Future Battery Upgrades

[Rbwalters]

Hi all,

I have perhaps a dumb question, but here goes.

In five years (or more), when the battery technology could be significantly better than it is right now, will I be able to upgrade my battery array in my 2025 Turbo S? And if so, what's it likely to cost?

Thanks for indulging my question.

Rob

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[SergeyIndy]

The evidence that we have is that newer batteries now can be retrofitted into older models (J1.1: 2020-2024) by emulating original battery properties (capacity, charge speed, etc.). This means that while the newer batteries may have larger capacity and improved charging properties (speed/temp) those improvements will be locked. This is not to say that this will not evolve in time where we can get newer batteries with improved properties available to use in the future, for a cost, no doubt. However, keep in mind that the battery in all Taycans will outlast the car if individual modules are quality made.

 

[Rbwalters]

The evidence that we have is that newer batteries now can be retrofitted into older models (J1.1: 2020-2024) by emulating original battery properties (capacity, charge speed, etc.). This means that while the newer batteries may have larger capacity and improved charging properties (speed/temp) those improvements will be locked. This is not to say that this will not evolve in time where we can get newer batteries with improved properties available to use in the future, for a cost, no doubt. However, keep in mind that the battery in all Taycans will outlast the car if individual modules are quality made.

So then, the point would only be to replace degraded or bad battery cells, leaving the charging speed/capacity unchanged. Hmmmm. I do hope that changes.
Thanks Sergey

 

[Jasper4S]

You probably can, you probably wont.

Financially not so smart, IMO smarter to sell the Taycan and buy a brand new model. You’ll get the latest and greatest with factory warranty. And you are good to go for another 5 years. You just bought yours so you are still in your honeymoon stage with the Taycan. The world will be different in 5 years and you probably want the next gen because it has new random features you will not need but want.

 

[FlyingPoint]

Won't happen with PAG, that's my opinion. Think about it - extending the life of EV's does not make sense for an exclusive brand. How will they sell new vehicles, by competing with brand new battery used vehicles? Perhaps this might work with anther brand, not PAG.

 

[daveo4EV]

Hi all,

I have perhaps a dumb question, but here goes.

In five years (or more), when the battery technology could be significantly better than it is right now, will I be able to upgrade my battery array in my 2025 Turbo S? And if so, what's it likely to cost?

Thanks for indulging my question.

Rob

I would not hold my breath on this happening - the most you can hope for is module replacement to restore lost battery capacity - but it's very unlikely the battery will be a problem for you or that the lost capacity will be enough to warrant investing in a 10+ year old car…

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2...teries-may-last-up-to-40-longer-than-expected

people are way way way too worried about the batteries - they simply haven't proven to be a problem - and the one's that have been ap problem have recalls planned to replace them.

if you're driving a 10+ year old car you've probably made your peace with it's current state - money would be better spent on a new improved EV with the newest battery tech for another 10+ years…

 

[laua]

I presume there will be third party packs in the future like there is for the i3 these days. I doubt anyone here will go for this but undoubtedly there will be a market for it.

https://www.theautopian.com/some-ge...nto-bmw-i3s-creating-a-potential-forever-car/

 

[Tpup]

Two interesting announcements this week, battery swap and 5 min charging. I'd be there will be 3rd party support to replace batteries in the future but as stated charge speed will not change:

https://electrek.co/2025/03/18/nio-...uild-the-worlds-largest-battery-swap-network/

https://electrek.co/2025/03/17/byd-confirms-1000v-super-e-platform-fast-charging-400km-5-minutes/

 

[Spyerx]

not sure why you'd bother, these are appliances, buy a new one. the cost/roi dont make sense. different on a platform like a 911 that people will hold for decades.

 

[logic]

not sure why you'd bother, these are appliances, buy a new one. the cost/roi dont make sense. different on a platform like a 911 that people will hold for decades.

There is quite a bit of margin compared to a brand new "appliance". Given that the costs of production, materials, environmental impact, ... is huge, these appliances cost well over 100k. The environmental impact alone is something I can imagine the EU stepping in to enforce regulations to not treat it as a disposable product. If at any point the car “only“ needs a new battery… it would be hard to let it go, unless that battery is silly money of course. I believe it should be easier to maintain an EV than an ICE, but we’ll have to see.

 

[feye]

Two interesting announcements this week, battery swap and 5 min charging. I'd be there will be 3rd party support to replace batteries in the future but as stated charge speed will not change:

https://electrek.co/2025/03/18/nio-...uild-the-worlds-largest-battery-swap-network/

https://electrek.co/2025/03/17/byd-confirms-1000v-super-e-platform-fast-charging-400km-5-minutes/

Interesting, because swapping, I saw in China took quite a bit longer than 5 minutes charging! So we know swapping is dead!

