The Expert Podcast

So what happens to your electric vehicle in the future if the battery the main vehicle battery becomes unusable or worn out and you can't get a replacement? It's an article that came out this week regarding General Motors and the GM Spark electric vehicle which came out a few years ago and it's just starting to get to where some of these batteries might be at the end of their lifespan depending on how it's used and we've talked in other videos about how electric vehicle batteries can run out even before high miles depending upon if they're charged very severely or high temperature.
Unlike a gasoline vehicle that has an engine if the engine gets worn out a qualified mechanic can remove an engine from a vehicle a gasoline piston engine rebuild it put in new gaskets new rings new bearings redo the cylinders and anything that can go wrong with a gasoline vehicle other than a catastrophic engine block damage can be repaired even if the engine block is damaged on a gasoline vehicle you can buy new engine because these engines are used in other vehicles.
The EV battery format is very often vehicle specific because the electric vehicle battery the shape format form factor are all built around the style of the vehicle meaning that they're not interchangeable you can't take a battery from one vehicle and put it in another because they're not standard they're built to conform to the sheet metal and design of that electric vehicle so what happens if an electric vehicle body style isn't used anymore body styles change all the time right a Honda Accord every three four years is a new style of vehicle the engine in it might be the same and the parts might be interchangeable from one year to another because the engine doesn't really care what the vehicle looks like an electric vehicle battery does care what the vehicle looks like because it has to fit into the very specific design of that vehicle.
So here's the first example where an electric vehicle allegedly according to this article in The Verge is saying that the Spark EV battery replacement is being cancelled according to the article General Motors will no longer provide battery replacement for the all-electric version of the Spark first released in 2013 so that's you know like 10 years ago the executive confirmed that the company is no longer going to supply that battery GM's inventory of Spark EV battery packs has run out and the company doesn't plan on making any more.
Unlike gasoline vehicle engines that can be replaced retooled electric vehicle batteries have to be made by the manufacturer there's no after-market company that's going to make a battery for a vehicle that fits only in one type of vehicle there are companies that rebuild and refurbish gasoline piston engines because they can be rebuilt batteries at this point it's unknown if they can be rebuilt the oldest model of the Spark is reaching 10 years old vehicle owners may find themselves without a working car if the battery pack fails there's a warranty 100,000 miles but that warranty's already run out because it's eight years.
This is an underreported factor in electric vehicle ownership the most important moving part or not moving part but the most important component of an electric vehicle is the main vehicle battery not the 12-volt charging battery but the main vehicle battery that's what drives everything it's a custom part for each vehicle for the most part you can't pull one out of a Tesla and put it into a Toyota Prius or vice versa you can't pull one out of a Prius and put it into a Spark they're made for the vehicle in fact in most cases they're not easily removed or kind of built into the vehicle they're incorporated in the vehicle body and the chassis in some vehicles they're an integral component structural component of the vehicle.
So what happens if the battery fails and there are no replacements as new electric vehicle designs are released into the marketplace what happens to the battery production for the older ones I don't know if anybody has thought about that I don't know if the manufacturers have either thought about it or if they have thought about it and said well that's just how it is they're disposable.
Think about your cell phones 10 years ago cell phones had replaceable batteries you could take out the battery and put in a new one several years ago when all the new models of mobile devices had fixed batteries that you can't take out there was an outcry well what are we going to do with the phones and the batteries go dead and now we can't use it well the answer is phones are now almost disposable you get to the end of your life you just get a new phone you trade in the old one what happens to the old one they're really worth nothing in the marketplace you know three or four year old phone for the most part you can't really sell it for much 50 bucks maybe 100 bucks.
So what's going to happen with electric vehicles once that battery becomes unusable do you need a new car think about the fleet of cars on the road everybody watching this video knows somebody or has a vehicle that's 15 20 years old look at 20 year old vehicle is 2012 I'm sorry 2002 a 2002 vehicle there's plenty of those on the road plenty of people driving one as a second vehicle maybe their primary car if electric vehicle batteries are going to become unavailable are there going to be a such thing as a 20 year old electric vehicle let's say it's 2050 a year in the future are there going to be any 2030 vehicles still on the road or do you have to get a new car every four or five or six years and how is that going to affect the motoring public.
This is an important subject maybe there'll be companies that refurbish batteries maybe they'll be companies that give you credit for the raw materials in your battery when you trade your car in or sell it maybe the electric vehicle companies aren't going to sell vehicles to own anymore maybe they'll all be on subscription so you just pay a monthly fee and drive here for four years and then switch it for another one kind of like cell phones maybe that's where we're going.
But think about that and ask the questions as you're considering electric vehicles put your questions in the comments so we know what you're thinking and we can have a conversation about this subject and see what you think about the electric vehicle battery replacement as a very serious factor that most people don't think about you think about a regular car that you drive and if it has 150,000 miles it still runs but maybe it's worn out somebody's going to buy it maybe fix it up maybe a mechanic rebuilds the engine puts on new brakes rebuilds a transmission and the car has another 10 years life there's some cars on the road that are 30 years old 30 year old is a 1992 there's 1990 vehicles still driving maybe not a lot but a 30 year old electric vehicle I don't know if that's ever going to exist in the used car marketplace.