Text | Yang Delin Editor | Zhang Ze
Many domestic car companies claim "lifetime warranty" for power batteries, but the relevant restrictions also need to be carefully paid attention to by car owners.
Recently, after learning that the owner of a Tesla Model S in Finland needed to pay 20,000 euros (about 140,000 yuan) to replace the battery, in order to express his disappointment with Tesla, he put the dummy of Musk's image into the car, and blew up the car to express his dissatisfaction with Tesla, and opened a live webcast to share the process.
The incident has aroused netizens' concern about battery loss. As we all know, with the gradual improvement of the public's recognition of new energy, the number of people buying new energy vehicles is also increasing, at the same time, the service life and quality assurance of new energy vehicle batteries have also become a concern of the public. Many new energy vehicle users, worried about the power battery attenuation, worried about the failure of the three-electric system, then the manufacturer will give a commitment: the power battery pack lifelong warranty.
However, after combing through a number of new energy vehicle companies, Times Finance found that the battery lifelong warranty program has many restrictions, and when using the car, if you do not pay attention, you may lose the qualification of "lifetime warranty".
Less than 140,000 price replacement battery
The owner detonated tesla
Recently, a video related to Tesla's "explosion" spread on the Internet, in which a Finnish Tesla Model S owner chose to detonate his car because the cost of replacing the car's battery was too expensive, and also contacted a blogger who professionally filmed the explosion video to broadcast the behavior live.
According to the owner, the Tesla Model S that was blown up was a 2013 model, and recently there were many error codes on the dashboard of the vehicle, which affected the driving, so he had to send the vehicle to the dealer's repair station for repair. But nearly a month later, they were told by the repair station that they could not do anything, the only option was to replace the entire battery pack, costing about 20,000 euros (about 143,800 yuan), and because the car passed the battery warranty period, so this cost needs to be borne by the owner himself. In response, the owner said, "So after I retrieved the car, I decided to blow up the whole car, because the car has no safety guarantees." ”
On the day of the blast, the car was transported to a snowy spot on the outskirts of Finland, where the demolition crew installed 30 kilograms of explosives on the body, and the owner put into the car the dummy of Musk's image transported by helicopter before the blast.
So far, Tesla has not responded to the matter.
On December 22, Times Finance consulted a sales of Tesla in Beijing on issues such as Tesla power battery replacement price, and the sales said, "Now tesla replaces the price of the entire power battery pack is about 80,000 yuan - 120,000 yuan." At the same time, he also said, "Tesla batteries can generally be used for 15-20 years, and now we have not encountered the situation of replacing batteries, so we don't have to worry about changing batteries." ”
In fact, the expensive cost of power batteries has always been an industry problem, and it is not uncommon in China. It is understood that the power battery, as the core component of new energy vehicles, accounts for almost 40% of the cost of pure electric vehicles, which means that the cost of an electric vehicle with a cost of 200,000 yuan is as high as 80,000 yuan.
In addition, in the process of charging pure trams, there may be attenuation and failure of the power battery capacity of the car due to incorrect charging methods, long-term use and other reasons, which is an unavoidable potential cost for the owner. According to reports, there were new energy car owners who said that an electric vehicle in the early 100,000 years they bought had to replace the battery for two or three years, and when the 4S store asked for the price, the maintenance cost actually reached 60% of the purchase price.
According to Times Finance, electric vehicles are currently in the development stage, and different manufacturers have different ways to deal with this problem. On December 22, Times Finance consulted Xiaopeng, Ideal and other sales, and said that if the power battery is replaced, it will be at least tens of thousands. "If the battery meets the warranty conditions, it can be replaced free of charge. If you do not meet the warranty rules, because the price of raw materials has been rising, there is no way to give you a specific price, but at least tens of thousands of pieces. Xiaopeng sales said.
In this regard, some insiders said that the current upstream raw material prices continue to rise, power battery supply and demand imbalance, battery prices themselves are very expensive, so the price of battery replacement is high, this is a normal market phenomenon, and can not be fully attributed to car companies.
It is reported that as of December 13, the spot price of spodumene concentrate in the upstream of the power battery was 2000 US dollars / ton, an increase of 379.04% over the beginning of the year, and the average spot price of domestic battery grade lithium carbonate in the midstream was 223,000 yuan / ton, an increase of 320.75% over the beginning of the year. In addition, due to the surge in raw materials, in October this year, many head power battery manufacturers, including BYD, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Penghui Energy and so on, announced price increases.
In the face of the continuous rise in the price of power batteries, the cost of replacing batteries in the future will also increase, and once there is a problem with the power battery, the cost of replacing the battery will become a problem that manufacturers and users have to face. It is reported that at present, more and more car companies provide consumers with service terms for the lifetime warranty of power batteries, and they hope to exchange consumers' trust and reduce consumers' concerns to a certain extent.
The lifetime warranty is only for the first owner
The long battery warranty time or free replacement of the battery has also become a major factor that many new energy car owners will consider when buying a vehicle.
