It goes without saying that the amount of used electric vehicles on the market will go up when the latest 2016 Chevy Volt is released, as people will be exchanging their older vehicles for newer ones. Many of these cars will only sell for a fraction of their original price, part of the reason for that being federal and state incentives which lowered the cost for the first owner attracting a whole other class of consumers to these vehicles. Even though the prices are good, buyers are still unsure about whether to buy a used EV due to concerns about repair and service costs. There may be some good news however.
The Chevy Volt comes with a battery warranty which can be used for at least 8 years and 100,000 miles, A lot of the Volts on the market have gone passed 100,000 miles though. The thought of possibly needing to replace a battery can sound a bit daunting, especially considering many dealers are charging anything up to $34,000 for a full “drive motor battery replacement.” That is more than the MSRP of a 2016 model.
A large amount of worries concerning EV maintenance and repair comes from the individual pieces that consist of the charging system and drivetrain. When we take a look at the Volt in regards to analogs to a traditional internal-combustion vehicle then things look more promising though. The volt battery pack consists of three lithium-ion modules that are placed in a T-shape and can be serviced individually. Module 1 comes at a retail price of $3,258.33 and is made up of 90 cells and corresponds to GM part number 22954462. Module 2 ratails at $2,930.00 and is made up of 72 cells and corresponds to GM part number 22954463. Module 3 has a retail price of $4,933.33 and is made up of 125 cells corresponds to GM part number 22954464. These part numbers are not currently showing up in the distribution centers despite already having been put into the dealer order systems. The total amount of the three modules when they are added up is $11,121.66 and they are kept on hold for dealer ordering. On a more positive note, most of the time these battery cell modules won’t ever have to be replaced.
There are a fair few other individual pieces on the battery pack which can be serviced, such as the Battery Energy Control Modules (BECM) and the Battery Interface Control Modules (BICM). These modules control and monitor the battery packs and charging system and it has been known for them to stop working even the cause of that in not the lithium-ions. Some of them have been replaced under warranty, but the cost per part can be in the area of $255. Iit will cost you around $2,100 for a replced module, parts, programming and labor. To have these modules serviced it is necessary to drop the battery pack so labor can be a big hit.
To replace the complete pack, thing are looking on the up going by recent reports that refurbished battery packs can be bought for around $4,000. To do this you have to exchange your whole battery pack for one from a refurbishing place instead. Rather than making new parts, these refurbishing packs use packs have have been received on exchange and combine them with the harvested pieces that are within spec from multiple packs to build the refurbished packs.
There is one final option as far as battery repairs are concerned and that is to check out automotive recyclers and junkyards to see if any salvaged vehicles have any battery packs that can be used. I checked out car-part.com and was able to find an entire battery pack complete with all the modules from junkyards close to where I come from, ranging from $1,450 and $2,100 while the cost of just the battery cells ranges from $1,255 to $1,700. Used BECM and BICM module prices vary from $50 to $125. If you don’t mind doing some of the labor on the car yourself (baring in mind the extra risks that come with working on a car with high-voltage equipment) then most of the individual parts can be replaced without you needing to spend a massive amount of money. If you would prefer to have an independant mechanic do the work the labor costs for dropping a pack and installing a replacement are around $1,000. If you think about the fact that battery cost are rapidly becoming cheaper with a new generation of mechanics constantly learning how to use them, then a 200,000-mile Volt doesn’t seem all that bad in the end.
