Bosch Warns Expensive EV Battery Repairs Could Shorten A Car's Life

The giant automotive supplier believes battery repairs and replacements must become more affordable.

BMW Gen6 battery with cylindrical cells

Photo by: BMW

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Sep 25, at 4:24am ET

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Bosch argues that cars need to remain repairable throughout their entire lifecycles.
Not every battery problem requires replacing the entire pack; individual module repairs could make EVs cheaper to maintain.
The auto supplier believes the aftermarket will play an increasingly important role as EVs get older.

Cars are getting more expensive, more complicated, and increasingly dependent on high-voltage electronics. That combination could create a problem nobody really wants to talk about: shorter vehicle lifespans. Bosch Mobility Aftermarket chief Rupert Hoellbacher has warned that keeping cars on the road for a long time will depend on making repairs economically viable, particularly as the industry shifts toward electric vehicles.

His comments to Automobilwoche come as the aftermarket prepares for a very different type of repair business. The basic idea is pretty simple. A car can technically last for decades, but that doesn't mean it will make economic sense to repair it for decades. Once a major component costs more to replace than the vehicle is worth, owners are far more likely to send the car to the scrapyard rather than pay for the repair.

And that's where EV batteries become particularly important. A battery is the most expensive component in an electric car. While battery failures don't automatically mean the entire pack needs replacing, the economics can still get ugly when a vehicle is older and out of warranty. Bosch itself points out that many battery problems can be addressed by repairing individual modules rather than replacing the entire pack.

The aftermarket therefore plays a big role. If independent workshops can diagnose, repair, and replace individual battery components at reasonable prices, an EV could remain useful long after its original warranty expires. That matters because an expensive battery shouldn't automatically turn an otherwise perfectly usable car into a very large paperweight.

'If we fail to make battery repair or replacement more financially attractive, the answer is quite clearly: Yes. The life expectancy of cars will decline. This would not only represent a loss of aftermarket potential but also a significant step backward for sustainable business practices, because many vehicle components are designed for a significantly longer service life. Recycling and repair are therefore central tasks for the entire industry.'

Keeping Cars Alive Should Be The Goal

This approach offers an obvious environmental benefit, but it also has a more basic financial argument: keep fixing the car you already have. That becomes increasingly relevant as new-car prices keep climbing and the technology inside vehicles gets more expensive.

A car doesn't suddenly become useless because it has hundreds of thousands of kilometers on the clock. But if a battery or another major component costs an absurd amount to replace, the economic lifespan can end long before the mechanical one. The bigger point is that electrification shouldn't mean disposable cars.

This also ties into a broader problem I've raised before: automakers need to focus more on making cars durable and reliable instead of continually piling on technology and complexity. New features might help sell a car today, but what determines how long it can realistically stay on the road is making sure that car remains affordable to repair years down the road.

Europe's first battery recycling factory

The first European factory for the 'in-house' recycling of batteries

Source: Mercedes-Benz

Motor1's Take: We've spent decades getting pretty good at keeping combustion-powered cars alive. Engines can be rebuilt, transmissions repaired, alternators replaced, and a huge aftermarket exists to keep older vehicles running. The EV era will need the same philosophy, just with different components.

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And if battery repairs remain prohibitively expensive, the industry could end up with an unfortunate paradox: cars that are technically capable of lasting a very long time but aren't economically worth keeping alive.

Even if fewer things can go wrong in an EV than in a gas car, there's still a big problem if a battery issue has no economical fix.

More About EVs:

How Long Do EV Batteries Actually Last?

Why EVs Lose So Much Range In Cold Weather

Source: Automobilwoche

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