What would a battery swap cost?

[OTPSkipper]

What do we think a swap at say 120K miles would cost? My thought is how this would compare to ICE maintenance. In my experience, putting that kind of mileage on a car always leads to some major maintenance bills. How would the battery swap compare to all the thing I had done to keep my 140k miles boxster on the road?

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[Gru]

a new one is about 45k$.

 

[f1eng]

IMO the sensible internal design of the Taycan battery means rebuilding one with new cells will be a logical and cost efficient solution in due course.
No need to replace a lot of very expensive to make parts if cells have lost some capacity.

 

[OTPSkipper]

Hmm. Thanks @Gru,

So on my boxster, I had the following:

1. Replace all the ignition coils. 2,500$
2. Replace all the cam solenoids. 5,500$
3. Replace the clutch and slave cylinder 7,500$
4. When I traded it in it needed a rebuilt transmission. (Popped out of 2nd). ?10,000$

So that is about 25K in a non Porsche shop with mostly Porsche parts ( I think the clutch flywheel was after market). This is over a 10 year span and 140K miles. If we use Porsche labor, the price would probably double.

I obviously skipped the components like brakes that are common with EVs.

So 25 K$ vs say 55K$ at my hypothetical 140K miles mark.

1. ICE number is all non dealership work, where the EV work is all at the dealership. Seems like that will equalize over time
2. The ICE vehicle still has plenty to go wrong at 140K miles, even after the repairs, where the EV may still be reliable. I suppose the ev could start needing suspension work, but that should be common with the ice car.
3. Other things on the ev are bound to break.
   

 

[OTPSkipper]

MO the sensible internal design of the Taycan battery means rebuilding one with new cells will be a logical and cost efficient solution in due course.
No need to replace a lot of very expensive to make parts if cells have lost some capacity.

This is my point on dealership vs non dealership service. Non dealership ev service has to become a thing. It has to happen. There is money to be made there by a non porsche shop. My experience with third party shops is that the good ones are very resourceful.

 

[f1eng]

This is my point on dealership vs non dealership service. Non dealership ev service has to become a thing. It has to happen. There is money to be made there by a non porsche shop. My experience with third party shops is that the good ones are very resourceful.

They will have to as time goes on, rebuilding batteries will be one of the few jobs left to replace rebuilding engines!

 

[B61]

What do we think a swap at say 120K miles would cost? My thought is how this would compare to ICE maintenance. In my experience, putting that kind of mileage on a car always leads to some major maintenance bills. How would the battery swap compare to all the thing I had done to keep my 140k miles boxster on the road?

Instead of battery replacement in (or before) ten years, you’ll buy new EV, with a battery that will provide you 1000 miles, getting a warranty of 10 years for a complete car….

 

[OTPSkipper]

Instead of battery replacement in (or before) ten years, you’ll buy new EV, with a battery that will provide you 1000 miles, getting a warranty of 10 years for a complete car….

Probably. . Just trying to understand time to cost curve and how an ice Porsche might compare to an ev Porsche.

so far I think it might be similar assuming similar maturity on the technology. But the maturity is not the same. The big question is how long will it take For independent ev service to happen so we have access to competitive labour rates and rebuilt parts for servicing older cars.

it does seem that the ev could be cheaper even as a “mature” car. There are a lot less moving parts. Especially when some maturity is reached in EVs

 

[Fall7St8nd]

IMO the sensible internal design of the Taycan battery means rebuilding one with new cells will be a logical and cost efficient solution in due course.
No need to replace a lot of very expensive to make parts if cells have lost some capacity.

Completely agree. That's starting to take shape with 3rd party Tesla repair shops - e.g., Gruber Motors and Electrified Garage immediately come to mind for battery repairs less than a full battery swap.

Or maybe there will be a DIY option... I was just researching this on YouTube earlier today (and DO NOT recommend, as it may void your warranty).

 

[OTPSkipper]

.. I was just researching this on YouTube earlier toda

Looks like they are trying to repurpose the battery module. The bypass that little board so they can control the battery on their own?

 

[Fall7St8nd]

Looks like they are trying to repurpose the battery module. The bypass that little board so they can control the battery on their own?

Yeah, seemed like they were opening up the battery module to bypass the existing Battery Management System (BMS) firmware. I think they they soldered a new board with new firmware (in Part 2). There's reference to a 3-part series in the comments... hopefully we'll find out the use case!

Definitely out of my realm of capability or desire... just interesting in the context of potentially 3rd party battery repairs in the future.

 

[OTPSkipper]

Yeah, seemed like they were opening up the battery module to bypass the existing Battery Management System (BMS) firmware. I think they they soldered a new board with new firmware (in Part 2). There's reference to a 3-part series in the comments... hopefully we'll find out the use case!

Definitely out of my realm of capability or desire... just interesting in the context of potentially 3rd party battery repairs in the future.

The 2nd board was a custom dummy board that brought the raw battery signals to a connector. Probably bridges to a bigger controller to twiddle with the battery directly.

 

[Wakesurfer]

What do we think a swap at say 120K miles would cost? My thought is how this would compare to ICE maintenance. In my experience, putting that kind of mileage on a car always leads to some major maintenance bills. How would the battery swap compare to all the thing I had done to keep my 140k miles boxster on the road?

One of three things will happen to me. I may die between now and the time the battery needs to be replaced therefore I really don't worry about replacing the battery, or, I may trade my car in for a new one and not worry about replacing the battery, or worse, I may trade my car in for a new one and then die!!!! Yikes! All kidding aside, I think that I will be trading this car in well before it needs a new battery. Let's say that it depreciates by 50% over the next 8 years (that 50% is highly highly optimistic) and then I have to put a new battery in that is equal in cost to half or less the value of the car. Much rather trade it in and start with a brand new fresh car.

 

[maximumpanda]

Instead of battery replacement in (or before) ten years, you’ll buy new EV, with a battery that will provide you 1000 miles, getting a warranty of 10 years for a complete car….

Wonder if we'll see aftermarket battery upgrades if we see significant leaps in the next 3-5 years. Theoretically everything in the taycan should stand the test of time pretty well, and compared to ICE engines, the battery pack is pretty simple in its mechanical integration. If the thing falls out of warranty, or I could pay 20-30k and have 500 miles and sub 10 minute charging, I'd pay it.

 

[tchavei]

Someone, somewhere, will keep the taycan forever and make an classic out of it. After all, it's Porsche's first EV right?

I suspect (hope) that solid state batteries will become production mature and with time become even more awesome. Who knows? By 2033, Porsche (or some third party vendor) might sell a drop-in solid state conversion battery pack to put into the "Iconic Porsche's first EV" because, as Porsche advertise themselves "70% of all Porsches ever made are still on the road". Hopefully the Taycan will be no exception.

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