Tesla’s Andrej Karpathy talks Autopilot

Tesla’s Director of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision is training Autopilot to allow faster and more accurate image detection.

By Ron Freund, Electric Auto Association Board Member

Tesla Autopilot

A Million Mile Battery? 

By Ron Freund, Electric Auto Association Board Member

Anyone who has pondered the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV)  has thought about the battery and its eventual replacement. It has seemed to just go with the territory. 

Yet, the conversation has changed of late with talk of a million-mile battery. What does that mean? Does a million-mile battery mean one charge will last a million miles? No. It means the battery will most likely last for the life of the car. But, how long is that? 

An EV owner typically keeps a car a few years, then sells it or trades it in. The new owner now has a “pre-owned” car, sometimes with dings and scratches and/or a few broken accessories. This owner might keep the car for a few years, and then move onto a more desirable, newer vehicle.

This process can repeat. With a million mile battery, we can fully expect fourth, fifth, and perhaps even sixth owners to benefit from an electric car during its lifetime. EV makers warranty their batteries for a finite number of miles, but after that number is eclipsed, the car generally continues to function, running on new tires, and perhaps charging a bit more slowly. It is still serviceable and has real value.  

More than likely, an electric vehicle will last until something major happens; in the case of an internal combustion drive train, typically it is a failure in the engine or the transmission. In other words, it would not be the battery that’s the problem, it’s the car itself.  A truly durable million-mile battery might be transplanted into another less battered and dinged vehicle or possibly pressed into a less demanding stationary storage application, capturing renewable energy for nighttime use.  

Less to wear out

More people are discovering the simplicity of a pure battery powered car. And still many just can’t fathom living without the prospect of gasoline in their lives. But electric vehicles do work, and very well… in fact, they work better. (The author is well into his third decade of driving electric and no longer owns any gas-powered anything. It’s liberating!)

The power electronics circuitry in an electric vehicle is stable and, unlike the rings in an internal combustion engine (ICE) cylinder,  or the clutch plates in the ICE transmission, it does not wear out. This is undoubtedly one of the primary advantages of EV ownership. There is precious little to wear out.  Brake pads last longer, yet can be quickly replaced. All the maintenance that ICE ownership entails is reduced significantly, subtracting from annual vehicular budget expenses. No smog checks, no oil changes… no holes in the muffler causing headaches… the list goes on.  

Improvements never stop

Battery research continues unabated, so that we can enjoy more and longer cell phone conversations, and all manner of portable electronics (not just laptops and tablets) can function longer. For EV owners, our vehicles can go longer distances and periods of time between charging sessions. 

The goal of building a super-durable, inexpensive battery is driving current battery research. Eliminating certain expensive and distressed metals is part of that goal, along with reducing the cost, and increasing the energy density and overall capacity. It is a very delicate and careful choreography of chemistry, physics and material science, with an ample dash of innovation that has made the current crop of EV offerings possible. This will continue into the future.

And while most people don’t drive a million miles in their lifetimes, it doesn’t mean that a battery shouldn’t last that long.