Quote:
Originally Posted by Supermans
You're forgetting about the cost of a new battery after ten years as well.. Yes, the price of the batteries should be less in ten years, however it is still a major cost once it is depleted to where you are no longer getting 40 miles on a single charge but 15 for example. And since the Volt runs off the battery, if it isn't working at 100%, will the car stutter or run slower? I'm sure we'll find all this out in a few years after the Volt is released but it is something to think about.
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A few things to consider here.
#1a, the battery is a 16 kilowatt unit. That is, it can hold a 16 Kilowatt charge. (almost enough power to run your house for two days off the grid....) BUT, that 40-mile range only uses 8 kilowatts. The reason they did this is so the battery will never have a depleted charge, and so it will maximize the battery's lifespan.
#1b, A Battery's life expectancy is usually expressed in terms of charge capacity. Or, the amount of the original 16 Kw that the battery can still hold after x years. Based on preliminary reports, the battery should maintain at least 70% capacity at the ten year point. Which means, if they program the on-board computer properly, you'll still get a 40-mile (or extremely close) range at the ten-year point. And ten-years is, on-average, the amount of time you'll own a vehicle. At that point, it's pretty much expected for your car to start having problems.
#1c, In ten years time...Battery technology will have advanced to the point of making these batteries obsolete. Hopefully, that will drive the cost of the batteries down by half or three-quarters. If you were hell-bent on keeping your original Chevy Volt, (instead of buying a new, cheaper version) you could probably buy a relatively new, antiquated battery for very little $$.
#2, The car's performance will not be effected by the battery. Think of it like your cell phone, because the batteries used in both are similar. When your cell phone is 2 years old, you have to recharge it more often, correct? But the phone still performs, and functions like new (provided you haven't dropped it and broken something). This will be the case of the Volt. No stuttering, no speed problems due to the battery. If those problems exist, it will be the fault of the motors (which, like any motor will last almost forever), not the battery.