Tesla Owner Blows Car Up instead of Paying €22,000 for a New Battery Pack

[jcgriff2]

The owner of a 2013 Tesla Model S in Finland used dynamite to blow the car up instead of approving the estimated €22,000 (USD $25,000) repair bill to replace the EV's battery pack.

Watch: Telsa Owner Told Repairs Will Cost 20,000 Euros. He Chose Dynamite


I don't know if this guy bought the car new or not, but never buy a used EV unless the battery pack has been replaced with a new one. I believe that EVs will end up being disposable vehicles and that there will be no used car market for these cars that are more than 2 or 3 years old.

I have no idea why EV battery packs are so expensive.

John

 

[xrobwx71]

I guarantee that production cost more than $25000.

Explosions are cool though heh heh.

 

[Gary R]

Well that's one way to avoid having to pay your road tax.

 

[Will]

I don't know if this guy bought the car new or not, but never buy a used EV unless the battery pack has been replaced with a new one. I believe that EVs will end up being disposable vehicles and that there will be no used car market for these cars that are more than 2 or 3 years old.

Believe Tesla offers free replacements for the first 8 years under warranty. How the used car market develops for electric vehicles will be interesting.

I suspect that the price of battery pack replacements will greatly reduce over time though, as more and more people switch to EVs.

 

[britechguy]

I suspect that the price of battery pack replacements will greatly reduce over time though, as more and more people switch to EVs.

Yup. Think about calculators, cell phones, GPS, personal computers, and the list goes on and on. As things achieve near ubiquity, price drops (or, perhaps one could say that as, "as price drops, things achieve near ubiquity.")

There's certainly nothing inherently prohibitively expensive about lithium ion battery packs.

 

[Digerati]

"30kg of dynamite"!!!

I used to work 2015 feet underground in, at the time, the world's largest underground copper mine. I was a "chute tapper". Our job was to make little rocks out of big rocks - typically using a 16lb double jack (sledge hammer). Twice each shift, we would blast.

Two or three 1-pound bags of strategically placed powdered dynamite was way more than enough to obliterate car size rocks. 30KG is more than 66lbs. I would have liked to have been there just to feel the shockwave. Shockwaves are fascinating (to me anyway) because they move faster than the speed of sound. So you see the explosion, feel the shockwave and then, finally, you hear it. Pretty cool.

In this Tesla story, I wonder how he got permission to blow up the car up. Or rather, not so much the car, but the battery. Li-ion batteries are not exactly environmental friendly.

There's certainly nothing inherently prohibitively expensive about lithium ion battery packs.

The manufacturing process is not cheap, however. At least if safety is a concern, as they are [hopefully] with such car batteries.

A big factor too is the age long saga (and burden for consumers) of proprietary parts. If those batteries used common, industry standard, "off-the-shelf" cells, no doubt they would be much cheaper. But the use of proprietary parts keeps prices artificially high. Great for the makers, not for us consumers.

 

[Will]

A big factor too is the age long saga (and burden for consumers) of proprietary parts. If those batteries used common, industry standard, "off-the-shelf" cells, no doubt they would be much cheaper. But the use of proprietary parts keeps prices artificially high. Great for the makers, not for us consumers.

That's a good point - we already see it in action with Tesla. I saw a story today that someone had been quoted $23,000 USD to replace the battery pack, or $5,000 from a smaller shop for the same replacement.

If battery packs end up needing to be repaired every 10 years or so on average, $20k or more seems very pricey - I wonder if we'll end up with some more "standardised" battery pack replacements that are much cheaper.

 

[PeterJ]

€22,000 for a battery pack replacement. Not very environmentally friendly.

I'll just wait for this car to be available: Electric car / power :: funny power :: funny car :: duracell :: funny picture :: picture

 

[Will]

I'll just wait for this car to be available: Electric car / power :: funny power :: funny car :: duracell :: funny picture :: picture

No other battery lasts like it.

 

[britechguy]

If those batteries used common, industry standard, "off-the-shelf" cells, no doubt they would be much cheaper. But the use of proprietary parts keeps prices artificially high. Great for the makers, not for us consumers.

True. But this is true in the infancy of most industries. The last obvious "big one" I can recall was BetaMax versus VHS. Eventually some standard (or convention) is settled upon because it is too expensive to continue with "everybody doing their own thing" forever.

