GetOffYourGas
Well-known member
Nobody outside the industry truly knows what the cost of batteries are. Nissan charges $5500 for a battery replacement, but that includes reclaiming the old battery. We don't know how much money they save by recycling the battery (versus buying virgin materials).
It seems like the going estimate is on the order of $200/kWh for cells, although that number is going down every year. But then you have to add the manufacturing cost to combine those cells into a battery. So the Leaf's 30kWh battery would cost $6k for just the cells. And then some for assembly.
Although everyone talks only about the battery, there are other unique EV-related parts. The motor, inverter, charger, battery controller, etc. All of these operate at high power and are not trivial costs in small quantity. And let's face it - compared to ICEVs, BEVs are small quantity.
As far as cost to the consumer, you have to look past initial purchase price and consider total cost of ownership (TCO). EVs are far cheaper to fuel and maintain (assuming you don't have to replace the battery). Here is one comparison of a Leaf against a (much cheaper to buy) Versa Note:
https://greentransportation.info/ev-ownership/economics/index.html
It seems like the going estimate is on the order of $200/kWh for cells, although that number is going down every year. But then you have to add the manufacturing cost to combine those cells into a battery. So the Leaf's 30kWh battery would cost $6k for just the cells. And then some for assembly.
Although everyone talks only about the battery, there are other unique EV-related parts. The motor, inverter, charger, battery controller, etc. All of these operate at high power and are not trivial costs in small quantity. And let's face it - compared to ICEVs, BEVs are small quantity.
As far as cost to the consumer, you have to look past initial purchase price and consider total cost of ownership (TCO). EVs are far cheaper to fuel and maintain (assuming you don't have to replace the battery). Here is one comparison of a Leaf against a (much cheaper to buy) Versa Note:
https://greentransportation.info/ev-ownership/economics/index.html