As you consider future legislation promoting electric vehicles, I hope you take the following issue into consideration as you communicate with your various legislators.
The biggest barrier to people purchasing an electric vehicle is range anxiety. Newer EVs have sufficient range to make that no longer an issue for buying. However, to be really environmentally friendly, EVs should be kept on the road for at least 15-20 years. That will require replacing the original battery a few times.
And that is the problem: most of the EV sellers have no intention of making that economically feasible. They want their customers to buy a new EV every 5-8 years. A case in point: I am the owner of a 2106 Nissan Leaf. My battery as at 78% of its original capacity, which is within the warranty expectation. However, next winter, there will be days when that battery will not have the capacity for the Twin Cities travel I will need.
If I lived in Oregon or a small number of other far distant areas, I could have a third party company install an upgraded battery from a newer, but wrecked Leaf. It could be done at an affordable price. I could double the range the vehicle had when new. But no such businesses exist within 1000 miles or more of my home.
Nissan refuses to even consider battery upgrades. In fact, they required a great deal of run-around (back and forth between my local dealer and the national office) to even give me a price on a replacement for the original battery. Their price is almost 30% of the cost of a new vehicle ($13,000). This is a price that is communicating to me: dispose of the car and buy a new car. But, of course, there is not much of a market for used EVs with low range. So Nissan is really saying "throw the car away (after 6 years) and buy a new one". This is the opposite of environmentally responsible.
So here is my suggestion: any new legislation regarding electric vehicles should REQUIRE manufacturers to implement affordable, and accessible battery UPGRADE and REPLACEMENT programs. The customer should have details of the program in writing at the time of purchase.
The biggest barrier to people purchasing an electric vehicle is range anxiety. Newer EVs have sufficient range to make that no longer an issue for buying. However, to be really environmentally friendly, EVs should be kept on the road for at least 15-20 years. That will require replacing the original battery a few times.
And that is the problem: most of the EV sellers have no intention of making that economically feasible. They want their customers to buy a new EV every 5-8 years. A case in point: I am the owner of a 2106 Nissan Leaf. My battery as at 78% of its original capacity, which is within the warranty expectation. However, next winter, there will be days when that battery will not have the capacity for the Twin Cities travel I will need.
If I lived in Oregon or a small number of other far distant areas, I could have a third party company install an upgraded battery from a newer, but wrecked Leaf. It could be done at an affordable price. I could double the range the vehicle had when new. But no such businesses exist within 1000 miles or more of my home.
Nissan refuses to even consider battery upgrades. In fact, they required a great deal of run-around (back and forth between my local dealer and the national office) to even give me a price on a replacement for the original battery. Their price is almost 30% of the cost of a new vehicle ($13,000). This is a price that is communicating to me: dispose of the car and buy a new car. But, of course, there is not much of a market for used EVs with low range. So Nissan is really saying "throw the car away (after 6 years) and buy a new one". This is the opposite of environmentally responsible.
So here is my suggestion: any new legislation regarding electric vehicles should REQUIRE manufacturers to implement affordable, and accessible battery UPGRADE and REPLACEMENT programs. The customer should have details of the program in writing at the time of purchase.