How Much Is A Used Electric Car Worth? Japan's Idea Will Make It Easy To Judge
Japan has a huge market for electric vehicles having started their use about a decade ago Now the country is planning to push the second hand electric vehicles market too. For this the Japanese government has come up with new proposed guidelines. One of these directs the EV makers to display the health of the battery of the vehicle to the user.
As India focuses on increasing the use of electric vehicles, several other countries are already at the cusp of another automobile revolution. Japan, for instance, has a huge market for electric vehicles, having started their use about a decade ago. Now, the country is planning to push the second hand electric vehicles market too.
For this, the Japanese government has come up with new proposed guidelines. One of these directs the EV makers to display the health of the battery of the vehicle to the user. The idea is to indicate the amount of charge that the battery can still hold over repeated use. This is because with repeated cycles of charging and discharging, lithium-ion batteries tend to lose their overall capacity.
The idea was framed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and says that the health of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles should be clearly visible on the dashboard. By displaying the relevant decrease in overall capacity and the present health of the battery, the next use-case scenario for the battery can be judged more easily.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
But what is the use of used lithium-ion batteries?
Think of it this way. All the pre-owned electric vehicles would have run some amount of charging cycles during their use. So at the time of changing ownership, how does one know the exact condition of the battery? And whether it will deliver its maximum efficiency (like when it is brand new) or not?
The idea to display the battery¡¯s health then comes as a big positive for the used electric vehicles market. It will help determine the value of the used battery and whether it will be able to deliver a prolonged performance or not.
Another advantage is to figure out the right kind of reuse for the battery, if it is not capable enough to power a vehicle anymore. Batteries in electric vehicles are never used to their full capacity and are usually replaced even when they are left at around 70% of their original capacity. That is when other uses for the batteries can be thought of.
A clear knowledge of the exact battery capacity can help in choosing where to put these used batteries. To know all the ways in which lithium-ion batteries are re-used, read here.
Nissan Leaf Battery Monitoring (Image: Nissan Owner Channel)
Japan¡¯s idea
As per a report, Japan will be unveiling the new guidelines in September, and might even finalise them within this year. Post that, the ministry will decide upon a gauge design for indicating the battery health, which will then have to be adopted by the auto makers. The design will either be that of a scale indicating a decline in capacity or it would compare the current range on a full charge of the vehicle to what it used to be initially.
Auto makers will then have to embed the new design in all of their future electric vehicles. It is interesting to note that some vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf, already offer such information to their users. Once this is mainstream, monitoring the battery health will become a new and important standard in the used electric vehicles market and the recycling industry alike.
