27 Replies to “What A Bargain”

    1. Would you have agreed to pay $25,000 to repair a vehicle that, by definition, can’t be that old? No wonder consumer demand is weak. The government subsidies for those Canadian battery plants will never see break-even.

    1. It’s A Cult! Ever talk to an EV owner?
      My wife’s niece’s man, is a Tesla fanboy.
      It’s a Cult.

      1. There’s one in our family too. Couple recently sold both their ICE cars to buy one Tesla. Brown stuff hasn’t hit the fan yet, just waiting for it to happen.

      2. Saw a woman crying on the street and asked her what was wrong. She said she told her man she didn’t like his EV. He hissed, tightened his man bun, grabbed his purse, and said when the car is done charging 12 hours from now, he was so out of there.

  3. I have zero interest in buying an EV, but to be fair this story is an extreme example of cherry picking. Millions of people have EVs now and the vast majority aren’t experiencing situations like this. Many Teslas have over 400,000 km on them and are still running fine.

    1. You are right that this story is cherry-picking, but miss the significance of the underlying point.

      They cherry picked a guy who was dumb enough to buy a used EV.

      The main point is (despite your anecdotal evidence of the mileage some of these have accrued) the perception is that replacing the battery is an expensive undertaking, so the used car values on these things suck.

      There are a lot of people on the poorer end on the spectrum who only real financial asset is in the equity value of their ICE cars. The only way they can buy newer vehicles is by using the residual value of their old one.

      Wait until these morons, most of who vote for leftists, find out the private ownership of vehicles is being transitioned through EVs to a model resembling leasing. where you pay a lot every month to drive a vehicle and have little to nothing to show for it at the end.

      1. You are right, Phil.

        The car rental companies like Enterprise, and Budget, are no longer purchasing EVs for rental units because there is NO market for used units because of stories like this one. Their business plan includes and expects some residual value when a rental unit is taken out of service and sold. The residual value is used to purchase new vehicles for future rental. So while this article is cherry picked (the usual value for a replacement battery is in the 27,000 to 30,000 dollar value), it is still well beyond, as you point out, the entry point for most used car buyers, and definitely not an asset for rental companies.

    2. “… and are still running fine.”

      Really? And you know this how? Owner anecdote? That’s like a Doctor saying we have “Clinical proof” … which translated for the slow-witted means we have no scientific or medical evidence to back our claims other than our patients saying they FEEL better.

      The FACT is, ALL batteries degrade with age and number/type of recharge cycles. It’s chemistry and physics. Period. You know … sciency stuff. Yet there are probably many people who own their Teslas as a second or third novelty car … and have barely driven them or put on many miles other than only driving to Al Gore’s church on Sundays. So just like the LOL’s pristine 1968 Mustang fastback put up for sale with only 35,000 original miles on it … I’m sure some Tesla owners own very low mile (km) Teslas.

      Other than that … high mileage EV’s ALL … read that … ALL have serious battery degradation. Just like their 10yo solar panels are putting out about 60% of their original nameplate … if that.

    3. “Many Teslas have over 400,000 km on them and are still running fine.”

      Sorry, I’d need to see some tangible evidence of that before I could believe it.

      400k without a battery change? Highly unlikely.

      1. And without spontaneous combustion?

        No, not credible.

        Anyway, I don’t think anyone has lived long enough to sit in line getting 400,000 KM’s worth of battery charging.

    4. There’s no cherry-picking here.
      1- Batteries die — eventually, but ALL batteries WILL DIE.
      2- Replacing the batteries — even on a 5-year-old vehicle — is more expensive than the vehicle is worth.
      3- given 1 and 2 above, It’s nearly impossible to resell an EV, even a slightly used one, and heaven help the buyer if the EV was ever involved in an accident — even a mild fender-bender.

      It really doesn’t make any economic sense to buy a second-hand EV, and given 1, 2, and 3 above, doesn’t make sense to buy an EV at all, new or used.

    5. Right. 4 year old Tesla at 100,00 kms per year. You would probably have to make the 100,000 in 6 months, and spend the other 6 months charging the POS.

    6. “… Many Teslas have over 4000,000 km on them and are still running fine.”

      How many? Did you count them yourself?

  5. There is a market for a new car company which makes cars (and trucks) the owner can repair in their driveway. Like we did in the old days. Too bad the elites don’t allow that anymore.
    I’d rather have a distributor with points that go bad than all this electronic ignition and computerized junk on the car. Air bags wee a good addition. A few other improvements could be kept. Otherwise, a car (truck) like we bought from the 1960’s to 1990’s is all most of us need today.

  6. Just curious. What happens when you take one of these 4-wheeled anchors to the scrap yard? Is there a tipping fee to get rid of it, or does the scrapyard pay you?

    And, what do they do with the battery?

    1. There are stories about batteries going up in flames in scrap yards. Apparently, they are piled separately until the battery can be removed with a 30 foot space around each pile lest they ignite and damage other merchandise. Because lithium ion batteries ignite when their guts are exposed to air, they have to be handled with extreme caution. They can burn at 355 degrees C, with temperatures in confined spaces of up to 1000 degrees C.

      I was on a military project using the first lithium ion batteries in Canada for ASW (anti submarine warfare). If a battery started to smoke or bulged from heat, we dumped it (and whatever it was attached to) into a can with an airtight lid and locked it down immediately. I am not sure what was done for disposal. The fumes from most of these batteries are also toxic.

    2. Jamie McBates
      I haul scrap, and would love to have one given to me. I just took a fully loaded Buick, that still ran,and got a good price for it.

  7. Just for giggles I went to a popular car site to price a used Tesla. (I didn’t really know any other EV’s to look up)
    A 2013 Tesla is going for around $30,000 with 135,000 km As Is. If in the short term it needs a new battery that could cost around $30,000 you would be paying $60,000 for a ten year old car with ten year old tech.
    Not for me thanks.

  8. I got the head gasket and clutch on my car replaced last year.
    Good to go for a really long time I hope.
    I would put a crate engine in before buying a battery car.
    Electric motors are awesome, but battery tech is the shits. Unless you’re talking uranium.

  9. Instead of a battery, how about a thermoelectric generator paired with a small amount of spent nuclear fuel? There has to be a way to contain and cool it.

  11. All electric cars made today, are designed to spy on you. For that alone I don’t want one.

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