EV have long time issues.  (Mine to Fire)

By Dale Klingbeil
Westcliffe, CO

The wave is catching on, and we are evaluating.  Can we buy an EV and save money, or the Environment, vs. Cost.

Probably, neither.  Too, much reliance on fossil fuels for all the component production to evaluate, cradle to grave, (Maybe, Mine to Fire). The deeper that one digs into this issue, the more it becomes apparent, that not much is gained in either front, vs. my old ICE, (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle.

The major concern for this review is what do you do with your Nissan Leaf at the END of the battery LIFE.  In, engineering jargon, EOL.  End of Life tests are conducted in the development of such products.  However, the public is always the final field test.

It is estimated that 800,000 EV will be sold this year in USA.  The Tesla showroom in Colorado Springs is the closest location for such viewing.  Engineering details will not be available nor will the major topics that I will expose herein.

As a conservative minded buyer, I am looking for great value.  My current Chevy is an average fossil fuel ICE.  On a good day, 28 mpg.  I have been operating this for some years and expect to continue for a few more.  Cost per mile, including insurance is less than $0.10 per mile.  I am planning for a 300,000 mile, EOL.

Jalpnik reported last week information gleaned, from Anderson Economic Group, (AEG) that ICE drivers pay about $11.29 per 100 miles, ($0.1129 per mile), for fuel.  The comparable EV driver pays $11.60 for an at home charge, (electricity cost).  Anderson Economic Group went on the say, that that frequent charging station users pay, $14.40 per 100 miles, ($0.144 per mile).

The EV warranties are government mandated at 100,000 miles.  In the case of Tesla, they go as high as 150,000, or 8 years, whichever comes first.  Most EV available in the used marketplace have less than 60,000 miles.  This high mileage 2015, Nissan Leaf was listed for sale at $12,900.  The cost of this EV is at $0.21 per mile to 120,000 miles, (In engineering, we would call this Half-Life, value).  The insurance is stated to be on an average, 27% more expensive for an EV vs an ICE.

“Policygenius, an online brokerage, reported the average U.S. monthly EV insurance payment is approximately $206, or 27% higher than a combustion-engine model. Reuters contributed to this report.”

As an aside, please note that EV do not pay road tax.  Such maintenance is covered partly by the cost added to gasoline/diesel at the pump.  This tax is coming to your neighborhood, soon. 

From a cost standpoint, this is almost triple the cost to operate the EV.  So, much for cost savings.

Let me delve into EOL.  More importantly the risk of fire in the front yard.  The latest report of the Ford plant shutting down for a two or three weeks was stated to be battery related.  Ok, now some additional research has brought forward.  Nanoscopic cracks are a major concern for short circuiting and fire hazards.

“EV batteries lack reparability leading some insurers to junk whole cars after even minor collisions.”

“A scratched or slightly damaged electric battery might be enough for some insurers to write off entire car, as for many electric vehicles there is no way to repair battery packs after collisions.”   Story by Lawrence Richard

A recent series of tests by Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, revealed a condition that can occur in a EV lithium battery.  The results of this test were published in the journal Nature Energy.

During this testing they discovered that “nanoscopic” cracks in the ceramic solid electrolyte can occur.  The size of this crack is only, 20 nanometers, (a human hair is 80,000 nanometers by way of comparison).  No, this is not a miss print… Just test data.

The report further states that, “Just modest indentation, bending or twisting of the batteries can cause nanoscopic fissures in the materials to open and the lithium to intrude into the solid electrolyte causing it to short circuit,” lead coauthor William Chueh says in a statement.  “Even dust or other impurities introduced in manufacturing can generate enough stress to cause failure.”

Now that we have a base of concern.  Let us go back and try to understand the warranty and/or manufacture’s exposure.  Nissan Leaf warranty goes to 100,000 or 8 years.  Now consider this subject EV.  This 2015 is 8 years old with 60,000 miles on it.  In the ICE marketplace, we consider this almost low mileage.  But, this EV is out of warranty.  We do not know what this particular battery charging history has been.  Again, the more frequent fast charges this battery has been exposed to, the shorter the life… EOL cycle testing would give you a better estimate, (test results would indicate the battery life in cycles).  Your dealer would not know this information and Car Fax probably isn’t reporting this information either.

