[AlexWaltz]

What worries me about electric vehicles is the high cost of a replacement battery. I recognise the car has a warranty but in the event that the battery fails at the end of the warranty, you're looking at a $10,000 cost.

We don't have a lot of money but have the ability to buy this vehicle with rebates. I'm just really worried about the high cost of the battery because I'm sure we would like to keep the car for more than 10 years

 

[Harpers Tate]

"What worries me about ICE vehicles is the cumulative cost of replacing or repairing gaskets, spark plugs or injectors, turbochargers, exhaust systems, clutches, gearboxes, etc......."

I do not imagine it likely a manufacturer would knowingly offer (in the UK) a 8-year, 100,000 mile warranty on the traction battery unless the likely lifespan of that were well in excess of this duration.

 

[AlexWaltz]

I'm no an expert on EVs, but I seem to remember the earlier Nissan Leaf EVs were plagued with battery problems. After a few years of depreciation, the car loses a lot of value and when you have to factor in a replacement battery, it just seems like you have wasted your money.

 

[PetteriSeppänen]

I'm no an expert on EVs, but I seem to remember the earlier Nissan Leaf EVs were plagued with battery problems. After a few years of depreciation, the car loses a lot of value and when you have to factor in a replacement battery, it just seems like you have wasted your money.

Key words are "earlier Leaf" and the affected ones were mainly in hot climates. Battery chemistry was adjusted and the Leaf batteries age a lot better. There is even a buzzing repair scene forming in most markets for refurbishing Leaf batteries to original spec or better for reasonable price.

 

[KevinT]

I'm no an expert on EVs, but I seem to remember the earlier Nissan Leaf EVs were plagued with battery problems. After a few years of depreciation, the car loses a lot of value and when you have to factor in a replacement battery, it just seems like you have wasted your money.

The Leaf has the distinction of being the only mainstream EV without a battery cooling system, relying solely on the airflow past the underside of the car whilst driving to keep its battery cool. This is of zero help at all while rapid charging. Its internal arrangement also has some cells set vertically with a face in contact with the under tray, while others are stacked horizontally with no undertray contact at all, so what little cooling exists in the Leaf is very uneven. A battery pack is only as healthy as its weakest cell, and having some that can easily overheat is the Leaf's unique curse.

The 1st gen Ioniqs are also air cooled, but with a fan that actively pulls air through channels in the battery for even cooling of every cell, while the 2020 Ioniq has liquid cooling with similar balance. Either design is far more robust than the battery packs in the various Leafs.

 

[AlexWaltz]

The 1st gen Ioniq was also air cooled, but with a fan that actively pulled air through channels in the battery for even cooling of all cells, while the 2nd gen Ioniq has liquid cooling. Either design is far more robust than the battery packs in the Leaf.

Is the Ioniq 2020 considered a 2nd gen car or is it even further beyond that?

 

[BarryH]

no. Some even debate that you are better of with an IONIC 2016-2019 (a lot quicker at fast charging)

On the battery lifetime: turn it around: how large is the financial hit if you have the throw the car away after 8 years?

 

[nburd]

Please remember as time goes on, battery refurbishing companies will build up. A Prius battery can be had for a fraction of a Toyota factory battery. The same with the leaf, Honda hybrids etc. Their costs for refurbished batteries are much more reasonable. I have the factory Ioniq service manual and it’s super easy to replace the “sandwich bag“ batteries. I could do it myself in an afternoon. Tesla will be the next battery to be aftermarket refurb’d I am sure. I do not think you have to worry about an Ioniq battery for 10 years. the only unfortunate part of the Ioniq 28 KW in the USA is there are only a little over 1000 total on the road. That’s over three years. I hope there will be aftermarket sources but only time will tell. That’s not a big market. I do hope I can source the batteries and rebuild mine myself. Finally, thats why many people lease, is to get a new one every 3-4 years. I will certainly buy mine out after my lease is over unless something crazy bad happens.

 

[yticolev]

It will be worldwide demand for Ioniq 28 kw batteries 8 years from now that will drive the replacement industry. So if there is a demand, you should be able to get a third party one in the US too. From the same hybrid/EV repair shops (whose batteries are sourced from overseas too).

 

[Ou Boet]

I doubt that many will be replacing their IONIQ batteries. It will either be a warranty repair due to premature failure and the dealer will do it, or it will be gradual deterioration - and even I doubt that will be much of a concern based on current trends.

If due to degradation, the range of you car is no longer satisfactory, you'd sell it to somebody who has less range requirements (student, stay-at-home parent, etc). There is no way that the cost of an out of pocket battery replacement could be justified for an 8+ year old vehicle. I also doubt that there will be a flourishing refurbishing sector because I think the "scenery" is changing too quickly for the investment to be worth it.

 

[sendittogrant]

Unsure about Hyundai batteries, but I still drive my 2008 Prius with 257K miles on it and the battery is fine. Before that I had a 2001 Prius with 350K miles on it when I traded it in back in 2010 and it never had a battery problem either. I also had a 2013 Nissan Leaf with no battery problems (70K miles) that I just traded for the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid. The leaf could only go 90 miles on a charge but sometimes I need to go, you know, 100 miles.

 

[Electrickery]

Unsure about Hyundai batteries, but I still drive my 2008 Prius with 257K miles on it and the battery is fine. Before that I had a 2001 Prius with 350K miles on it when I traded it in back in 2010 and it never had a battery problem either. I also had a 2013 Nissan Leaf with no battery problems (70K miles) that I just traded for the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid. The leaf could only go 90 miles on a charge but sometimes I need to go, you know, 100 miles.

It would be interesting to know what the actual electric only range was in the Prius, the battery will likely be pretty shot at that age, maybe 40% of original capacity? I know it may seem fine, but it does have the huge backup of an engine attached to it!

 

[sendittogrant]

As of this writing (10/22/2020) the 2008 Prius with 257K miles is still getting 45-47mpg. When we bought it used at 40K miles it was getting 46-48mpg.

 

[bo14]

I have had my 2018 Ioniq 28kWh for 2 years nuw, and driven 170.000 km. The SOH is still 100%. Don´t be nervous about the batteri....