Featured VW Plans to Go All-Electric in Europe, US Later

yet Toyoda (feeling plugin hybrids are as efficient as owners need to be ..... who knows - maybe they're right) has to be arm twisted to build a single long range one of 'em ... theor alibi being, "not until they're wanted". Between the different manufacturers - that's a true 'glass is half empty / half full' if ever there was one.
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Haven’t really a clue, but seems a little draconian. Financially risky? Could it be pending regulation forcing their hand??

 

First Austria, then Poland, then....

 

Oh that's rich...

VW was started during you-know-who's "era", had his interest and blessing.

 

So did Bayer Aspirin. I still take them occasionally

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HaaHaa - I'll believe it when and if I see it. I still haven't seen an answer to what will happen to ½ a billion, ½ tonne batteries every year once this supposedly happens.

And - there's a crisis with old SOLAR Panels - they're now banned for dumping here - and most isn't easily recycled. Was a good idea when it started - but not in the quantities which are now obsolete, let alone when the much bigger systems become obsolete in decades to come.

 

My primary concerns are the defective diesels still on the road, 11M built, probably 6M still running and polluting...and the as per today 90%-95% (of total vw production) low efficient worldwide new vw group cars being built.

 

Multiple groups are working on battery recycling. Making progress on that front. When we get to the millions of tons of batteries needing recycling, it will happen because the costs will then let it compete with virgin materials. It's not like copper, cobalt, nickel, and manganese are going to get cheaper with growing battery demand.

They are coming up with other uses for old wind turbine blades, and new ones using easier the break down resin should be making their way to market. Same will likely happen with PV panels. Newer ones will be designed for recycling, and the old ones will find a use. I bet they would work great as giant roofing tiles.

 

The Prius community has already addressed battery recycling.

Bob Wilson

 

Batteries can also be repurposed before they need to be torn down and recycled.

 

Not all that successfully - there have been premature failures, and when there is considerable cost in having an installer come and rectify, it makes you wonder.

I've got an all-electric LawnMower - an EGO, very expensive, about double the cost of a PetrolMower. And the battery died at 14 months. My mate, the only other person who has an EGO, had his replaced under warranty too. I put a comment on FaceBook about it - first comment about it was "yes, mine had a warranty claim".

And we all know how long Li-ION batteries last in phones and Laptops. (Answer - much less time than the phone or laptop lasts).

 

I have several EGO tools, a blower and a weed wacker/trimmer. One charger. Bought the first blower with a changer and battery about 4 years ago. Then bought a spare because I'd use the blower to blow leaves off a lawn and it took two. So you know I am totally discharging them to their limit. One of the batteries failed. Not even sure which one but they were good about replacing it. Since then I bought a third battery. One in use, one on the charger and one at the ready. No problems. So it may be worth your while to call EGO and ask for some consideration.

Son has one of the add an attachment tools from them too, have not heard of issues. Neighbor one of the mowers. Ditto.

 

Yes, they replaced it quickly under warranty - but I expected the mower to be a long-term investment - hopefully my last one.

Now, I'm wondering whether, once the warranty (3yrs?) is over, am I going to have to fork out $350 every 18 months - which is the price of an equivalent Petrol Mower (though I'd probably pay $550 for self-propelled Mulcher). The EGO cost $900 - and I expected it to last better than this.

Phone isn't holding charge now at only 2 3/4 yr old - and the battery isn't self-replaceable, needs a technician.

 

yes - batterys fail . . . electric motors fail . . . controllers fail . . . manual & auto trannys fail . . . as do engines ... even under warranty.
Toyota and Lexus Recall Cars to Replace Engines - Consumer Reports

Toyota Engine Problems Lead To Recall of 5.8M Vehicles With Risk of Sudden Stalling - AboutLawsuits.com

but do we throw the baby out with the bath water?
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Had the Pixel 2 for at least 3 years. The battery doesn't last as long when new, but it still can go 2 to 3 days of my use before needing a charge. Now my lap tops batteries are bricked at this point, but they are much older. The batteries and software managing them has gotten better with time.

Has the replacement battery failed yet? Odds are it will last longer than the original. Sounds like EGO got a bad batch, which happens with anything. They either switched suppliers, or the supplier fixed the issue.

The Bolt had two recalls over failing batteries. Each time, GM/LG Chem examined the faulty batteries, and improved the manufacturing process to prevent the that defect from happening. This how it works with any product.

 

No - I only received the replacement Yesterday - hoping it still works when I try it tomorrow.

 

I have 3 phones and a tablet which failed about the same time. I even had one of the tablet batteries replaced and it still only charged to 50%. Sometimes you just look at the per day cost and replace.

 

First, in your previous post you repeated the claim of 1/2 billion car batteries every year.
There are only about 75 million cars sold per year, so your number is way off.

Second, car batteries, being much bigger and more expensive than cell phone batteries, have software that controls their charging rates and temperature and greatly helps insuring a longer life. But it would help if cell phone makers improved their battery management to extend their life too.

Third, as the number of EVs goes up there will be a market for second life usage for grid storage. It will just be economical to do so since time shifting solar PV to later just makes sense and there will be a cheap source of cells.

Fourth, we already have battery recycling companies being formed. Most notably is one from one of the Tesla founders. See link: Ex-Tesla CTO JB Straubel's Redwood Materials tackles battery recycling

Fifth, just look at how we currently recycle the 12v batteries in cars. Every car probably goes through 4 to 6 of these in its lifetime. We don't see decades worth of these piled anywhere do we?

 

The EV advocates are saying that within 8-10 years, that'll be the minimum number of EVs being sold every year - so, when that happens - at least that number of dead batteries sitting around - or going into landfill.