What I have noticed is that it is very rarely if ever mentioned in the advertising of electric cars how long a battery pack is supposed to last?
They also do not advertise how much their battery pack will cost to replace. Funny about that.
I guess one of the prime reasons for that is the inability of the manufacturer of the battery pack, which is highly unlikely to be the vehicle manufacturer, to know the way or means the battery pack is charged, which will influence it's longevity.
Battery cells do form a "memory' of how much charge they will typically hold through constant charging and draining. But also the way in which they are charged will have an effect. Though the manufacturers have been busy trying to resolve that issue.
That is probably why the EV manufacturers concentrate on advertising how far their vehicle will travel on a brand new battery pack, fully charged as per manufacturers specification. Not what life you will get.
I doubt very much an EV manufacturer in their glossy brochure would ever include a "guaranteed' mileage available on a "full" charge...as it is logical that many EV's will not be fully charged before hitting the road after draining the battery pack.
With the retail cost of an EV's at what they are...one would expect a battery pack to last at least the half life of the car wouldn't you? And with the things being ridiculously expensive, the life you'd expect to be at least 20 years. Then you have to find some bunny to buy your second hand EV at ten years old knowing there is no warranty and likely be shelling out more than the purchase price for a new battery pack anytime.
The only vehicle that will continue in full production for the masses imo will be petrol / electric hybrids. The Governments will still want some tax from fuel sales too. On another point....whats the bet the registration cost of a full electric vehicle will begin to creep ever upwards as States try to claw back their losses in fuel taxes.
Not sure how they are classified currently, as Governments have a scale in registration costs climbing from a 4 cylinder through to 8 cylinder and above. I reckon we'll see EV's with their own classification and they will climb higher than a regular V8 petrol...Hybrids will maintain lower cost.
