Ahhh, the old replacement cost. This is one of those "hidden costs" to ownership of an EV that some of the more "questionable" EV companies do not tell you about or hide in the fine print. Others, however, like the people at Tesla, will let you know before committing about the costs.

The EV companies see this as a trade off -- you do not have frequent maintenance costs like oil changes and other work associated with a ICE (internal combustion engine) but you do have that one-time large cost of battery replacement - MAYBE. Why maybe? Some cars, like the Tesla with the lithium ion batteries boast a lifespan of FIVE years... that is awesome. Most people, statistically, will not have their car for that long. The other wildcard is what the price of batteries will be in 5 years. It is expected to drop significantly. So with a span of 5 years, this issue should be moved into the resale value issue column.

Thanks for the comment!

In Adelaide, Australia we have an electric powered bus which hauls about 50 passengers at a time around our city for 8 hours a day.

Recharging is from a solar powered battery at it headquarters.

It is quiet; clean; cheap to run

I think the best answer to the battery replacement issue is to establish a leasing scheme for batteries. Because the battery technology is in its infancy, buying batteries is a poor idea. With battery leases, you would get the latest technology every time you would renew the lease.

Substitute cost of gasoline, servicing etc of normal cumbustion engine.. You will save more than enough to buy a new car before life of battery is over.

You're worried about battery cost, and see that a Fuel Cell stack is a better investment? Yeow. I can buy my whole car 20 times for the price of one Fuel Cell car that won't last as long, nor go as far.

But I digress.

People often ask me how much it costs to replace the batteries. And the answer is (for my car, the Rav4EV) is that nobody knows. Nobody has had to replace them. These cars were originally built in 1996! We have private drivers of 2002 and 2003 cars that have over 100,000 miles on them. With the original batteries. Yes, they are starting to show signs of wear in some cases. Most owners are just happily still driving along without noting even a small drop in range - in thier five and six year old cars. At today's gas prices, a 125,000 mile Rav (one for sale on Ebay right now) will save over $20,000 just in gasoline alone. That should buy you a new pack when you need it. And that "cost of fuel" thing totally ignores all the other expenses that we pay when driving a gas car. Don't kid yourself into thinking that the price you pay at the pump is what it costs us to drive gasoline cars.

Note: The bad news is that nobody CAN replace the Rav4EV batteries. Because of the patent on the NiMH large-format batteries - it is impossible for us to buy new ones - or for any car maker to use them as the main propulsion energy source. Why? Well, you'll have to find your own answer to that one as I don't want to come off sounding like a conspiracy theorist.

Lead-acid batteries have a short lifespan. But newer Li-Ions such as LiFePO4 batteries seem to have long (10 year & thousands of cycles) lifespans. They just need to get the price down.