SEATTLE — More commonly than ever before, batteries in early-model electric vehicles are dying, and as a result, EV experts said drivers needing replacements are getting sticker shock.
Carl Medlock, owner of Medlock and Sons on Delridge Way in Seattle, said one early EV adopter he knows, a Washington woman, was visiting her daughter in Oregon when the car's battery died completely.
"The car shut off in her daughter's driveway," said Medlock. "She was gonna get the $17,000 repair. The car books out at $20,000, and she just didn't feel like it was worth it. So they walked away from it."
That is not an unusual price for a replacement battery. According to Medlock, "Tesla battery, new, is between $12,000 to $20,000, depending on how big the pack is."
Medlock bought her old car from her for about $2,500. He said his hope is to repair the battery and sell it and give it new life. He has done this for several others, he said, but it's almost becoming overwhelming.
"It kind of morphed into 57 of them sitting here," said Medlock, of the scrapped cars.
He said that his shop also repairs the batteries themselves, usually for about $5,000 to $7,000. Now, with so many people needing battery repairs or replacements, he said his shop is inundated with appointments.
"It's mayhem," said Medlock.
There are only a few EV battery repair shops in the nation, and one of them is Medlock and Sons. Medlock told KING 5 on Tuesday that customers on their long waitlist often express frustration with their wait time.
"We have you know, 350+ appointments for Model S batteries," said Medlock.
When the Tesla Model S debuted in 2012, not much was known about battery sustainability. Now, Medlock said many of those batteries are cooked, particularly if they were often supercharged because he said the cells in those early batteries were more likely to overheat.
"The engineers at Tesla are brilliant, but who would've thought? Because they didn't have data," he said. "Over time, the cars that have been supercharged a lot the, the batteries are failing."
For this reason, many early EV adopters are learning about their battery's sustainability the hard way. They are left with a tough choice if their battery dies due to the steep costs associated with it.
"Throw-away industry," said Randy Medlock, the shop owner's son. "So, you have a $20,000 car, and you're just gonna throw it away because it needs a $20,000 pack."
Tesla has since made significant upgrades to batteries to prevent any overheating. He said he is hoping for solutions as those in the EV industry look towards a greener future.
Unfortunately, Medlock said there currently are not enough mechanics trained in fixing EV batteries, but he is hoping that will balance out in the future.