The EV revolution has a problem: Nobody wants to buy used electronic cars — at least in Germany. Dealers have been clamoring for a battery certification that will allow them to assuage their customers’ biggest fear: that given its previous usage, the battery won’t last much longer and will be expensive to replace.
When my dad told me about this phenomenon, I began to wonder: Is that actually true? I gave it a Google, and it turns out EV batteries last over 200,000 kilometers on average. That’s perfectly fine. You’d never buy a gas-powered car and expect it to have zero problems with that kind of mileage. The engine might last another 50,000 or 100,000 kilometers, but if it broke down, you wouldn’t be surprised.
But what about the cost? Are batteries more expensive than engines? According to Visual Capitalist, an EV’s battery costs between 15-30% of the car’s retail price. That’s a lot — but it’s also how much you might pay to replace your combustion engine. It all depends on the car, of course, but even a small engine in a $30,000 car can quickly rack up a $5,000 bill if in dire need of repair — around 15%.
Naturally, there are extreme examples of either case on either side, but by and large, it seems both the guaranteed lifetime range and relative engine replacement cost aren’t too far apart between EVs and internal-combustion cars. So what’s the deal? Why aren’t people buying? Because sometimes, perception trumps reality — and when it comes to EV powertrains, a simple everyday dynamic has had time to mess with our heads for decades.
How many internal-combustion engines do you use around your house? Zero. And how many batteries? Oh! Batteries are everywhere. In your TV remote. Your game console controller. Your music box. And guess what? Batteries run out all the time. We’re used to having to replace them. Unlike in our household, however, a car battery is not only much more expensive, we also have no clue how to actually fit it into our vehicle. It’s not something we should even worry about, but we’re used to worrying about it with our alarm clock, and so we do.
The most pernicious opponent for used-EV sales, however, might be the one other device most of us cherish as much as our cars: our phone. If you don’t charge your phone every night, you can’t use it. Electric cars are similar in that regard.
What’s more, however, with smartphones turning 20 soon, most people have now also experienced a common phenomenon: After a year or two or three, your smartphone’s battery starts to degrade. It’s an issue that’s improved in recent generations, but if you’ve had to replace three phones after three years each because they could no longer last until lunch — like me — that creates some serious battery-PTSD — and I think that’s one of the EV crisis’ driving factors (pun intended).
Whether it’s in sales, making friends, or getting a job: Sometimes, even when reality is on your side, perception won’t be, and that will make all the difference. Always look at situations from both angles, and if you find one is missing where the other should already do the convincing for you, work hard to align them — so that the show, just like your car, can keep rolling.