The EV fact thread

[clk320x]

Exciting! Such good value for money.

Will be interesting to see what the prices are in Europe/US when they make it over - after the horrific duty charges etc…

IM Motors opens pre-sale for solid-state powered L6 sedan, starting under $32,000

Just weeks after teasing the launch of its fourth all-electric model and promising some impressive specs, China’s IM Motors has...

electrek.co

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[MikeInWimbledon]

As an aside I was mildly surprised that they had a ready stock of old/used Leaf batteries ready to fit. Does that suggest these cars get scrapped for reasons other than battery failure? Some must get written off in accidents of course, but I wouldn't have thought that many

Showing, once again, that you don't understand why old cars, such as a Mercedes, get written off.

It's wear and tear, "fashion," the desire to update, cost to repair, panel damage and minor insurance claims that sends an old Mercedes to the scrapper. Rarely the drivetrain.

And the same applies to the Nissan Leaf. (1800 1st Gen Nissan Leaf sold back in 2013, only 1300 still on the road eleven years later, so that's about a quarter available as parts donors, "if" the demand is there.) No different to the rate of scrapping an equivalent MB saloon

 

[markjay]

Exciting! Such good value for money.

Will be interesting to see what the prices are in Europe/US when they make it over - after the horrific duty charges etc…

IM Motors opens pre-sale for solid-state powered L6 sedan, starting under $32,000

Just weeks after teasing the launch of its fourth all-electric model and promising some impressive specs, China’s IM Motors has...

electrek.co

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

This does highlight the point that the rapid development of new car tech could soon put cars in the same category as Flat TVs and laptops, I.e. where perfectly serviceable products are condemned to the rubbish bin simply because the tech has moved on. Great for consumers, not so great for the environment.

 

[BTB 500]

Showing, once again, that you don't understand why old cars, such as a Mercedes, get written off.

We already had this discussion. We're not talking about a Mercedes, we're talking about a small / cheap / old hatchback used almost exclusively as a local runaround. Cosmetic panel damage won't result in it being scrapped - it will either be left or it will be fixed outside the main dealer chain ... perhaps using secondhand parts.

 

[markjay]

We already had this discussion. We're not talking about a Mercedes, we're talking about a small / cheap / old hatchback used almost exclusively as a local runaround. Cosmetic panel damage won't result in it being scrapped - it either won't be repaired at all, or it will be fixed outside the main dealer chain ... perhaps using secondhand parts.

But where do the secondhand parts come from? Scrapped cars! Ha! Beat you at your own game! Nanananana......

(Sorry, had too much coffee this morning )

 

[BTB 500]

It's wear and tear, "fashion," the desire to update, cost to repair, panel damage and minor insurance claims that sends an old Mercedes to the scrapper.

Again, local runarounds don't get scrapped for "fashion" or the desire to update. If they're usable someone will always buy them. They won't be subject to insurance claims when old because everyone knows that main dealer quality repairs (which is all they will pay for) won't be sanctioned.

 

[BTB 500]

But where do the secondhand parts come from?

That was exactly my question. Old battery packs being fitted as replacements clearly didn't come from Leafs that have been scrapped due to battery failure. The mechanical side of an electric drivetrain is pretty simple & reliable, so what is it that's killing Leafs off?

 

[markjay]

That was exactly my question. Old battery packs being fitted as replacements clearly didn't come from Leafs that have been scrapped due to battery failure. The mechanical side of an electric drivetrain is pretty simple & reliable, so what is it that's killing Leafs off?

Reduction in secondhand value, as result of Internet forums repeating the mantra that "no one would buy an early used Leaf because of 'problems with the battery' "?

'Bad press' can be bad news, whether true or false.

 

[BTB 500]

Reduction in secondhand value, as result of Internet forums repeating the mantra that "no one would buy an early used Leaf because of 'problems with the battery' "?

Reduction in value doesn't scrap a working car - someone just buys it for less.

 

[markjay]

Reduction in value doesn't scrap a working car - someone just buys it for less.

It does, normal wear and tear of suspension and brakes, or corrosion, can lead to costly MOT repairs that exceed the car's value.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

We already had this discussion. We're not talking about a Mercedes, we're talking about a small / cheap / old hatchback used almost exclusively as a local runaround. Cosmetic panel damage won't result in it being scrapped - it will either be left or it will be fixed outside the main dealer chain ... perhaps using secondhand parts.

