We recently told you that Mr. Huang had an accident with his Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor on a road in China. The mountain section, of the secondary or tertiary network, had a channel in the gutter that caused the wheels to become encrusted, the underbody to hit the ground, and the 78 kWh battery pack to be damaged. He also suffered damage to the front when going off the road, the reasons for it are unknown to us.
The budget received by Mr. Huang to repair it was 540,000 yuan, more than 79,470 euros to change since the battery pack had to be completely replaced. Although the sale price established for this version in China is 49,745 euros to change (in europe 59,190 euros), the truth is that it was removed for 249,000 yuan (36,645 euros to change), before the price rise.
Therefore, the budgeted figure was double the price you paid for the vehicle. According to Yicai, the vehicle has been considered a total loss and Mr. Huang’s insurance company will indemnify him according to the new value. They cite an official communication from Polestar, which says that the vehicle was scrapped and the issue resolved.
In reality, the 540,000 yuan budget included all the damage that needed to be repaired, not just the batteries. Still, the price was outrageous. Yicai explained that some media had asked about the replacement cost of official technical service in Hangzhou and said about 400,000 yuan, almost 58,900 euros to change. Discounting the 90,000 yuan to repair the front end, it is still more than 400,000 yuan according to the budget for Mr. Huang.
This is not the first time a battery replacement costs more than the value of the car, even new value, nor will it be the last. It illustrates a problem in most modern vehicles, the spare parts do not have reasonable prices in terms of batteries, whether they are in production or have been discontinued for years. This has to change, or there will continue to be a logical fear on the part of the clientele to buy a car whose battery failure can mean a total loss.
Yicai calculated that, based on prices per kWh of CATL/LG ternary batteries, 1,500 yuan, the batteries would cost the manufacturer 117,000 yuan, less than a third of the replacement budget. Some 17,220 euros is still a significant amount, but it already makes the repair worthwhile if the vehicle is more valuable. Part of the high cost is justified in the design of the batteries, with a double layer of H-shaped cells. It is more robust, but much more expensive to repair.
It is not only important that the replacement batteries can reach acceptable values so that the rest of the vehicle does not have to be discarded, but they must also exist as a spare part. We remind you of the case of the Siwinskis in Florida (USA), who have been unable to get Ford to fix a 2014 Focus that they bought only a few months before at an official dealership as used, cost more or less.
If Mr. Huang’s Polestar 2 had had an internal combustion engine and an all-wheel drive system, considering the damage it sustained, the repair would not have been considered a total loss. It would have cost quite a lot to fix, but it would have been possible.
