I get it but 10 year old luxo barges being scrapped because they need a new engine or gearbox isn't unheard of either.....

So maybe not as much of a "new" thing as some might think

Edited by pd on 23/12/2021 at 09:40

Welcome to the near future. Ordinary working people priced off the road as electric cars are written-off before they get to 9/10yrs old meaning no cheap used cars and crippling depreciation on new ones once the market settles and fully understands the weaknesses of current battery technology. Helps my Stagecoach shares mind…

Indeed - and for those who say that the price of EV abtteries is come down, they may care to remember that most tech sold today is not compatible with that of 10 years ago, which is why things like spares for 99.9% of things at that age cost a LOT more than when the product was below 5 years old and sold in big numbers.

Things wouldn't be so bad if all car battery cells/packs were of a standard design (rather like domestic AA batteries) where every make of car used the same size, type (capcity, materials for the important bits etc) and connection, so that today's batteries fit in a car made 10 years ago - whereby any improvement in cell tech could be integrated into the old car, e.g. increased capacity /lifespane (energy density).

Unfortunately that does not happen, and the situation is more like that (as we've discussed in the General Section) of computer inkjet printers and replacement cartridges - old ones are nigh on impossible to come by and are thus incredibly expensive, because they vary from one printer to another and between makes of printer.

As John Cadogan (Aussie HJ) said on his latest video about 'new' Teslas being sold with battery packs made in 2017, the market has yet to realise the huge cost of battery replacements for EVs that will be force on second-hand car owners who least can afford them, and thus once enough EVs get to around the 8-12 year mark, the real depreciation rates of such vehicles will start to become apparent. This is beginning to happen with the Nissan Leaf mk1.

Who buys an 8 year old cordless drill with a battery that can only be replaced by the original part

Bought a cordless strimmer about 15 years ago. About 5 years ago the battery had died to such an extent it needed charging part way through doing the garden. Manufacturer did not sell battery packs and the fake ones on e-bay had poor ratings. Took it to our local battery specialist who simply replaced the cells (15 of them) for about £25. Still working absolutely fine. This is a service they will no doubt be offering for owners of electric cars in the very near future.