Batteries, cost of repairs and resale challenge the advancement of electric cars

The year didn’t start very well for electric cars – at least not in part of the Western world, especially in the United States. While Chinese automakers advance without brakes, in the North American market what we see is a slowdown, both in sales and in the expansion plans of automakers, from Tesla to veterans Ford and General Motors. The segment is growing, but not as much as expected.

But the difficulties don’t stop there. The announcement by the rental company Hertz, which will exchange a third of its electric fleet for combustion vehicles, and the difficulty in using and supplying electric cars due to the cold and limited infrastructure have raised more questions about the technology – which is considered by many the future of mobility, but it is far from being unanimous.

Limited autonomy, high repair costs, battery disposal and resale problems are some of the challenges.

Experts say problems like these are to be expected in a technology that is relatively new and still in development. The question is to what extent such difficulties can compromise the future of electric vehicles.

Check out some of the challenges faced by the electric vehicle industry below:

Low temperatures

The performance of electric cars in low temperatures is inferior, as the batteries require more heat to operate on cold days. This uses more energy and also takes longer to charge.

The range of electric vehicles fell by about 25% on average in subzero weather compared to days with warmer outdoor temperatures, according to tests by consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports.

Norway seems to have found some solutions, according to a report in The New York Times. The only viable alternative for everyone is to preheat the car before leaving home. Others depend on where you live: drivers drive shorter distances, generally less than 30 minutes (whereas in the US the average is more than an hour commute), and most people live in homes and may have their own charging station .

Supply infrastructure

In the United States, where the model is already much more developed, there is still a lack of gas stations and in winter there are huge queues to charge the car. This even occurs in cities like New York, which has only released new licenses for app-based transportation services to those who have an electric car.

In other advanced economies the scenario is not very different. “Suburban residents with home garages can install chargers, but the lack of public chargers on city streets has not yet become a major problem simply because few people own electric cars,” British journalist Simon Kuper, who lives in Paris, recently wrote. , in the “Financial Times”.

In countries like Brazil the scenario is even more challenging. Today there are around 3,800 charging stations in Brazilian territory, a figure considered insufficient to handle the expected expansion of the market. On the roads, the shortage is even more noticeable. Private companies even invest in highway stations, concerned with the logistics of their business, but there is a large gap to be filled to allow the sector to expand in Brazil.

Recharge time

The time to charge an electric car’s battery is much longer than it takes to fill the tank with gasoline, alcohol or diesel. It varies from half an hour to 12 hours, depending on the type of vehicle and its recharging capacity (generally between 3.7kW and 22kW in alternating current). In cold weather, time increases.

Furthermore, energy consumption may be greater than expected, which reduces the vehicle’s autonomy, as explained by the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association (ABVE) on its website.

The Tan SUV, which First Lady Janja da Silva recently drove at the invitation of BYD, can be recharged from 30% to 80% in 30 minutes using 110 kW direct current. The electric model was delivered by the Chinese manufacturer for use by the Presidency of the Republic, with loan for one year.

Disposing of batteries

Electric car batteries are another sensitive point because, although they emit fewer greenhouse gases, they can pose environmental risks when disposed of. They are made from minerals such as lithium, copper and nickel, and in Brazil there is currently no robust reverse logistics to deal with unused batteries.

A study by the Veiga de Almeida University, according to Agência Brasil, indicates that while a traditional combustion vehicle battery weighs, on average, 14.4 kg, a typical light electric vehicle battery weighs between 200 kg and 300 kg, with a lifetime useful between 10 and 15 years.

Resale price

Commenting on the cut of 20,000 electric cars from its fleet, Hertz said that Tesla vehicles have harmed the company’s finances. This is because the brand has been pricing aggressively on new models, which discourages demand for used cars among consumers – and the sale of used cars is an important part of the rental company’s business, which buys new cars, leases them for two years and then resells them.

In addition to the fact that manufacturers’ commercial strategies can affect used car prices, the very speed of technological advancement in electric cars hastens their devaluation. The consumer may be led to understand that the used car is obsolete in relation to the newly launched car.

Furthermore, just like with a cell phone or notebook, over time the electric car battery loses capacity. This is another factor that can discourage the purchase of a used one, as the buyer will wonder how long the battery will last and fear the cost of a possible replacement.

Repair cost

The maintenance cost of an electric vehicle is usually much lower than that of a combustion car. However, replacement parts, when needed, tend to be scarce and expensive. This point was mentioned by the rental company Hertz when it announced the reduction of its electric fleet: according to the company, the costs of repairing damage are higher than those for combustion models.

“Collision and damage repairs on an electric car can often cost about twice as much as those associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle,” Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr told CNN.