Is Your E-Scooter Worth For Resale?

As the electric vehicle (EV) awareness and usage is increasing day by day the sales of the electric two wheeler is increasing in four folds. And the demand vs supply is very less. In the given scenario when the new EV Startups are projecting the new technologies with better performance and reliability of the EVs, there are two questions still remaining open,

1. What is an average lifespan of an electric scooter or two wheeler?

2. What will be the resale value of that electric two wheeler?

To derive the best possible solution of these questions let’s understand the basic things about an electric two wheeler.

WHAT AFFECTS AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE’S LIFESPAN?

• Lithium-ion batteries

• Traction motor

• Tyres

• Electronic components

• Ride patterns

• Charging habits

• Maintenance

LITHIUM BATTERIES

The current promising trend of the EV market is the Lithium-ion battery. Especially for the battery operated electric two wheelers, the state of the art lithium batteries are popular. Now the lithium battery is the most critical and crucial for any battery electric vehicle (BEV). Lithium battery is a key factor affecting the life of the vehicle most. For EV two wheelers almost all the electric and electronics components are powered with the same battery. At the same time lithium batteries need less maintenance as compared to the batteries like Lead-Acid batteries (SLA) or Nickel-Metal Hybrid batteries (NiMH).

Lithium batteries need a little more care in terms of charging and discharging, operating temperature and safe handling. Mostly the life of the electric vehicle depends on the battery health. So for the better resale value lithium batteries are the one which needs to be taken care of.

So, How to maintain the Lithium battery’s health?

• Avoid discharging of the battery till its last drop of juice.

• Don’t overcharge

• Don’t ride immediately after charging

• Similarly don’t put it in charging right after riding

• Charge with manufacturer recommended charger

• Keep your vehicle safe in ventilated area where temperature can be around 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.

• Do not accelerate the vehicle like drag racing.

• Avoid any such conditions where battery may have mechanical shocks

• Avoid charging and discharging in extreme temperature conditions

The other factors affecting the vehicle life are,

Traction Motor

Traction motor is basically a least maintained component in the vehicle but also important part of an EV. Depending on the type of the motor the degradation of the motor happens. For PMSM the magnets will degrade if the motor runs in very hot condition for longer period of time. The over loading conditions of the vehicle will affect the motor efficiency and performance too. For the AC induction motors mainly over-current and overheating can cause the degradation of motor winding insulation.

Tyres

Tyres are the only contacts with the road surface. And over loading conditions can wear them out very quickly. And warned out tyres are more dangerous for EVs in terms of efficiency, performance and drivability of the vehicle.

Electric and Electronic Components

For all EVs electronic components plays the mediator role. The sophisticated electric vehicle is made with many Electronics Controllers known as ECUs. And the desired performance of the ECU is the key factor for the vehicle health and safety. Also the electrical components and the wiring harness are the one which needs to be taken care of. The minor damage in high voltage wiring harness can lead to life risk.

Ride Patterns

Avoid rapid acceleration and riding at full throttle. Acceleration and brake should be used mindfully. Very hard and aggressive riding habits can eat the battery very fast which results in a very short range per charge and vehicle life is shorten quickly.

Charging Habits

Any lithium battery charging should be done based on battery manufacture’s recommendations. Always use recommended charger with the battery at a required external electrical inputs and temperature limits. Bad charging habits can put your vehicle batteries at danger and may cause a fire hazard.

Maintenance

It is true that EV needs a less maintenance as compared to conventional IC engine vehicles. But it does need a maintenance. The regular maintenance of the vehicle is must. All the electric components should be maintained and checked regularly. The battery health has to be checked time to time. For longer life of the vehicle it is advisable that the vehicle maintenance schedule should be followed as recommended by the vehicle manufacturers.

SUMMARY

Now, let’s come to the question one. Generally good lifespan of any vehicle is 3 to 5 years depending on day to day running and environmental conditions. On an average for an electric two wheeler, 5 years of lifespan is desired. It is obvious that the vehicle should run minimum kilometers and years as claimed by vehicle manufacturer. At the same time if the rider uses the vehicle as we discussed above with little bit of extra care of the battery then an electric two wheeler can easily last up to 5 years or more.

So, what about the resale of the electric two wheeler? Is it the battery health which will decide the fate of the vehicle or the kilometers vehicle has clocked or something else which will force the user to sale the electric vehicle?

For electric two wheeler except battery, all the electric and electronics components life can be more than vehicles predicted life. Without battery the vehicle is of no use and resale cost would be almost negligible. If the battery health is not good then there won’t be enough range and the vehicle becomes scrap for resale or the new buyer has to pay for a new battery as well.

Does it mean the lithium battery will decide the resale value of an electric vehicle? The cost of new lithium batteries could be more than the resale value of the vehicle. Fixed or swappable battery, in any condition if the battery health is not adequate then there will be the need of a new scrapyards for electric two wheelers only.

The generic calculations also shows that the 5 years ownership cost of an electric two wheeler for same kilometers driven compared to IC engine would be 40% less. At the same time as vehicle cost becomes very less without batteries, it is always wise to replace with the new and genuine batteries and vehicle performance can be reclaimed like new. That will be more cost effective than buying a new electric two wheeler and the vehicle life will be extended for next 3 to 5 years happily.

The resale market will be unpredictable considering various conditions like chip shortages, lithium cells shortage and availability and maintenance of the adequate charging infrastructure. So in a nutshell keeping battery health and the cost of new battery in consideration, the electric two wheeler is worth for resale.