now the only source of cells is to take them from used batteries.
I also understand that they are trying to replace the fluids on batteries like just filling gas. I also know there is alot of other technology being worked on and electric cars might not be the total solution to transportation in the future. It's why car manufacturers are still making hybrids. Something like turning algae to gasoline creates a net neutrality fuel that doesnt change the infrastructure of the gasoline networks. It much less disruptive to the system.