[Flying_john]

Will we see many, or indeed, any 20+ year-old EV's in daily use in the future ?

Average age of car at scrappage = 13.9 years.* Just saying.

*https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/sustainability/average-vehicle-age/

My first EV was 25 years old at Scrap time.

Second one was 12 when I sold it on.

Third a 53 plate went after 9 years to another owner.




Then the first Leaf - sold to a friend, still going strong.



I guess as the Leaf model EV is onky ten this year, we will have to wait a little longer to see if they get to the ICE average of 13.9yrs old before scrapping.

[Paul_Sengupta]

There's been a bit of a shift in recent years with vehicle scrapping which I feel rather uncomfortable about. It used to be the case that most cars would be scrapped when they'd succumbed to terminal rust. However over the past 20-30 years I've seem more and more cars scrapped due to minor mechanical faults. The blame here is twofold...firstly the complexity of today's cars with everything being rather inaccessible to work on, and secondly the cost of mechanics which has gone up far far more than inflation.

These days a simple EGR valve issue can mean a car will be scrapped, as for a £150 part, it might take £400 of labour to dismantle things and put them all back together. People say "£550? The car's not worth it" and thus a perfectly good car gets scrapped for a minor fault.

So while the EV thing can't really do much for the rust issue, it should surely help for the mechanical complexity issue...as long as the batteries are fixed/refurbished/bad cells replaced/etc, at a reasonable cost.

[malcolmfrost]

Last but one car got scrapped because the DPF was blocked and would cost £1300 to replace.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Halfords clean them out for £85.

Or £35 if it's not completely blocked.

https://www.halfords.com/car-repairs/advice/dpf-cleaning-at-halfords-autocentres.html

[Flyin'Dutch']

@Flying_john

Hard core EV'er clearly. Respect.

[Charles Hunt]

My experience of scrapping perfectly good cars the MoT requirement for no alarm lights on. Some trivial light on, probably due to a failed sensor, can't find anyone to sort the electronics at a reasonable price. Off to the scrap heap she goes. Not really the best use of resources.

[Rob P]

The better solution is generally to disable the warning light (once certain the warning is crying wolf)

Rob P

[Pete L]

Any ideas on the safe/useful life of a set of EV batteries? How close is the Ninja milkfloat to being a kamikaze ninja milkfloat? (2015).

[riverrock]

Safe - pretty much forever. They will slowly reduce their ability to hold charge but they shouldn't become dangerous as they get older.
Useful life? What is useful?
The current Zoe battery warranty:
- ZOE i, registered from 1st July 2020: 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Subject to the age and mileage restrictions set out above, the warranty covers the battery if it falls below the following battery minimum capacity: Years 1-3 = 80% / Years 4-8 = 70%.

So Renault believe that their batteries should hold at least 70% capacity after 8 years. The older warranties were only 60% but the batteries are lasting better than anticipated. The first Zoes are reaching that age, often with capacity well above 80%.

I will say that the Renault Zoe has active battery temperature management (air con unit will heat / cool battery as required) which is likely to help it last longer. Early Nissan Leafs were passive only and the oldest (8 years old or so) ones contain around 70% capacity.

[riverrock]

Should also say - you don't need to replace the whole battery. Certainly in the Zoe they come in swapable modules - you can buy new or refurbished modules from specialists or the dealership. Under the warrenty above, they tend to just replace faulty modules rather than the whole thing if capacity gets below the threshold.

[Charles Hunt]

The better solution is generally to disable the warning light (once certain the warning is crying wolf)

Rob P

There's only so many bits of black tape you can stick on before the MoT tester notices them.

[Colonel Panic]

A quick word with the ECU via the OBD port normally gives you enough time to get through an MOT without any lights showing up

[Charles Hunt]

Sadly not, in my case.

[riverrock]

For old Tesla owners, looks like in the USA models are going to be recalled to fix time limited memory chips, as they cause safety issues: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55662657
More details on the issue here: https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/17/ ... nd_memory/

We'll see whether UK gov does the same, or whether owners will have to pay for replacement of the motherboard of their media units (not cheap) as they fail after 4 years (or so) of use.

[Colonel Panic]

The grief, delays and bother that Tesla have been giving these Model (&X?) owners is a disgrace. The fora are full of tales of woe, and I hope this embarrasses Tesla in to action. But I won't hold my breath.