We're in a shake-out period right now, that's for sure.

I anticipate an automotive battery standard for those that power the actual motion of the vehicles much like there is (although multiple sizes exist) for the batteries that internal combustion cars have for the starter and like the OBD standard that was adopted by every auto maker on the surface of God's green earth since the US market dictated its presence starting in 1996.

 

[britechguy]

If battery packs end up needing to be repaired every 10 years or so on average, $20k or more seems very pricey - I wonder if we'll end up with some more "standardised" battery pack replacements that are much cheaper.

All one needs to do is to look at the state of battery technology for laptops, robot vacuums, and the list goes on and on. There absolutely will be a thriving aftermarket, and that's whether these batteries end up standardized or not.

But I expect standardization simply because it's to the economic benefit of all EV makers. Charge port standardization is virtually certain to occur, too.

 

[Will]

I'm still waiting for my USB and HDMI cable standardisation

I have three different USB C cables, and each only correctly charges the specific phone that it's designed for.

 

[Digerati]

I wonder if we'll end up with some more "standardised" battery pack replacements that are much cheaper.

I am sure we will - just as soon as we see industry standard batteries in laptops!

No other battery lasts like it.

I wish that were true. But frankly, I refuse to buy Duracells. I will go out of my way to buy Energizer, Rayovac or even off-brand generic before buying Duracells - at least when it comes to AA, AAA, C and D cells. Way more than any other brand, I have had bad experiences, going back many years up to recently, with their batteries leaking.

When I have mentioned this to other tech friends, I would hear of similar experiences with Duracells.

I'll stick with the magenta wabbit.

But this is true in the infancy of most industries.

Nah! While that may be a true generalized fact, no way is it a valid fact in this scenario. Just look again at the laptop battery industry. No way can the laptop industry, or even the Li-Ion laptop battery industry, be considered to be in its infancy. Manufacturers will fight tooth and nail to prevent industry standards. Proprietary = higher profits for them.

Same with cell phone batteries. Same with printer inks and cartridges.

The best thing that ever happened for the PC consumer is the ATX Form Factor standard.
The worst thing that ever happened for the PC manufacturer is the ATX Form Factor standard.

I'm still waiting for my USB and HDMI cable standardisation

I hear you there. I mean the "U" in USB stands for "universal". Yet there are no less than 30 different USB connectors.

 

[britechguy]

HDMI is, to my knowledge, standard in terms of what the various styles (full-sized, mini, etc) must contain as far as the pins and lines present.

I have no idea why you have this particular issue with USB-C. I've got two phones that will charge with every USB-C cable I connect them with, and they will even charge (though not necessarily connect for data) using a micro-USB cable with a USB-C adapter.

 

[britechguy]

Just look again at the laptop battery industry. No way can the laptop industry, or even the Li-Ion laptop battery industry, be considered to be in its infancy. Manufacturers will fight tooth and nail to prevent industry standards. Proprietary = higher profits for them.

The computer industry and the auto industry share some aspects, and do not share others. True standardization, to the extent possible, is a lot more common in the auto industry.

And I suggest you look at the recent history of the auto industry with regard to emission standards. They were very recently fighting to keep them, and keep them "standard," when the rug was about to be pulled out from under them by the government regulatory bodies (well, Congress and the executive branch, really).

It is unbelievably expensive to have to "build custom" and that's one of the reasons that being able to "pick and choose" individual options disappeared in the auto industry many years ago and why, regardless of which option package(s) your car may have, it's got the same wiring harness for its model as every other one that rolled off the assembly line.

Standardization is a much bigger deal in certain industries than in others.

 

[Will]

I have no idea why you have this particular issue with USB-C. I've got two phones that will charge with every USB-C cable I connect them with, and they will even charge (though not necessarily connect for data) using a micro-USB cable with a USB-C adapter.

The problem is there are multiple cables and standards, and that none of the cables are labelled.

USB 3.0 was originally launched with 10gb encoding, and then the new USB 3.1 standard was launched. The problem cames in that the USB3.0 standard was renamed to be USB 3.1 Gen 1, whilst the new USB 3.1 standard was renamed to be USB 3.1 Gen 2. (There is absolutely no difference between USB3.0 and USB3.1 Gen 1 - it was just branding).

