EVlearner said:
Thanks for the info.
I don't know why I feel so differently about battery degradation.. in ICE, the transmission wears out after X miles, or the belts and hoses wear out, etc and they get replaced. I suppose after X% degradation, you would just get a new battery.
Well, I think the battery will be around $36,000 from Toyota (through Tesla), so it's unlikely a factory new battery would be installed. You'd just get a new car.
But, there will be folks who will rebuild them, as we learn exactly what Tesla did to the pack. If they used 2200ma batteries, it might not be that expensive. My guessimate of 4500 cells at $2 to $3 dollars each, and you do all the labor to swap them, is only $9000 - $13,500. Add more money for 2900ma, 3100ma, 3500ma, or 4000ma and up.
If I may ask, did you from the beginning always take very good care of your battery (that is, you only left car at 50% when parked for extended periods, car/battery not left in high heat, etc)? Your case would seem like a really best case scenario -- you take care of battery and still see this % of loss. And do you think the loss would be linear, so at 40,000 miles, one may expect 14% degradation?
Yes, my car sat for about 3 weeks while I was in Italy, at 50% charge, with the wall charge station unplugged, and the 12 volt battery on a tender. I live in San Diego, so that should answer the "high heat" part (although it can get hot east of me). Loss won't be linear, and I expect that I am at the point where the degradation should slow slightly, so maybe 10%-12% at 40,000 miles (assuming all the same as the past in terms of usage, heat, cycling, etc).
60,000 miles should be around 13% - 15% ending up at 100,000 miles at about 20% loss. From there, at some point, it will begin a more accelerated path to "End Of Life" at 70% capacity.