Guys, we receive a lot of doubts, Which car to buy? Petrol, Diesel, Electric, CNG, Hybrid, There are so many options available in the market. So in today's article, we are talking about electric cars specifically, And as a car expert, I will try to clarify all your doubts about electric cars. Today’s topic of discussion is electric car batteries. That’s it! Nothing else.
We will not talk about anything else as we receive maximum doubts regarding the battery. So this article is dedicated to the electric car battery and we will try to clarify all your doubts And will let you know if you should buy the electric car or not. I will not talk about petrol, diesel, or hybrid, In this article, I will discuss the doubts about electric cars, Specifically on batteries, And give a clear clarification.
I will explain you in the simplest language so that it will give you as a car buyer clarity. Also, if you are confused if you should buy an electric car in 2023 or not, Let’s go into the article.
So in this article, we will talk specifically about electric cars, How are they? Should you consider it or not? And this article is dedicated just to electric car batteries. I know you guys have many doubts, And the article we made before on if you should buy an electric car in 2023 or not, So today’s article is sort of a follow-up article of the same as we received doubts on the battery, And to some extent, the doubts were not appropriate. They are more like myths. We will completely educate you in this article about electric cars battery, And we have made a complete series called Go Electric, Just to clarify your doubts about electric cars.
We talk to owners, We will try and cover detailed information about technology, And this video is all about the battery pack. Now, there are two types of batteries, One is the LFP, And the other is the NMC. LFP is Lithium Iron Phosphate, While the NMC stands for, Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide. I am repeating it so listen carefully. LFP is standing for Lithium Iron Phosphate, And NMC stands for Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide.
Now you don’t need to remember the entire name and you can just remember the abbreviations. Talking about the automakers that use LFP batteries are- Tata Motors, Volkswagen Group, and even BYD, And many other automakers use LFP batteries. While talking about NMC, They are used by Mercedes Benz, BMW, even for a matter of fact Volvo, And many other performance-oriented brands like Hyundai and Kia, Also use NMC batteries. But there are few brands that either use both technologies Or may use one for a while or the other for a while.
For instance, we have the MG ZS EV with us which was introduced to India in 2020, And it was launched with an NMC battery. But now it comes with an LFP battery. On the other hand, if I talk about Tesla or even Mahindra, They use both these technologies. So Tesla uses NMC in its high-end cars And LFP batteries for their standard range cars. While talking about the Mahindra XUV 400, is equipped with an NMC battery, But they have tied up with the VW group for their upcoming cars, And since the VW group uses LFP batteries, They will provide LFP batteries in the Mahindra cars.
So it is not like LFP is better or NMC is better, The brands use the battery pack according to them, Trying to make them efficient and beneficial to the car buyers, According to their potential.
Now let us first talk about the Advantages of NMC, And let’s make it very easy and simple. The very first point is the NMC has more power-holding capacity. Let me explain it to you. Suppose you buy a normal pencil cell and a Duracell pencil cell, And Duracell says their batteries last longer. So their fundamentals are expensive as their batteries have the capacity to hold more power.
In short, if the life of Duracell is longer, Then the battery charge is more. Similarly, the NMC can hold more charge compared to the LFP. So suppose the battery pack is 10kW, Then in that case the battery size of NMC will be smaller compared to LFP, And you will not have to reserve more battery space in your car, And you can utilize that space for boot and a lot more things. I mean you can utilize that extra space for anything else. Whereas in LFP you have to compromise by dedicating more space to it.
Now in both cases, the technologies have received improvements, By making NMC batteries denser, many brands are using different technologies for LFP, like blades to make them compact, And a lot of work has been done. The second advantage NMC batteries have is the power discharge is pretty fast. So if you want a performance car then the NMC batteries are preferable. And so most performance-oriented cars are equipped with NMC batteries.
The third advantage of the NMC batteries is they work pretty well at lower temperatures, Compared to the LFP. While talking about the advantages of LFP batteries, The most important advantage is the charge cycle. Now what exactly is a charge cycle? So suppose you have charged your car to 100% And the battery drops down to 5% after use. Now when you charge it back to 100% Then that will be counted as one charge cycle. So in that case, You get 2500-3000 charge cycles in LFP, And around 1500 charge cycles in NMC.
