The average life of most cars is 10 years/ 100,000 miles, so not sure where you get 500,000 from. Lithium batteries degrade over time even if charged optimally. No one in their right mind would buy a good quality 10 year old electric car as the battery replacement cost would be far in excess of it’s value, so imagine how many Chinese or other budget EV’s would be scrapped much younger than that? Ultimately, better public transport and less personal transport on the road is the answer, but that is a long term govt investment and most govt’s are only interested in short term planning
I’m not denying that the ICE needs to be replaced, but the EV in it’s current incarnation ,is not the solution. Of course insulation and other energy saving ideas are worth persuing - anything that reduces energy consumption is a good idea as currently, the methods of energy production are part of the problem
The presumption is that EV’s will probably last longer as motors and electronic components are inherently more reliable than piston engines.
The usual estimate of EV lithium cell longevity is 1500-3000 charge cycles before the battery is below 80% capacity, for EV’s with a 200 mile range this equates to 300000-600000 miles.
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An EV battery is only as good as the weakest cell. Once one goes, the whole battery is compromised and needs removing and re-furbishing. Whilst the motor may last consider longer than an ICE, most ICE cars in scrapyards still have a functioning engine, it’s the ancillaries that fail and the wear to suspension, brakes, bearings, electrical faults and structural accident damage and corrosion etc , none of which individually make the car uneconomic to repair, but cumulatively lead to it’s destruction. EV’s will not be an exception, so will still average 10 years life or less due to the additional weight possibly causing more wear. Apple doesn’t support older iphones with updates, how long will crucial software updates be issued for older Teslas?
I still think a proper integrated public transport system in the solution, not more cars with different propulsion systems.
That’s not entirely true with modern battery management but the estimate of battery life is for the whole thing, so wear of individual cells is taken into account. Also, as you say, they can be refurbished.
I agree, I’ve been saying in on this forum since the beginning. As you say though - it requires government intervention, but while petrochemicals and EV (and ICE) manufacture provide such huge profits it seems unlikely.
Actually (speaking from a completely anti-Apple standpoint) they are pretty much the best company for supporting older hardware with OS updates. Much as I prefer Android as a platform you are lucky to get one OS revision with most Android phones.
I have old 2 apple phones and an ipad that are perfectly good but no longer secure due to them no longer being supported. The argument being, the technology has moved on and they don’t have the capacity/ speed to be updated. This same argument in our throw away society causes so much waste and could be applied to all currently modern technology.
If the touch screen goes in my modern car, I don’t think it is drivable!! Just as well my other car is a 1968 Citroen whose carbon footprint from manufacture puts a Tesla to shame! ( I realise the Citroen emissions are really bad, but it doesn’t get used much)
I agree - but there is a point where support of older hardware just isn’t viable - what generation are these Apple phones? Modern CPUs are still roughly doubling in power every 18 months which means features get added which take advantage of the extra power and older hardware simply can’t keep up.
As I said, Apple is generally better than Android, even taking into account third party efforts such as LineageOS.
Well, true but modern electronics is very reliable - you might as well say if the points go or distributor cap wears out, both of those events are actually rather more likely to happen. I guess they are not perceived as being as serious because many people could fix those themselves.
That is indeed possible, but it ignores the fact that EVs do not require their power to be generated by climate altering sources, whereas ICE vehicles go nowhere without burning fossil fuels.
Due to regenerative braking EVs actually have a lot less brake wear than ICE vehicles.
Yes, heavier vehicles will create more tyre wear, so you’ve just made a good case for opposing the current fad for oversized, heavy, SUVs (“Chelsea tractors”). There are many EVs that are lighter than such things.
It’s getting there, slowly.
Along with other renewable sources (hydro, tidal) & sufficient deployment they can go a very long way towards it. Marry that with storage (battery, vehicle to grid, gravity, thermal) & better energy efficiency then it is possible without new nuclear.
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My LG is on its 3rd although that is now its last. Depends on the will of the manufacturer.
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Quite a few urban myths there, the old cortinas and the like were considerably lighter than cars of today. Many models especially larger models and SUV’s are a similar weight to EV’s of equivalent size. However the weight distribution is far better and so is the low centre of gravity of the EV’s.
