Posted on 04/19/2012 11:39:05 AM PDT by jazusamo
One of the auto industry's most closely guarded secrets, the enormous cost of batteries for electric cars, has spilled out.
Speaking at a forum on green technology, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally indicated battery packs for the company's Focus electric car costs between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece.
"When you move into an all-electric vehicle, the battery size moves up to around 23 kilowatt hours, [and] it weighs around 600 to 700 pounds," Mulally said at Fortune magazine's Brainstorm Green conference in California.
"They're around $12,000 to $15,000 [a battery]" for a type of car that normally sells for about $22,000, he continued, referring to the price of a gasoline-powered Focus. "So, you can see why the economics are what they are."
Ford is currently promoting its $39,200 Focus EV at events around the country. It has a 23 kilowatt-hour battery pack. A Ford spokeswoman said Mulally's comments were designed to provide an indication of the car's battery costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The Volt battery is 16 kWh and weighs 435 pounds and the published estimated cost is $8,000 to $10,000.
fyi Ping.
When this car is 5 or 6 years old, who in his right mind will want to sink $15000 into a 5 or 6 year old car to replace the battery?
Democrats and Commies
Exactly, and who in their right mind would want to buy the car used.
~ $20/lb.
A Prius-driving friend told me @ 3 years ago that its replacement battery would be $10K+. Don’t know if the cost has gone up during that time. So far they haven’t needed a new battery.
They did, however, need some other part I think of as costing around $400, but cost them $1200 for the Prius. You’d have to do an awful lot of fuel-efficient driving to compensate for those costs.
That sounds like a great transportation energy solution <0.o>
That’s where the Volt should beat the electric Focus. The Volt could continue to run on the gasoline engine, even when the battery needs replacing.
BTW, these batteries degrade a bit every day. Their range will drop a bit every year. Long before an EV battery is “worn out”; you’ll wish you could afford to replace it.
“One of the auto industry’s most closely guarded secrets, the enormous cost of batteries for electric cars, has spilled out.”
Um....everyone and their dog already knew what the replacement costs are so....what’s the “secret” that spilled out?
http://www.nascar.com/news/120416/ford-focus-electric-pace-car-richmond/index.html
A bunch of cautions and a full three GWC’s and we may see it die on the track. ;)
As long as Ford is not trying to SELL this vehicle as an alternative to a $22,000 small sedan that gets maybe 40 MPG, I see no conflict in showing it around the country as a concept vehicle. But as of now, it would be neither economically feasible, nor offer any alternate appeal as compared to the typical battery-powered golf cart (some of which, I understand, are styled like a 1955 Thunderbird or a 1957 Chevrolet convertible).
Bingo. Any article or study (e.g., every single one ever) of “yearly fuel savings” or “breakeven compared to a comparable gasoline-powered car” that doesn’t take this into account is a fraud.
BTW, in addition to this absolutely formula-wrecking, unavoidable cost, they never take “opportunity cost” into account — you could invest the difference between a gas car and a hybrid car, which always makes the hybrid’s “savings” less than the usual simple-minded calculation ever is.
This is something that I haven’t read anything about regarding the Chevy Volt.
There are many other parts to an electric vehicle other than the battery and many of those parts are specifically for that vehicle, they are bound to be very expensive.
Great publicity for them if it makes it around the track a few times. :-)
Agreed.
When the battery is depleted and it switches to gas there is the 600 - 700 lbs of dead weight in batteries and the weight of the useless electric motor(s)to haul around.
Rumor has it that there will be a second, identical pace car in the garage area..... just in case.
Which is about the weight of four to five adults. When my car is loaded down my mileage plummets. The mileage estimates are done with one driver and no extra weight in the test vehicle.
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