How green is a car if it has to be totaled after a minor accident?
'Scratched EV battery? Your insurer may have to junk the whole car'
https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...ar-2023-03-20/
'LONDON/DETROIT, March 20 (Reuters) - For many electric vehicles, there is no way to repair or assess even slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, forcing insurance companies to write off cars with few miles - leading to higher premiums and undercutting gains from going electric.
Battery packs can cost tens of thousands of dollars and represent up to 50% of an EV's price tag, often making it uneconomical to replace them.'
One of the worst offenders of this designed in obsolescence is Tesla. Many of their batteries are 'stuctural' and have little chance of being repaired or replaced.
'Lauterwasser noted EV battery production emits far more CO2 than fossil-fuel models, meaning EVs must be driven for thousands of miles before they offset those extra emissions.'
"If you throw away the vehicle at an early stage, you've lost pretty much all advantage in terms of CO2 emissions," he said.