Inability to repair damaged electric vehicle batteries presents sustainability problems

Experts are concerned about the sustainability of the push for electric vehicles due to the difficulty of repairing slightly damaged battery packs after accidents.

“We’re buying electric cars for environmental reasons,” said Matthew Avery of Thatcham Research, an automotive risk intelligence company. “But an EV isn’t very sustainable if you’ve got to throw the battery away after a minor collision.”

While Ford and General Motors have reportedly made their EV battery packs easier to repair, experts suggest that Tesla’s Model Y battery pack has “zero repairability.” Due to the high cost of replacing battery packs, which can be tens of thousands of dollars, and represent nearly half of an EV’s original price, insurance companies are being forced to scrap even low-mileage EVs and raise premiums.

“An insurance company is not going to take that risk because they’re facing a lawsuit later on if something happens with that vehicle and they did not total it,” said Peter Gruber of Gruber Motor Company.

Experts are warning that the environmental advantage of EVs is at risk, as the number of cases of damage to EV batteries is likely to increase. “If you throw away the vehicle at an early stage, you’ve lost pretty much all advantage in terms of carbon dioxide emissions,” said Christoph Lauterwasser, managing director of the Allianz Center for Technology.

These warnings come as federal and state leaders have moved to ban the sale of all new gasoline-powered cars by the end of the decade.