That way the battery life increases as you get more charge cycles. The second advantage is that the chemical stability in the LFP is better than the NMC. So the chemical reaction is stable in LFP compared to an NMC.
Now let’s talk about the negative that people think about, And we will clarify if they are really negative points or misunderstandings. So the very first negative point that people usually think is that the technology of batteries of electric cars is very old. And soon a new technology will be introduced and that will be much better. So firstly this is just for the sake of saying, And if such technology has developed, Then it will take a minimum of 5 to 6 years for that technology to get into production.
They have to make an entire supply chain. They have to decide supplier and manufacturer, Then they will test the car and then launch it. So the process does take at least 5 to 6 years time. But the current technologies that are available, NMC and LFP, are pretty sorted. Many have said me that NMC is an old and outdated technology, But that’s not true. Talking about NMC, At least 60% of the electric cars sold worldwide, Are equipped with NMC. And it’s not like NMC manufacturers are shifting to LFP or they are shutting down the NMC, That’s not the case.
The users of NMC are continuing to use NMC and more new cars are launched with NMC batteries. Similarly, those who are using LFP are continuing with LFP. So it’s not like one is the best as some automakers use both technologies. Tesla is offering LFP in their low-end cars and NMC in their high-end cars. So there’s nothing wrong. And I am not claiming either of them is better, I am saying that both technologies are best in their own ways.
So those who say LFP is better or NMC is better, Both technologies have their own pros and cons, And both are suitable for Indian conditions also. The second point is that electric cars catch fire easily. You might have either heard it or eye-witnessed it. But let me break down some facts for you. There is combustion in a petrol engine with the help of a spark plug, And the temperature in the process goes up to 800°-1000°c. So for that, we use the engine coolant because of which the running temperature of the engine stays below 200°c.
Now just by adding a coolant if you can bring the engine temperature down to 200° from 1000°c, Then in electric cars, there is no combustion or no petrol inside, Right? The battery pack runs with the motor, And mostly the battery cells heat up while fast charging, And that is when the battery management system comes into the picture as the coolant is included to cool down the battery pack. Now just for your understanding, There is a term called Thermal Runaway for catching fire in electric cars. So in NMC, it is 210°c and in LFP it is 270°c.
And it is very difficult to reach that temperature as the battery cooling prevents it from heating to that extent. Now let me share some interesting statistics with you guys. There is an insurance site in the US called Auto Insurance EZ, And according to the stats of these two boards that measure all the accidents in the US, Through them, they concluded that for every 1-Lakh electric cars sold, Only 25 cars caught fire. Whereas, 1529 cars catch fire from every 1-Lakh ICE cars sold. It’s 1500 for every 1-Lakh car. At the same time, When every 1-Lakh hybrid car is sold, Almost 3,474 cars catch fire. So technically Hybrid cars are more prone to catch fire, And electric cars are the least. Now let me give the facts.
We do hear a lot about electric cars catching fire, But let me tell you a simple fact. Just go and search how many petrol cars or bikes catch fire. You will be shocked to know that almost every day a petrol car or bike catches fire, But they don’t get the coverage importance. While electric cars are a new technology, They are in the limelight if they catch fire.
So here I would highlight an important point that there is a combustion in a petrol car, And I am not saying to avoid petrol technology, But all I am trying to say is I am just sharing the facts in this article. The next point I hear a lot which is funny that after 3-5 years you will have to scrap your electric car because it gets damaged. I mean from where do you guys jump to this conclusion? Do you own an EV or have you ever experienced it?
Is that happening with you or you are concluding just by reading it on mobile or laptops? Please tell me honestly! These facts are completely wrong. Let me share a very simple fact with you. LFP has 3000 charge cycles and NMC has 1500 charge cycles? So let's consider the 1500 charge cycle. Now considering these three cars, Let's talk about XUV 400 as it has a claimed range of 300km in real life. Considering 1500 charge cycles, 1500 multiplied by 300, It’s 4.5 lakh km before your battery goes to waste.
