[Sawtooth]

I was looking through the prices of the various Volt spare parts at the gmpartsonline.net , and notice that the Lithium Ion battery pack is downright cheap at only $2,300 , roughly $150/kwh:

http://www.gmpartsonline.net/parts/...=ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS&component=Battery assy

I heard numbers like $8K or $10K being mentioned before, but if the $2.3K price is correct, then replacing the battery in 8-10 years is just not a big deal at all...

I checked a couple other online part dealers, and they all seem to have a similar price.

 

[Ziv]

I think that you have to return your worn out/damaged battery to get that price, which isn't a big deal.
And I think most of us would need to get it installed by the dealer so it would cost $2994, but that is still a great price for another 100,000+ miles of driving a Volt.

 

[doudis2]

Did you notice that in the parts diagram that there is no call out for the actual battery cells? Interesting.

 

[Raymondjram]

Thank you for that link because it is a reference to get parts for my 1995 Buick Regal and my 2009 Chevy Equinox.

I find it humorous that the home page has an announcement to sell fuel injectors for Ford PowerStroke Diesel engines:
"Just for our friends driving Ford 6.0, 6.4, or 7.3L PowerStroke® diesel engines, we offer brand new controllers and injectors at prices that will rival any Ford dealer.

Click on the PowerStroke® logo to learn more!"

So GM sells Ford injectors better than Ford!

 

[emartin00]

Did you notice that in the parts diagram that there is no call out for the actual battery cells? Interesting.

Probably because they only have the capability to open up the packs in the factory. They don't want the dealers pulling individual cells.

 

[fishhawk]

I think that you have to return your worn out/damaged battery to get that price, which isn't a big deal.

What's weird is the parts listing shows a core of $0.00. Also, I believe the price a few months ago was $3200 Online, so it looks like the price has come down.

 

[Rons2013]

When I checked thru a friends Shop about this time last year (to get the "good guy" price), the "complete propulsion battery assembly" for a 2012 (they didn't Have a price for the 2013 yet at that time) was quoted at $1900. And NO exchange or "core" - they did Not want the old one back, apparently.

So no big deal, either way. The Vortec head GM "base performance H.O." 5.7l crate motor I stuck into the Corvette last summer was $2600. Some of the better GM crate motors get Expensive, for example a COPO LS-327 supercharger 550 Hp. motor, complete with injection and electronics, is listed at $32,795. Ouch. Your basic LS long block begins at about $4000.

Batteries are Cheap

 

[telveer]

The replacement battery pack will probably be a lighter, more powerful and less expensive in 8 years time.

 

[Gary Norton]

It is noteworthy that a replacement Malibu v6 is http://www.gmpartsonline.net/parts/index.cfm?make=Chevrolet&year=2008&model=MALIBU&submodel=LT&searchText=19258768&action=oePartSearch&siteid=215055 $7100. What is often lost in the battery discussion is that the Volt battery will still be performing at about the time most gas engines will have needed moderate to major engine work.

 

[DonC]

I don't think it's possible that the actual cost to produce the battery pack would be this low. But if that's the replacement price that's great given that the original pack seems like it's going to reach EOL in 12 or 15 years.

 

[Loboc]

We have people on voltstats that have over 80,000 miles. I have not heard of anyone needing a replacement battery yet due to age.

Given the gentle way that GM handles battery management, I'm thinking that the battery will last longer than the rest of the car.

 

[CarZin]

I will not believe the parts catalogue price until someone actually pays that price. Since the batteries are under warranty for 100-150k miles, and a lot of years, I think GM knows there will not be any consumer replacement of battery packs right now, and has just thrown in a price as a stub. I think the actual price IS going to be a good bit higher.

So, find me ONE person who has paid this price and has it documented, and I'll believe it. Otherwise, I think it is just a place holder.

The only circumstance where a person would need to replace the battery OUT of warranty would be a car accident, and the car would be completely totaled if it impacted the battery bay to break the battery, so the car would be replaced, not the battery.

 

[pjwood]

find me ONE person who has paid this price and has it documented, and I'll believe it. Otherwise, I think it is just a place holder.

From what you are saying, you don't believe GM will honor that part's price? Maybe it wouldn't be too economic for them, and maybe they do subsidize that part's cost. It would be a master stroke of marketing and finance, considering the reliability already. But I am already indulging you, because my belief is they don't have to. They take cores, and recondition the chemistry. They don't need all new fine tolerance cells, and the exotic TMS, if those things aren't broken. They give folks a replacement that may be 90-95% of new capacity. And by the time these batteries do fail, why is it hard to believe the actual $/kwh price for lithium ion won't already be in the $100-200 range?

With a lift, I hope to swap out in 180 seconds, if the folks at Tesla can do it in 90.

 

[pjwood]

From what you are saying, you don't believe GM will honor that part's price? Maybe it wouldn't be too economic for them, and maybe they do subsidize that part's cost. It would be a master stroke of marketing and finance, considering the reliability already. But I am already indulging you, because my belief is they don't have to. They take cores, and recondition the chemistry. They don't need all new fine tolerance cells, and the exotic TMS, if those things aren't broken. They give folks a replacement that may be 90-95% of new capacity. And by the time these batteries do fail, why is it hard to believe the actual $/kwh price for lithium ion won't already be in the $100-200 range?

With a lift, I hope to swap out in 180 seconds, if Tesla can do it in 90

 

[ViperRT10Matt]

find me ONE person who has paid this price and has it documented, and I'll believe it. Otherwise, I think it is just a place holder.

Totally agree.

If they were offering a battery of this quality and robustness (the quality of the cells in these packs is very highly regarded), they would be selling tons of them for large scale storage needs such as off-grid houses and such. Where's DCFusor when you need him to weigh in?

 

[Steverino]

I will not believe the parts catalogue price until someone actually pays that price. Since the batteries are under warranty for 100-150k miles, and a lot of years, I think GM knows there will not be any consumer replacement of battery packs right now, and has just thrown in a price as a stub. I think the actual price IS going to be a good bit higher.

So, find me ONE person who has paid this price and has it documented, and I'll believe it. Otherwise, I think it is just a place holder.

The only circumstance where a person would need to replace the battery OUT of warranty would be a car accident, and the car would be completely totaled if it impacted the battery bay to break the battery, so the car would be replaced, not the battery.

Find me one person that has demanded their battery be replaced and I'll show you the person who paid this amount. Of course it's a fool's errand. All the cars are still under warranty, so no one would be goofy enough to spend $3k on a whim. You can choose to believe the published price is not real, while I'll take published prices as valid. Since neither of us has a Volt out of warranty AND needs a battery, so it will remain.

I suspect as others do that this price will be the official price once the day arrives many years and many miles from now when someone actually buys one.

 

[mmcc]

Electric utilities take note

With the price of large capacity batteries declining and add to that cheap solar panels, it won't be long until one can cut the cord to their electric utility for about the price of a new roof.

 

[BAZINGA]

The replacement battery pack will probably be a lighter, more powerful and less expensive in 8 years time.

We may even see the Engerizer Bunny making a pitch for EV replacement batteries by then.

 

[ejk]

What about replacing a damaged battery after a wreck? surely someone has done this

 

[Sawtooth]

http://www.partswebsite.com/gmparts...=60120&type=parts&image=ZB7080&imagecallout=1

Another source for the battery with similar pricing. It is probably the cheapest high quality battery as far as $/kwh goes.