Have you never seen a 15 year old A class?

A third of all early Nissan Leaf's have been scrapped. It's absurd (uninformed prejudice) to think that they've all been scrapped because of battery life.

 

[davymead]

Have you never seen a 15 year old A class?

A third of all early Nissan Leaf's have been scrapped. It's absurd (uninformed prejudice) to think that they've all been scrapped because of battery life.

Maybe the Leaf is indicative of the entire roundabout of views on the future of electric vehicles.
Just maybe a lot of folks think they are painfully ugly, dreadful to drive and wouldn’t want one if they were completely FOC. And that’s putting the ‘range anxiety’ debate to one side. Listening to customers I can only speak as I find as always.

 

[SmartAmg]

Maybe the Leaf is indicative of the entire roundabout of views on the future of electric vehicles.
Just maybe a lot of folks think they are painfully ugly, dreadful to drive and wouldn’t want one if they were completely FOC. And that’s putting the ‘range anxiety’ debate to one side. Listening to customers I can only speak as I find as always.

Then they don't buy one then, do they.
Simple's.

 

[davymead]

Then they don't buy one then, do they.
Simple's.

Absolutely, so no surprise when they disappear.

 

[BTB 500]

It's absurd (uninformed prejudice) to think that they've all been scrapped because of battery life.

I've already said they clearly aren't being scrapped for that reason, hence the supply of used (but working) battery packs.

 

[BTB 500]

It does, normal wear and tear of suspension and brakes, or corrosion, can lead to costly MOT repairs that exceed the car's value.

I don't think that necessarily applies to cheap runaround cars. If they're in decent driving order someone will normally buy them, either for DIY fixing or by a small local garage. Even if the cost of repairs is nominally more than the car is worth, because at that end of the market you're more likely to trust a car that's a known quantity than anything of similar age/mileage/condition you could buy for the same money.

Major structural corrosion is another matter, but that's less common nowadays (bearing in mind that we're not discussing MBs here ).

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

As an aside I was mildly surprised that they had a ready stock of old/used Leaf batteries ready to fit. Does that suggest these cars get scrapped for reasons other than battery failure? Some must get written off in accidents of course, but I wouldn't have thought that many

That was exactly my question. Old battery packs being fitted as replacements clearly didn't come from Leafs that have been scrapped due to battery failure. The mechanical side of an electric drivetrain is pretty simple & reliable, so what is it that's killing Leafs off?

The same thing that leads to other cars being scrapped - it’s uneconomic to repair: accident damage, significant mechanical failure, large number of small repairs, MOT failure, etc.

 

[clk320x]

Maybe the Leaf is indicative of the entire roundabout of views on the future of electric vehicles.
Just maybe a lot of folks think they are painfully ugly, dreadful to drive and wouldn’t want one if they were completely FOC. And that’s putting the ‘range anxiety’ debate to one side. Listening to customers I can only speak as I find as always.

Interesting, if ‘range’ wasn’t a consideration, in what way is an EV worse than the typical car ‘a lot of folk’ drive?

A ‘lot of folk’ drive 1-2 litre petrols/diesels with 0-60s of 7s+… I can’t see in what way an EV is worse than that? The only argument at the moment is they can’t do 500 miles non-stop at 80 mph - so if as you say the range argument is removed, what flaws are there?

Most are much faster, smoother, silent etc…

The ‘wouldn’t want one if they were FOC’ is nonsense - first of all, who in their right mind would turn down an 50k free car? and secondly this argument is often spouted by people who could never afford one anyway.

There’s a similar pattern with supercars where people comment on how they are a waste of money, pointless as they can only do the speed limit etc - whilst not being in a position to buy one themselves. It’s an easy coping mechanism.

Similarly with the Bentayga, Urus etc… but the attitude changes once they depreciate enough - as we see with Range Rovers.

Whether some backwards people like it or not EVs are here to stay. Thankfully.

 

[BTB 500]

significant mechanical failure

What kind of significant mechanical failure would a small EV suffer from?

 

[whitenemesis]

What kind of significant mechanical failure would a small EV suffer from?

Suspension?