Technically after that, the battery degradation actually starts, But I am talking according to your point of view. Let us assume that the battery will not work after 4.5 lakh km, Now among all of you, How many have driven the car for 4.5 lakhs km? One out of ten or maybe one out of a hundred. So we don’t really drive a car for 4.5 Lakh km.
Now some may say even if they don’t drive that much still the battery will get damaged after a few years. So now let’s answer that point. Now take XUV 400 as an example, If you drive your car for 100 km per day, Then you will charge your car on every third day. It means that you will charge the car 10 times every 30 days, And 120 times a year. So if I divide 1500 (charge cycles) by 120, Your battery life will be more than 12 years. Now say for many years you use the car.
Let us break even further. If you drive for 50 km per day, Then you will charge the car every 6th day, And the battery life will go up to 24 years. So talking further about NMC batteries, Tesla too uses NMC batteries. So an owner of the Tesla Model S, Drove his car for more than 16 Lakh km, With 12 Lakh km was run on the original battery pack. Have you driven any car for over 12 Lakh km? Be it petrol or diesel, Have you ever thought of driving your car to this extent? Also, the 12 Lakh km was driven on the original set of battery packs.
This talks a lot about durability and strength and you simply don’t have to worry about them. Now some people have commented that insurance cannot be claimed in case of accidents. So we did research and even spoke to a few insurance companies, And they said that if we are insuring an electric car then why will we not insure the battery pack and motors?
But it depends on the condition to condition and as not everything is covered under insurance, There are few terms and conditions with insurance companies and few companies offer extra packs on batteries, And everyone has different terms and conditions. To be very honest I am not an insurance expert, I am a car expert. And the insurance companies that insure your electric cars, insure the battery pack, Be it a replacement or any damage it suffers in an accident, And each company has different terms and conditions which I can’t tell in detail, Because it’s something that you will have to read yourself while buying insurance for an electric car.
The final doubt or the question people have is what will happen after the standard 8-year warranty on the battery expires? See I’ll be very honest and frank, All the cars present here, The majority of electric cars offer 8 years and 1,60,000 km of warranty. Do any petrol or diesel cars offer 8 years of warranty? Generally, you get a warranty of 3 years, And few offer 5 years, right? But not for 8 years. And in that case, you don’t think that what will happen to the petrol engine after 3 years.
That is because petrol and diesel engines have a long history and we know everything about it. But electric cars have no history in India so how can we simply claim that electric cars won’t be successful? The question is right and let me clarify the doubt. Talking about NMC batteries, Again I am coming to NMC specific as many think that NMC batteries have less charge cycle which is not suitable. Let me break it down here for you. There is a survey with Tesla as they have sold a lot of cars and have run for a lot of kilometres. So they have found that Tesla cars that have crossed 2 Lakh miles or 3.2 Lakh kilometres,
The battery on those cars has degraded by 12%. So if consider XUV 400 as an example, This car has a real-life range of 300 km, And if you drive it for 3,20,000 km, Its range will drop by 12% and will give a real-life range of 260-265 km. Now, if you charge your car at home then the running cost of an electric car is 1-1.5 rs per km.
Whereas talking about petrol or diesel cars, The running cost is 10-12 rs per km specifically for a petrol car. So on an average, you save 10 rs per km in an electric car. Now this analysis becomes very important. If you drive an electric car for 3 Lakh km, Listen to me carefully, Multiplying 3 Lakh by 10, You will already save 30 Lakh in fuel. You save 30 Lakh for a car that doesn’t even cost 30 Lakhs. So, in short, your savings will be a lot more compared to a petrol car or a diesel car. And I have already explained about the battery life of an electric car.
So I hope I was able to clarify your doubts about electric car batteries. I have already made a few articles that you can read. Should you buy an electric car in 2023? Is the title of that article, And you will get other analyses in that article. So I have clarified your doubts about resale and since your battery isn’t affected then how can the resale? Hope you are understanding the facts and figures.
So this was all about today's articles and I hope I clarified all your doubts, Specifically on electric car batteries. If you still have some doubts you put them in the comments,
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