Then as the cables are vastly different, including "non-certified" cables with USB-C connectors stuck on the end, we end up with:

Google Pixel 6 rejects certain charging cables
USB-C cable so bad it fries a Chromebook
Nintendo warning about using non-approved USB-C cables

My knowledge of cables is very limited, but my understanding is that different resistor strengths and different pin usage can be significant factors on whether or not a cable will work correctly.

Certainly in my personal experience, my personal OnePlus 8 and my work Google Pixel 4 will both charge on each others cables, they'll only "fast charge" on their respective cables. Trying to charge the OnePlus 8 on the Google Pixel cable results in 5-10x slower charge time - same with the Google Pixel on the OnePlus 8.

HDMI is, to my knowledge, standard in terms of what the various styles (full-sized, mini, etc) must contain as far as the pins and lines present.

HDMI I believe has similar issues to USB, in that the standards are themselves confusing, and cables are not actually labelled as to what they are (even if the connector is a specific HDMI connector).

Here's an article from Tom's Hardware on the recent renaming of HDMI 2.0 as HDMI 2.1 (creating two distinct HDMI 2.1 standards):"
HDMI 2.0 Is Being Relabeled as HDMI 2.1

Another article discussing how the certification process is fairly weak, and confusing for consumers:
When HDMI 2.1 Isn't HDMI 2.1 - The Confusing World of the Standard, "Fake HDMI 2.1" and Likely Future Abuse - TFTCentral

Then add in the huge abundance of non-certified HDMI cables that float around :)

---

Back on the topic of EVs and standardisation - if we're not already there (and I suspect we are), will "fast charging" for EVs require the very specific proprietary hardware from the manufacturer?

 

[Will]

Manufacturers will fight tooth and nail to prevent industry standards. Proprietary = higher profits for them.

The computer industry and the auto industry share some aspects, and do not share others. True standardization, to the extent possible, is a lot more common in the auto industry.

I suspect that as EVs are likely to become the predominant choice in the next 20 or so years, that governments will have a lot more incentive to create common standards (at least around things like charging).

Whilst the EU has tried to make phone chargers more standardised, for example, I think that most governments are much less incentivised to take action on laptops vs EVs.

 

[britechguy]

Will,

There is a distinct difference, and one I freely acknowledge, between "what's floating out there in the wild" and current standards. But the standards do exist and, for the most part, manufacturers build to the latest one.

There's still a lot of "old stuff" available at any time.

 

[Will]

There is a distinct difference, and one I freely acknowledge, between "what's floating out there in the wild" and current standards. But the standards do exist and, for the most part, manufacturers build to the latest one.

My point is that the standards themselves have issues, and are much less strict than the average consumer would think.

There is currently no practical difference between USB 3.0 and USB 3.1, and no practical difference between HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1 - the same cable and connector can be labelled as both products, with all other features of the standards being "optional".

If you can build a certified HDMI 2.1 cable, which is identical to a HDMI 2.0 cable, then the standard loses a lot of weight.

 

[xrobwx71]

I am sure we will - just as soon as we see industry standard batteries in laptops!

I wish that were true. But frankly, I refuse to buy Duracells. I will go out of my way to buy Energizer, Rayovac or even off-brand generic before buying Duracells - at least when it comes to AA, AAA, C and D cells. Way more than any other brand, I have had bad experiences, going back many years up to recently, with their batteries leaking.

When I have mentioned this to other tech friends, I would hear of similar experiences with Duracells.

I'll stick with the magenta wabbit.



Nah! While that may be a true generalized fact, no way is it a valid fact in this scenario. Just look again at the laptop battery industry. No way can the laptop industry, or even the Li-Ion laptop battery industry, be considered to be in its infancy. Manufacturers will fight tooth and nail to prevent industry standards. Proprietary = higher profits for them.

Same with cell phone batteries. Same with printer inks and cartridges.

The best thing that ever happened for the PC consumer is the ATX Form Factor standard.
The worst thing that ever happened for the PC manufacturer is the ATX Form Factor standard.



I hear you there. I mean the "U" in USB stands for "universal". Yet there are no less than 30 different USB connectors.

This guy is awesome. Unbiased.