EV Battery Repairs Are Cutting Costs and Reducing Waste

As the industry sees more electric vehicles entering shops and roadways, many are working to figure out how to salvage damaged EV batteries, reports Yahoo.

Rich Benoit, owner of The Electrified Garage, has shops in Florida and Massachusetts that perform repair work on Teslas. In an interview with Grist, Benoit said that it can cost $10,000 just to have the battery repaired. With new batteries costing around $15,000, Benoit said that he sees many drivers simply disposing of the damaged vehicle and purchasing another car.

“It’s getting to the point where [the car] is almost like a consumable, like a TV,” Benoit told Grist.

Large EV batteries are comprised of cells and modules that are meant to last for years. Often, when an EV battery is damaged, only one of those components is damaged, and those pieces could be replaced to preserve the battery for longer, as explained by Magnus Karlsson of BatteriRetur, a Norwegian company that recycles EV batteries.

BatteriRetur is one example of companies that are recognizing the potential in training technicians to work on EV batteries. European company Reneos helps preserve the use of damaged power packs by first having batteries tested and diagnosed before enlisting high-voltage specialists to perform repairs on them.

In the States, Cox Automotive has been working to repair EV batteries since 2014 and has saved enough to prevent 17,000 new EVs from being trashed.

A longer lifespan for EV batteries would not only save costs but would help reduce the air pollution and materials needed for the creation of a new battery. According to Cox employee Tyler Helps, a refurbished power pack is typically only half the price of a new one.