According to times finance and economics, according to Tesla's warranty rules, at present, for the three electricity, that is, motors, power batteries and electronic control systems, provide standard endurance version of 8 years or 160,000 kilometers, long endurance version of 8 years or 192,000 kilometers of two battery warranty programs, when the battery capacity attenuation to less than 70%, you can apply to Tesla after-sales service, free replacement of the battery. In addition, tesla warranty manuals say that if the ownership of the vehicle changes, the owner of the vehicle after the transfer can enjoy the remaining warranty period or kilometers based on the previous vehicle life and kilometers.
On December 22, Times Finance consulted a Tesla sales in Beijing on battery warranty and other issues, according to the sales revealed that Tesla currently has no lifetime warranty policy, and there is no way to upgrade the warranty period of Sandian by purchasing some services, "Tesla cannot upgrade the warranty period of Sandian by purchasing some services, and the follow-up after-sales service may launch a certain extension of warranty services. ”
Times Finance combed the quality assurance plans of many domestic car companies for new energy vehicle batteries and found that at present, some car companies have launched a warranty period of 8 years or more than 150,000 kilometers, and some car companies have even played a "lifetime warranty" publicity in order to compete for customers, but there are many specific restrictions behind these battery quality assurance programs. For example, at present, the "lifetime warranty" promised by many car companies is strictly limited, and if you do not pay attention to the use of the car, you may lose the qualification of "lifetime warranty".
On December 22, in response to the above situation, Times Finance consulted a number of car companies that promised a "lifetime warranty", including BYD, Ideal, Weilai and other sales, saying that the current lifetime warranty policy is limited to the first car owner.
For non-first car owners, BYD Sales said, "If you are not the first car owner, you can only enjoy an 8-year or 150,000-kilometer warranty program." Ideal Sales revealed, "If the second-hand owner can only enjoy an 8-year or 150,000-kilometer warranty, and the 8-year warranty time is not calculated from the date you transfer the property, but from the day the first owner is licensed." That is to say, if the vehicle has been used for 3 years, the remaining warranty time for the second-hand owner is only 5 years. Weilai Auto Sales said that second-hand owners only enjoy a warranty of 1 year or 30,000 kilometers.
In addition to the free lifetime warranty of the first owner of the above enterprise, the lifetime free warranty of the first owner of Xiaopeng Automobile needs to be paid. Xiaopeng Automobile Sales revealed to Times Finance that at present, Xiaopeng Automobile normally enjoys a battery warranty of 8 years or 150,000 kilometers, but it can pay an additional 4,000 yuan to purchase a battery service package with a lifetime warranty and upgrade it to the first owner's lifetime warranty.
Of course, the first owner is not unconditionally enjoying a lifetime warranty, and most car companies promise a lifetime warranty of vehicles, which are only for non-operating cars, which is what we call private cars. In addition, there is no lifetime warranty for vehicles that have been repaired due to man-made or accidental collisions, flooding, firestorms, and accidents that have repaired parts related to the three-electric system. Not only that, many car companies also require that the vehicles that enjoy the warranty must go to the official authorized store for repair or maintenance, and the vehicle cannot use non-original pure spare parts in the repair and maintenance.
In addition, there are also "vehicles that travel more than 30,000 kilometers in any 12 consecutive months" as required by THE BYD warranty, and cannot enjoy a lifetime warranty.
In addition, even during the warranty period, the free replacement of the battery is also a strict condition limit, the above car companies sales have told the Times Finance that the free replacement of battery vehicles must be monitored and evaluated in the factory, after reaching certain standard conditions, free replacement can be carried out. "If there is a serious attenuation of the battery during the warranty period, it is necessary to first go to the manufacturer to evaluate, and the full charge of the battery should be less than 80% of the rated power to be included in the warranty." The above sales indicate.
In the face of why some car companies have strict terms on the quality assurance of power batteries, some insiders have previously believed that this may be due to the consideration of comprehensive factors such as battery protection, safety, and business. "Battery life is often calibrated by the capacity retention rate, and it is also defined by the number of cycles, and some relatively strict restrictions can appropriately reduce the battery being in a charging and discharging state, so that the battery life decay will be slower."
It is reported that with the accumulation of driving mileage and car time, there are many new energy vehicle owners on the Internet who have feedback that the power battery of new energy vehicles has a capacity attenuation and a shortened mileage, but the 4S store said that this is the natural loss of the battery, not a fault, so it cannot enjoy the quality assurance policy.
In view of this situation, according to industry insiders, due to personal charging habits and external weather reasons, the battery life of new energy vehicles will be affected, but these are normal situations. However, if the attenuation of the battery exceeds 30% during the warranty period, it is necessary to contact the after-sales service in time. At the same time, he believes that as the requirements of the policy for battery warranty are gradually clarified, the corresponding restrictions on battery warranty by various car companies will be more standardized, and consumers need to carefully understand and read the warranty terms when purchasing vehicles.
It is worth mentioning that on July 22 this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation promulgated the "Provisions on the Responsibility for Repair and Replacement of Household Automobile Products", which adds relevant provisions on the failure of new energy vehicles such as power batteries and drive motors, such as "repair, replacement, and return", requiring producers to clearly indicate the attenuation limit of the power battery capacity of household pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the three-pack voucher. It is reported that the regulation will be implemented from January 1, 2022.