A recent report by KwikFit said the EV’s tyres are lasting longer and of course very little if any break pad wear, due to regenerative braking. Most of the myths are put out by the fossil fuel industry and legacy car makers who do not want the transition to EV’s.
Regardless of one’s objections I think that you need to accept that EVs are here to stay, as is our obsession with vehicles that are designed to fit four or five adults and half a ton of “stuff” in the boot being driven by a single person and idle for 90% of the day or more.
At the moment you have a choice between ICE and EV, in 10 years I suspect that choice will be much diminished in favour of EVs (at least until the Lithium runs out).
By the time the lithium runs out we’ll be on another chemistry by the sound of it. Less energy dense by a % but made up for by faster charging. Several being explored and lower cost materials. But then we have heard that before.
Comparing two Corsas - one electric and one ICE
Which is the cheapest, what is the crossover point and which is the greenest. Obviously some differences buying and running in the UK and in France but worth a listen.
I have made my view of battery cars quite clear in the past in that I will stick with fossil fueled personal vehicles as long as I am able.
I met with a friend this week who aquired an MG SUV battery car some 3 montgs ago so was interested in his experience to date which was mixed.
His first comment was that the figures advertised re distance are vastly different in reality ie no where near as good. It seems that you have to be computer literate to drive the car and possess a smart phone. He paid £900 for a dedicated charger to be fitted at home as 7kw charge was required?
There was also talk of a massive drop in milage capacity in the winter months to the summer months due to outside temperatures?
He worked out that a charge at home cost him £6 when fossil fuel to cover the same same mileage would be £18. Ok a third of the cost but when factoring in the extra cost of the car against its fossil fuel equivalent not so good.
One plus was that on a frosty morning he could defrost the windscreen while having breakfast.
He laughingly described his 3 month ownership as learning to drive a laptop.
All in all the jury is still out on good or bad.
My friend loves driving and was quick to say that it is a new learning curve behind the wheel of his battery car which does take away the thrill and roar of a real car.
I am sure there are good points beyond ‘its good for the environment’ but nothing we discussed fired my enthusiasm to join the battery revolution.
One more thing, my friend is planning to drive to his maison secondaire in south west France later this year and is seriously worried about getting stranded with a flat battery due to not finding chargers in working order.
We did his intended journey last week on a full tank of diesel and will be doing the same in a day or 2 on a full tank with kilometres to spare. Will there ever be a battery that will give 900km coverage without recharge?
If there was you’d want one with 1100km 
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Quite happy with the 1000 kilometre/600 mile range that a full tank of fuel has given me in all my cars of the last 30 years or so.
Another piont for consideration with battery cars, or at least with the MG SUV is that it is recommended to keep charge between 20 and 80% to avoid excessive battery deterioration and only use a super fast charge 35 times during the life of the battery. One other observation is that none Tesla cars can only charge at non Tesla charge pionts whereas Teska can charge at thier own or any charging piont as the car comes with 2 adapters. How long will it be before a black market Tesla plug will be available for non Tesla cars and what road rage incidents will occur at a Tesla charging station when a rogue car is topping up having managed to download a Tesla app purchased from a clever hacker?
It will all end in tears.
Of course I stand corrected on any of my thoughts that might be misleading or incorrect but the experience and information of my friend and his battery powered MG are real.
How often do you drive 1000KMs though? Do you ever drive 1000KMs without stopping for a break?
It’s perhaps unfair to compare EV cars and their infrastructure of today with ICE cars. Petrol stations, for example, when cars were in their infancy weren’t as prevalent as they are today. Fuel economy back then wasn’t the same as it is today, etc…
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Also not really accurate, Tesla are opening/have opened a proportion of their chargers to non Tesla cars with more being adapted.
Not sure you really understand the concept of EV’s is to stop the pollution. If the trade off is a couple of 30mins stops on a journey made a couple of times a year is that really all that bad? 99% of the time a vehicles journeys are local within 50-70 km.
You sound like my son in law, he has just ordered an upgrade on his challenger to the Hellcat SRT (800hp). For him, a silent car is not an option and the louder the better. He said EV’s are just not popular over there where petrol is cheaper than water and the grid is not stable either due to the climatic conditions with tornadoes every week currently.
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