The Spanish park is one of the oldest in Europe with an average age of 13.5 years, that is, two points above the average for cars that circulate on the continent. The low penetration of the electric car, which in 2022 barely represented 4% of total sales, is one of the causes that explain this aging of the fleet. One of the greatest reluctance expressed by drivers to switch to the electric car is the lack of a public charging infrastructure deployed throughout the national geography.
The problems related to recharging are, together with the limited autonomy of the batteries and the price of electric cars, one of the factors that slows down the commitment to electromobility. The time it takes to recharge an electric car depends on the type of battery and the power of the charger. Slow charging, the most common for domestic use, usually takes between 4 and 8 hours with powers between 7.4 and 3.7 kW and is normally used at night. The other charging modes are semi fast, fast and ultra fast.
The fastest charges are specially designed to recharge the car during a trip. In the semi-fast charging points that we can find while we are moving, it takes at least two hours to have a full car battery again. For this type of charging, a 400V three-phase current is needed with a power of up to 22 kW.
Fast charges and especially ultra-fast ones provide greater immediacy to the user. The first allow the car to be charged to 80% in approximately 30 minutes and the second provide 100% charge in a record time of just 10 minutes. The fast charging points have specific direct current chargers with a power of 50 kW while the ultra-fast ones require a power of 150 kW and a current intensity of at least 375A.
However, the benefits that faster charging provides are detrimental to the life of the batteries. A study carried out by the Austrian company Aviloo Battery Diagnostics confirms that the fastest charges, those in which the battery is connected to a direct current above 43 kW, affect its capacity as the operation is repeated.
To carry out the experiment, this company specialized in checking the condition of batteries analyzed nearly 160 electric vehicles from various manufacturers over three years. A part of these cars had an accumulated mileage between 180,000 and 200,000 kilometers and the other corresponded to newer cars, with a mileage between 80,000 and 100,000 kilometers. In both cases it was proven that fast charging is detrimental to the most expensive component fitted to this type of vehicle.
With regard to the batteries of the most traveled cars, the charging capacity decreased by 17% compared to models that cannot be connected to super chargers. Regarding vehicles with a mileage between 80,000 and 100,000 kilometers, the results were also conclusive. Even with relatively low mileage, batteries are also affected by fast chargers, with their capacity dropping 7.5 percentage points more than that of cars that don't use fast charging.
The two analyzes confirm a downward trend in battery charge capacity as mileage and fast recharges increase. Because of this mode, the study authors recommend connecting the car to a fast charging post only when necessary to thus preserve the state of the batteries for longer.
The difference in price between combustion cars and electric ones is given by the high economic cost of the batteries. This component is undoubtedly the most expensive element that electric cars equip. which means that a model that uses this technology costs on average 50% more than another with traditional combustion. This is confirmed by the Global EV Outlook 2022 report prepared by the International Energy Agency after analyzing the price of the 6.6 million hybrid and pure electric cars that were sold worldwide in 2021.
Changing the batteries of an electric car is not common, since even if they degrade due to use and especially due to the use of ultra-fast chargers, they still offer a considerable range of energy. However, when after a road accident the batteries suffer irreversible damage, insurance companies usually choose to pay the fair value of the car before proceeding to replace the batteries.
The cost of batteries is measured in price per kWh (kilowatt hour) and although it has decreased in recent years, it is still very high. According to a study carried out by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the average cost of a battery at the end of 2020 was $137 per kWh. Transferring it to specific models, the replacement of the batteries of a BMWi3 fluctuates between 2,500 and 16,000 dollars according to the report.
In the case of the Nissan Leaf, the price of a 30 kWh battery ranges from 3,500 to 4,500 dollars and that of 40 kWh capacity, from 6,500 to 7,000 dollars. 62 kWh batteries for this model cost between $8,500 and $9,500. As for the Tesla Model 3, one of the best-selling electric cars in the world, the price of its batteries ranges from $10,000 to $15,799, according to the BNEF report.