I will ignore the remaining life of this battery/vehicle.  I will now refresh some information gleaned from the net.

Nissan Leaf battery for a low cost 2015 Leaf, is likely to be a 24k Wh, (Kilowatt per Watt Hour rated battery), with a replacement cost of $5,500 plus installation.  The cost of batteries is dependent on the Kilowatt per Watt Hour rating, (k Wh).  Nissan goes as high as 62k Wh in the newer models.  But, I have learned that you could upgrade this 2015 with this 62k Wh battery.  The cost; $15,500 to $18,000 plus installation.  Remember that this is a 2015 EV available in the marketplace for $12,900.

The Tesla batteries are much more expensive, sounds like $20,000 to $25,000, plus installation after warranty.  EOL is still untold.

Business Insider

“Auto expert says Tesla’s Model Y battery pack has ‘zero repairability,’ so a minor collision can junk the car.”   Story by astjohn@insider.com (Alexa St. John)

Now, the decision.  Fix it or junk it, (park it)…  One offer was interesting, $1,400, but towing was an undisclosed cost, here in southern Colorado,(their location may have been Florida).  I called a couple local recyclers and salvage yards.  Two others of this type businesses, said the towing charge would be $375 plus tax.  The EV value was given at $200.00.  The next offer was to charge for towing and pick up the EV.  This is not roadside coverage or off hours.  I would call this, no value.  Thus, a net cost to recycle, $175 plus tax.

The reason given, was that these vehicles are very dangerous, and they both have specially trained people to disassemble and remove this dangerous battery.  They estimated 15 to 20 hours to remove the battery.

Global Tech Environmental website provides some very important warnings for handling or disassembling this battery.  One item that struck me as very pointed, they suggested the use of “Lineman’s Gloves” when working on this battery handling and must be rated at 1000 Volts.

Now let us jump to the actual recycle process and why it is not available in any nearby facility.  Lithium can be extracted from a lithium-ion battery via two major processes. Owing to the difficulty of separating lithium from the packed battery, the disposed battery is subjected to a pre-treatment process to separate the lithium-containing active material (cathode, anode) from the peripheral parts (plastic, polymer). Next, lithium is chemically separated from the active materials using pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and electrochemical extraction method.  Yes, very high tech.  Two very notable conditions.  The first is the use of very cold atmosphere temperatures, (-320 F).  The second is a solution with a temperature of somewhere from 800 to 1,000 degrees F.

“Battery pre-treatment of the battery to mechanically separate the plastic, followed by vacuum thermal treatment to remove the electrolyte and solvent. The material is then crushed, sieved, and separated (magnetically and with air) to separate Al, Fe, Cu, and plastic. The pre-treated material then undergoes pyrometallurgy treatments, namely, reduction to separate Co and Mn, followed by hydrometallurgy and acid leaching to precipitate LiCl.112

This pre-treatment processes includes the use of liquid nitrogen in the cryo-milling process (at −320 °F) followed using a hammer mill to crush the material”.

Now considering the very high-tech treatment, you can see that only a couple recyclers are in business at this time.  None of the actual recyclers are in the state at this time.  I have not indicated the materials or minerals extracted.  This a high-tech process and I would likely miss some important materials.  Thus, we will call these precious materials, (Al, Fe, Cu, LiCl. Co and Mn).

Transportation is another issue of extreme concern.  The handling is very specific to package for transportation, as explosion or fire are a major risk.  Global Tech Environmental goes in detailed warnings about packaging on their web site.

But, for the, fix it or junk, (park), decision, not important.  Here is my warning, if this EV is left in its unusable state and parked, it has potential of erupting in a fire.  As noted, before, small dents can cause these nanoscopic cracks and fires have been reported before.

If an EV is abandoned, in the state of Colorado, an officer must be present when it is moved.

A fire in Colorado is a very big event and has caused damage, and much publicity.  I have not dug into an insurance exposure of a fire caused by an abandoned EV.

As a statistic of the number of EVs on the road, over time the likelihood of a fire is higher than ZERO.  Please consider the environmental conditions with the purchase and operation of an EV.