And this doesn't take into account depreciation, with EV batteries reckoned to have a ten year life span at best a ten year old vehicle that cost more than a conventional vehicle to buy initially will be rendered worthless as the battery replacement will cost more than the vehicle is worth. I appreciate that we need to adapt if there is to be a world for our grandkids grandkids to live in but there needs to be a lot more development before conventional vehicle production can be turned off (IMHO)
Why must everything be so black and white? Gas vehicles will likely never stop being produced. Why do you care if people want to buy electric vehicles?
I completely agree that many EV's have breath taking performance and as an alternative to hydrogen (which has it's own problems) are the way forward. I just think there is a long way to go in the development phase. As an example the Jaguar I-Pace is an awesome car but to keep the weight low so that it handles as well as it does (Many others are the same) the battery pack is the centre section of the floor with front and rear subframes attached to it. Battery replacement would be incredibly expensive (you will have seen Jaguar labour rates in my recent post) I think when battery replacement is considered as a routine maintenance operation in the design phase then it will make more sense.
does 10 years count as routine maintenance?
Fair point, however this is a repair operation that is guaranteed to need doing at some point therefore I still think the designers should consider building the vehicle in such a way that it is a viable repair (how many 10 year old vehicles are on the roads currently)
Case in point was the VW T4 van, when first launched it was designed to make maintenance easy with a front end that hinged forward reducucing service times and making it attractive to the light commercial vehicle market, the facelift didn't have this as it reduced production costs.
The first Mercedes "A" class had a two piece front subframe for access to the gearbox and sump etc, the facelift had a one piece subframe so to replace a clutch involves removing the engine, gearbox and complete front suspension. When I worked in a MB dealer back in 2005 a clutch replacement in an "A" class (entry level model) was £1500 (again reduced production cost)
Many German cars have a one-piece exhaust system from new, you can buy replacement sections from a dealer but have to cut out the old piece and use special joining sleeves to install the replacement ( again reduced production cost as no alignment required on the assembly line)
This would all be fine if it was reflected in the cost of the vehicle in the first instances but I don't believe it is