Automotive News recently ran a Reuters story on the problem of repairing electric cars after a crash that impacts the battery. They found a large variety of manufacturer attitudes towards this issue. Tesla has the least environmentally friendly design, integrating the batteries of its latest models into the unibody, so any damage requires scrapping the entire car and battery. GM, at the opposite extreme, is the most environmentally friendly in its Ultium-equipped cars; they are meant to be fixed at the level of the module, which is far less expensive than replacing an entire battery pack. Nissan has the same feature, the company said, with replaceable modules so that minor damage to the battery pack does not result in a scrapped car; dealers can replace impacted modules.
Ford claimed that it had a module repair process, and can replace the battery pack and tray if it is damaged. Renault only said that battery modules could be repaired at designated centers.
Stellantis’ battery repair facility appears to be relatively low. The company told Reuters that it would not repair batteries after crashes where the airbags deployed; however, it has invested in the ability to recycle batteries at the end of their lifecycle, so they theoretically will not end up in junkyards. For the individual EV owner, though, it appears that insurance rates may reflect the need to replace an entire battery after the airbags are set off.
Reuters found that European junkyards had more Teslas than one would expect, which is consistent with the problem of batteries that cannot be economically repaired.
GM’s idea has got to be (to date) the most logical and well thought out system for these EV battery packs. Honestly if there wasn’t this big governmental rush to kill the automotive industry and make everything governmentally controlled EVs, auto manufacturers might have been able to come up with better ways of making EVs.
I feel like Stellantis should have made their entire EV: Large and EV: Frame EV powertrains all based on 800V systems. While they still can’t compete with ICE as far as Charging vs refueling times, alot of 800V EVs can charge from roughly 5%-80% in under 20-minutes, giving roughly 100miles of range in only 10-minutes. Keep in mind, alot of these numbers are based on cars that have single speed Electric powertrains. I do kind of wish that they’d partnered with GM with the Ultium battery module setup to keep repair costs down as well as working with Bosh to utilize the CVT4EV to increase range and performance. Implementing those types of systems would help to not only make Mopar/Stellantis EVs stand out but it makes them more desirable because it gives longer range, a more natural driving experience, fast-charging and with the Ultium battery pack system, allows for less expensive repair and maintenance.
I guess to me, my personal issues with EVs are the fact that they can be hacked and remote controlled. That’s my biggest fear with EVs. As far as anything else, we’ve already seen that EVs are fast and with Dodge coming out with a potentially serious EV performance machine, we may start to see what EV muscle is really all about. We’ve seen that the EV motors can be hooked up to several different transmission options including manual transmissions so CVT and multi-speed transmissions with more than two gears may become a reality in the very near future. Thanks to Stellantis, we’ve also seen that EVs can be loud and not be completely boring. It’s not traditional, but it’s a far cry from cars like the Ford C-Max, the Ford Mach E, the Tesla Model-3 and other mundane, boring, pedestrian vehicles that have come out so far. As far as performance upgrades and modifications, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s coming and that’s both factory and aftermarket. Companies are already moving towards offering upgrades for EVs from exterior sound systems to suspension parts and all kinds of other stuff. I have a feeling that within the next 2-4 years Stellantis-Mopar will produce EVs that will truly revolutionize not only the EV market but the Auto industry as a whole. What I hope is that they’ll find ways to make their systems hack-resistant so that Mopar owners can rest easier knowing that it will be just a little harder to take the vehicles that they’ve worked hard to own.