Chevy Bolt EV Forum banner
  • Hey Guest, welcome to ChevyBolt.org. We encourage you to register to engage in conversations about your Bolt.

Future Replacement Batteries

11K views 21 replies 17 participants last post by  mboni 
#1 ·
Is it likely in the future GM might sell replacement batteries that go 310 mi. like the Tesla ones that can screw onto older Bolts? For example, the 2021 Bolt gets a 300+ mi. range battery...would that battery be able to be installed onto a 2017 and give the same range?

Has anything like I'm suggesting worked on other brands, say like a 1st generation Leaf that only goes 80 miles getting a 2nd gen's battery that goes 160?
 
#3 ·
I really don't see a car company doing this as an inexpensive option any time soon - the batteries are the most costly part. Just providing batteries to you would be rather expensive (to you), not even counting the installation cost.

Even if the cost of batteries drop half in the next 6 years, the "100% markup" (difference between original manufacture cost and retail price) would have the batteries at $10K or more, before installation.
 
#4 ·
In theory it could happen, but most likely not in the near future. New car manufacturers are in the business of selling new cars and spare parts is just a side gig. Part of what will drive you to sell your Bolt and buy a new one is, greater range. Since we know the rest of the drive train and hardware of the BEV to be very long lasting, they aren't going to want to give you a way to bring your old car up to new standards because they want to sell you the whole new car, not just the battery. For this reason and this reason alone I expect most manufacturers to not make the new batteries backward compatible on purpose.

The good news is, you can buy a replacement battery the same as what we have and it may come down in price... or not. There is also the aftermarket, but I wouldn't expect that to kick in until there are a couple hundred thousand Bolts on the road, or more. There is also the possibility of "hacking" the future new battery to be backwards compatible, but who knows?

We all have to wait and see.
 
#5 ·
I am far from a logistics person, but I'm betting there's only enough MY 2017/2018 spare battery packs to cover maybe 25% of total 2017 & 2018 Bolt's ever made. There will be some trade back with refurbed packs but still only 25% extra, new packs as spare parts for future catastrophic repairs. They may be whole packs or maybe just components to make a pack too.

Then say a significant range increase comes for the MY 2019 or even 2021 Bolts. Maybe we're still using the same assembly but with better, denser cell chemistry. Maybe by then a MY 2017 Bolt owner has a catastrophic battery pack failure in year 4 of their 8-year warranty and gosh darn it, GM is out of MY 2017/2018 spare battery packs. (Un)lucky MY 2017 Bolt owner gets a free upgrade to a longer-range MY 2021 battery pack.

One can always dream...assuming GM doesn't artificially limit the larger MY 2021 pack to match MY 2017 capacity (boooooo).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Torontonian69
#7 ·
BMW offers a pack upgrade for the early i3; at least in Europe. I’m not sure if it’s available in the US. Renault leases their batteries, so theoretically, the car owner could get the latest, greatest battery, as soon as it’s available.

I can see two main limitations to pack upgrades; pack form factor, and controller compatibility. As long as the pack will work in the car, I don’t see why one couldn’t buy the battery, and have it installed.

Sure, car companies want to sell new cars, but there will always be a strong used car market. There are tons of people who can’t afford a new car, so there will always be someone who will want to buy that tired old EV, and throw in a new pack.

I can’t see car makers ignoring that potential sale, especially since it’s one of the few spare parts that they’ll sell for that EV. That said, I don’t see them making upgrade packs for older obsolete cars, that can’t use the current generation battery.
 
#9 ·
Seeing is how there wont be much resale value for old electrics, automakers are going to have to come up with a way to provide some sort of upgrades for older models. Whether or not its a whole new battery, or some sort of booster, will likely depend upon the car/battery in question. I know the batteries in EV's are the most expensive component, so I'm not sure how many people will be willing to drop thousands into an older electric model.
 
#10 ·
someone will make a business case of buying used electric cars and refurbishing the batteries for resale with a warranty. quite easy to rebuild the battery inside existing battery housing. the older cars with larger battery housings will have the most flexibility.
 
#13 ·
This is what realistically we can expect. I'm hoping the Bolt's battery case is the most spacious to work in such that aftermarket refurbishers can increase capacity as they refurbish a back. Hopefully by then, all the tools to reconfigure the battery charging will be available too and not just GM exclusive.
 
#11 ·
Time will tell of course, but the linked article had some pretty thin logic in my mind. Car makers make a heck of a lot of money on parts and the markup on parts is enormous compared to the markup on a new car. While creating a replacement package with more power may require re-engineerig a lot of systems in the car, a replacement pack with similar capacity or with newer chemistry may well be a drop-in, or near drop in replacement. I think a lot depends on how much of the car's systems are software based. If you can fine tune the charging and energy delivery curves in software, it would be much easier than replacing entire hardware systems.

<tongueInCheek>Of course we may have a replacement pack the size of standard 12volt car battery with ballast all around to make the suspension work correctly</tongueInCheek>
 
#12 ·
Seeing is how there wont be much resale value for old electrics, automakers are going to have to come up with a way to provide some sort of upgrades for older models.
Why on earth would you think that? They don't offer upgrade engines for ICE cars, and they are in the business of selling cars, not electric motors or batteries (both of which are made by someone else).

BTW - I just realized that that they called themselves "General Motors", not "General Engines". They must have been thinking ahead to EVs a long time ago...
6^)
 
#19 ·
How much does it cost to replace the current battery pack?

It seems unlikely that it would be cost effective to rebuild a worn out battery pack. It is likely that GM would credit the buyer of a new/ replacement battery pack with a 'core charge' for the old battery pack. There is substantial valuable recyclable content in the 960 pounds.
 
#22 ·
Replacing the battery pack with an improved model may have a secondary roadblock: the software within the car needs to know how big the pack is, or it may have issues trying to manage charging and range. Ideally, the car's software would query the battery pack for a capacity number at startup, but more likely it's a hard-coded number somewhere buried within the code.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top