Why the High Cost for EV Batteries?
Gordon K. Glatz
September 18, 2007
It use to be that regular lead acid car batteries were on sale all over the place. You could buy them at any gas station, Sears, Fire Stone, or department stores like K-mart and today Wal-mart.
In the 50's the price started at $9.50 for a one year warranty battery at sears. I owned two or three of these myself at times when I was pressed for money, and needed something to get by on. One only lasted a few months and I got a new one for the adjusted price of months used. Others lasted well over the years warranty. There has been improvements in these over the years, mostly cosmetic. Like replacing the old bakelite cases with the lighter weight plastic ones, and the sealed maintenance free that you no longer have to add water too. Today you can still buy these for your IC car from $50 to $200 depending on the length of the warranty. These have been and still are being used in some EV's. They don't give the best performance as to range, and longevity, but are still practical for short range use.
In checking I find that Sears offers their Plus Start at $46.98, and the Die hard from $59.99 to $179.99. Other discount auto parts stores offer them in similar price ranges. There are also some more expensive types such as the Optima Red, Blue, and Yellow tops which give better range and last longer. The prices range from $115.99 to $169.99 for Red Top, and $151.99 to $219.99 for Yellow Top. I could not find any pricing for NiMH batteries except for small ones used in electronic applications, because no one is making them for EV use. Lithium-ion like wise are being made in small size for electronic use, and there are some in the works for EV's, but I could not find any mention of cost or selling price.
The purpose of this article is to question why manufactures of automobiles claim the batteries would add $8000 to the cost of an EV. I use the $8000 figure because that is one of the estimates I read some where. There were others that were in a higher range, but I could not remember the exact figure. I can not see where they get these figures unless they were based on the cost of NiMH or Li-ion which are not available yet.
Now we will do a little math, most EV's use from 6 to 20, 12V batteries. In small one or two passenger cars 6 gives you 72V at their rated Amp/Hrs. In larger cars 10 batteries in series gives you 120V and 20 in series/parallel give 120V at double the amperage. I will use the average of 12 batteries per car. Using the cheapest battery at $46.98 the pack would cost $563.76 and the most expensive flat plate lead acid at $179.99, the pack would cost $2160.00. With Optima Yellow Top at $219.99 the pack cost is $2639.88. Using the same average of 12/car with NiMH or Lithium they would have to cost $666.66 each to equal $8000.00 per pack.
Given the cost of materials, overhead, and labor today, a regular ICE car or truck sales from $10,000.00 cheapest to around $30,000.00 on the high end. This is not including luxury vehicles. Now lets consider what must go into an EV, it must of course have an under carriage and body with the normal inside seats etc. It does not need the ICEngine or any of the ICE dependent parts. It does need a electric motor connected in some way to the Wheels, a power controller, and of course the power source, which at the present time is Batteries.
I can not in all reason see where an EV should cost as much to build let alone more then an ICE vehicle. Even with the added cost of the battery pack using the best lead acid for now at $3000.00. They should be able to put a production car on the road right now at less the $20,000.00. Let those who need the longer distance pay extra for a small generator package to be added or as a trailer.
Copyright September, 2007 by Gordon K. Glatz
In the 50's the price started at $9.50 for a one year warranty battery at sears. I owned two or three of these myself at times when I was pressed for money, and needed something to get by on. One only lasted a few months and I got a new one for the adjusted price of months used. Others lasted well over the years warranty. There has been improvements in these over the years, mostly cosmetic. Like replacing the old bakelite cases with the lighter weight plastic ones, and the sealed maintenance free that you no longer have to add water too. Today you can still buy these for your IC car from $50 to $200 depending on the length of the warranty. These have been and still are being used in some EV's. They don't give the best performance as to range, and longevity, but are still practical for short range use.
In checking I find that Sears offers their Plus Start at $46.98, and the Die hard from $59.99 to $179.99. Other discount auto parts stores offer them in similar price ranges. There are also some more expensive types such as the Optima Red, Blue, and Yellow tops which give better range and last longer. The prices range from $115.99 to $169.99 for Red Top, and $151.99 to $219.99 for Yellow Top. I could not find any pricing for NiMH batteries except for small ones used in electronic applications, because no one is making them for EV use. Lithium-ion like wise are being made in small size for electronic use, and there are some in the works for EV's, but I could not find any mention of cost or selling price.
The purpose of this article is to question why manufactures of automobiles claim the batteries would add $8000 to the cost of an EV. I use the $8000 figure because that is one of the estimates I read some where. There were others that were in a higher range, but I could not remember the exact figure. I can not see where they get these figures unless they were based on the cost of NiMH or Li-ion which are not available yet.
Now we will do a little math, most EV's use from 6 to 20, 12V batteries. In small one or two passenger cars 6 gives you 72V at their rated Amp/Hrs. In larger cars 10 batteries in series gives you 120V and 20 in series/parallel give 120V at double the amperage. I will use the average of 12 batteries per car. Using the cheapest battery at $46.98 the pack would cost $563.76 and the most expensive flat plate lead acid at $179.99, the pack would cost $2160.00. With Optima Yellow Top at $219.99 the pack cost is $2639.88. Using the same average of 12/car with NiMH or Lithium they would have to cost $666.66 each to equal $8000.00 per pack.
Given the cost of materials, overhead, and labor today, a regular ICE car or truck sales from $10,000.00 cheapest to around $30,000.00 on the high end. This is not including luxury vehicles. Now lets consider what must go into an EV, it must of course have an under carriage and body with the normal inside seats etc. It does not need the ICEngine or any of the ICE dependent parts. It does need a electric motor connected in some way to the Wheels, a power controller, and of course the power source, which at the present time is Batteries.
I can not in all reason see where an EV should cost as much to build let alone more then an ICE vehicle. Even with the added cost of the battery pack using the best lead acid for now at $3000.00. They should be able to put a production car on the road right now at less the $20,000.00. Let those who need the longer distance pay extra for a small generator package to be added or as a trailer.
Copyright September, 2007 by Gordon K. Glatz