• VeryShibes@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    I think that third party car battery “service” is going to be a very real business in the coming years… people are going to troubleshoot batteries and replace whichever cells are bad rather than a massively expensive battery swap.

    There’s already a very small industry for this that’s dedicated to specific, old battery packs, particularly the Nissan Leaf and also the Chevy Volt. But it’s all independent shops, no national chain or manufacturer support.

    The ultimate fate of this industry relies on how “easy” these batteries are to work on. Besides Nissan and Chevy, Ford and VW packs are also designed to be serviceable. So far, so good.

    However, Tesla is moving in the opposite direction and their new Model Y battery is designed to NOT be serviceable. All empty space between cells in the pack is filled with a dense, pressurized polyurethane foam that makes the pack rigid and turns it into a load bearing chassis component. While cutting manufacturing costs, it also renders the pack almost completely non-serviceable. It can still be removed and replaced with a new pack but that’s it.

    • ExtruDR@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Makes sense that the appeal of “Apple-style” packaging would exist. Or at least be tempting from a design standpoint.

      I was thinking along the lines of these “transmission” shops and stuff. I mean body and glass shops, as well as tire shops are almost be default third party by default (you kind of have to go out of your way to do your tires in a dealership, etc.).

      I see battery service for cars that are past initial warranty existing in that realm.

      I get that legislation and initial design might very well ignore these long-term ownership issues, but just like houses, cars have a very long serviceable lifetime indeed, and should be treated and regulated as such.