An electric car drives a trouble-free electric motor. There is usually no gearbox. Traction battery and control electronics? But cars with internal combustion engines are even more difficult and problematic to repair! And an electric car is simple and reliable. That’s what almost everyone thinks. But it turns out that electric vehicles also need attention and even repair.
Current…
Electric Tesla cars on our roads are no longer a rarity. Models 3, X and Y are still relatively fresh and no global issues have been identified yet. But the Model S appeared almost ten years ago and there are already copies with a solid mileage.
Problems with dead batteries and electric motors are not related to normal wear and tear. In addition, there are Teslas with runs of 250-300 thousand kilometers, in which the battery degradation does not exceed 25-30%.
Tesla’s weak point was its cooling system. The bypass valve loses its tightness over time, the liquid enters the battery – and the electric car burns like a match.
All the problems – from the temperature maintenance system. In our conditions, temperature fluctuations and wet reagent winters cannot withstand bypass valves. Over time, the rubber of the seals loses its elasticity, cracks – and the coolant enters the storage cells of the traction battery, and sometimes into the electric motor. As a result, a short circuit in the motor wiring or cells can be expected.
We have already learned how to modernize the design with other materials. The procedure will cost about 75-80 thousand rubles. Very expensive, but this is due to the fact that the repair requires removing the battery. It’s worth it, because in the worst case the car burns to the ground.
The expression “battery explosion” is not a metaphor at all – this is what a normal cell from BMW and a “ruptured” one look like.
Another problem faced by Tesla owners is called “Malevich’s square”. This is a tightly extinguished central display on the front panel.
Recovery costs approx 40 thousand rubles. The difficulty is that all Teslas are tracked online and with each software update it becomes more and more difficult for hackers to bypass security systems for diagnosis and repair. But so far there are no impenetrable barriers.
“Depend”…
Mercedes of the “electric” EQ series has impenetrable barriers. Near a technical center that repairs electric vehicles, I immediately found several fresh, but completely dead EQCs.
Mercedes-Benz EQC (like other electric trains of the EQ series) can become a beautiful flower bed for eight million rubles. To repair you need authorization with a username and password. It is impossible to get it after the company leaves our market. Hacking – too. The only way out is to put the car on a tow truck and take it abroad.
Disassembling and diagnosing electric motors and batteries will not solve the problem, because they are in perfect condition. It is impossible to determine the reasons why the electronics simply “dropped” the car. To connect and read errors, few programs are available – you need a login and password. These are bound, among other things, to the location of the electric vehicle. When diagnosing, he must be in the technical center to which the service account is associated. So sharing, even if there are connections with foreign dealers, will not work.
Our “specialists” have tried everything, but hacking and using a VPN does not help – although there are no such problems with other brands. In fact, Mercedes-Benz’s current electric vehicles could become expensive real estate for a trivial matter.
Maybe one day our hackers will be able to beat the Mercedes, but for now the only way out is to put your EQS or EQC on a tow truck and take it to… say, Finland. In this case, it is possible to repair – for a lot of money.
Electric motors on Teslas don’t burn as often as a battery “leaks”. But for some reason, similar engines on the Mercedes B-class burn regularly.
Burning…
However, not all electric Mercedes are so impregnable – there’s also a second-generation B-Class. Its electric motor develops only 180 horsepower. with., and the battery is barely enough for 150 kilometers. Such “besheks” do not have an impenetrable firewall in electronics, and cars made in 2014-2015 cost an average of about one and a half million.
But the B-class also has a defect: the electric motor is on fire! It happens on a run of 70-75 thousand kilometers, like clockwork. The electric motor is comparable to that of the Tesla.
One can only wonder why it burns on a lighter Mercedes with a shorter range. Replacing the engine costs money 200-220 thousand rubles. In addition, it makes no sense to repair the electric motor – rewinding the armature and stator will not be cheaper. And there is still no guarantee of longevity.
So it is better to order a motor from Germany or the USA. You will have to wait a month, or even two.
There are already known cases of burnt-out electric motors in the Audi e-tron, but it is still too early to judge whether this is a huge problem. Repair will cost about the same 200 thousand rubles.
But there are also reliable ones!
Does it appear that there are no reliable electric vehicles?
To eat! Some minor glitches happen in the crossover Jaguar I‑Pace. But this does not apply to global electrical elements – batteries, electric motors or control units.
And the most reliable, according to military, nissan blade. First generation cars (ZE0) come for repair because of their age – the batteries are simply exhausted. Repacking the battery is accompanied by diagnostics – only defective cells are eligible for replacement. And the final repair costs depend on the number of cells that need to be replaced. The cost of one varies from three to five thousand rubles. If you need to replace the entire battery, it will cost 450-500 thousand.
Not so long ago, the second generation Leaf (ZE1) appeared. All cases of battery damage are usually associated with excessive fast charging. Nissans don’t have a full-fledged battery thermoregulation system and they really don’t like fast charging.
Where to repair?
So far Russia does not shine with a large assortment of special technical centers, but they do exist. Points with competent specialists can be found in Vladivostok, which is not surprising – electric vehicles and right-hand drive hybrids are a dime a dozen. You can also repair in Irkutsk.
But in the European part it is still sad. A few offices are concentrated in Moscow that can bring electric transport back to life. Cars come to them from all over, including from Belarus and Kazakhstan. The lines stretch months ahead. By the way, these guys can also repair electric scooters with electric bicycles.
Repair for electric scooters is usually necessary after “competent” improvements. For example, after self-assembly of such a battery pack. And then the owners are genuinely surprised why it does not go, but only stinks of burning or burning.
But the number of electric vehicles is growing, which means that the network of electrical centers is also growing. Also because repair technologies are generally simpler than with ICE cars. The shot of the electric motor with the replacement of bearings and the removal of the battery with an assessment of the performance of each of its elements separately – these are the most popular works. Compare it to a major overhaul of a combustion engine or an automatic transmission…
However, an increase in the popularity of “electric trains” is unlikely to affect the cost of their repair. The lion’s share of repair costs falls on the battery. We don’t make our own cells. Until we do.
We thank Ne Gasoline for their help in preparing the material.
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An electric car is simple and reliable. But it also needs attention.
What and how do electric vehicles break down? Where to repair? How much does the repair cost?