 

[Spyerx]

There is quite a bit of margin compared to a brand new "appliance". Given that the costs of production, materials, environmental impact, ... is huge, these appliances cost well over 100k. The environmental impact alone is something I can imagine the EU stepping in to enforce regulations to not treat it as a disposable product. If at any point the car “only“ needs a new battery… it would be hard to let it go, unless that battery is silly money of course. I believe it should be easier to maintain an EV than an ICE, but we’ll have to see.

No seriously, they are disposable appliances. Look at the deprecation and price of parts. Once they earn out and break, they will be chopped up and recycled/disposed.

I'm not paying $45k for a battery on one of these, not when the car is worth by that time probably $10-20k

 

[chun]

Interesting, because swapping, I saw in China took quite a bit longer than 5 minutes charging! So we know swapping is dead!

Battery swapping takes 3 minutes.

 

[logic]

No seriously, they are disposable appliances. Look at the deprecation and price of parts. Once they earn out and break, they will be chopped up and recycled/disposed.

I'm not paying $45k for a battery on one of these, not when the car is worth by that time probably $10-20k

I understand that there are people who are not enthusiastic about an EV and therefore prefer to call it an appliance, but IMHO that is only the case when the prices drop to a level where you can treat it in such a way. Not in your way, then you simply have too much money to be insensitive to that, seriously.

I'm old enough to remember the day when a washing machine or a television would still be repaired if they broke, because a new one was expensive. Televisions and washing machines are so cheap now that it no longer makes sense (economically) to repair them, so they have become disposable appliances. At least the price of a new Taycan needs to drop before that will ever happen.

Depreciation is something that clouds the reasoning. You bought an object for $150,000, but as soon as no one wants to pay a dollar for it, it makes more sense to buy a new one for $150,000 than to fix the old "worthless" object? The fact that depreciation is so high makes it even worse, feels to me like making the same mistake twice. Next time I'll either buy something that holds it value better or buy it cheaper. But for as long as my car still drives and feels like new, I'm not trowing it away for a battery replacement. Porsche probably is going to ask that much, and I do agree that 45K is a stretch. Pretty sure when it happens, we'll be looking at other options...
Maybe one Xiaomi SU7, and be treating it as an appliance, haha.

 

[Gino]

There is quite a bit of margin compared to a brand new "appliance". Given that the costs of production, materials, environmental impact, ... is huge, these appliances cost well over 100k. The environmental impact alone is something I can imagine the EU stepping in to enforce regulations to not treat it as a disposable product. If at any point the car “only“ needs a new battery… it would be hard to let it go, unless that battery is silly money of course. I believe it should be easier to maintain an EV than an ICE, but we’ll have to see.

I have said battery replacement/repair prices must come down to roughly the cost of an ICE motor replacement or rebuild to keep EVs from being considered “disposable”.
This is something a premium brand like Porsche is definitely going to avoid.
If the battery becomes a “poison pill” to ownership of a Porsche then resale values of their EVs will drop through the floor. A battery pack is no different than an engine. It’s a part. The market for replacement batteries outside of Porsche will flourish one way or another with 3rd party service providers already training to do so once the battery warranties expire.
The NTSB is actually very worried about the improper repair or replacement of EV batteries by DIY or uncertified repair facilities leading to increased risk of fire.
Porsche will need to incorporate the replacement & repair of their batteries the same as they do for their ICE products. The cost to rebuild a 911 motor by a 3rd party master Porsche rebuilder is $12-$15K (and worth every penny). The cost from Porsche is at least $25K to $35K (still worth it if the vehicle is in otherwise perfect condition).
The same will happen with the Taycan.
On this forum a dealer replaced a battery for just under $60K at full price parts & labor charged back to Porsche but that’s not what they can charge to a customer after the 8 years or 100K miles. They will have to sharpen their pencils to price their battery replacements using their certified engine rebuild replacement cost as a guide. If they try to tell customers the battery is $45K to $55K after 8 years then they would telling customers every one of their EVs are disposable.
No Porsche has ever been considered disposable which is why they are collected. There is absolutely no way Porsche lets this happen.
They will figure out what to do just as the 3rd party shops are gearing up to do when the only thing wrong with an EV in perfect condition only has a battery that needs replacement.
It’s infinitely easier to figure out how to replace an EV battery than to find a lower cost Porsche engine master rebuilder…

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