Halving the utility of the vehicle relative to an ICE car. Being able to repair the battery at a reasonable cost is a more eco-friendly option than having to get a new car:

https://www.thedrive.com/tech/39687/teslas-early-vehicles-ar...

Throwaway cars aren't good for anyone.

That's an argument against ICEs because of their non continuous failure. An old car with a 66% degraded battery can still be used. An old car with a busted engine is scrap.

Yup, my Leaf gets only about 40 miles of range on a good day :) But it still works for errands around town.

It would not make financial sense to ever replace the battery. It is better to just get another EV when I can no longer get out of my driveway :)

Buying a new EV is the same as replacing the battery and spending extra on top. It still wipes out the previous savings and increases your carbon footprint because another complete car was manufactured.

The used EV can replace another dirtier car.

No, it can't. Its range is now so low it's no longer practical. Expecting people to accept a lot less is not realistic.

I see tons of first gen Nissan leafs with shitty range every day. And they still have some value on the used market.

No, you don't. What you see are the few people who are willing to make compromises to practicality that the majority of people are not. I would not buy a first gen Nissan Leaf with shitty range and neither would most people.

I'm quite sure I do. The Leaf is the best seller where I live and a lot of them are getting old : https://elbilstatistikk.no/

People don't drive that many km everyday and an old Leaf is an okay second car to quite a lot of people. Anyway, it's just an example because the first gen Leaf is an old car with a low range and a battery with a high degradation. If you think about newer leafs and other cars with more range, it's not really a huge difference if the car has lost some range over time.

I'm quite sure you don't. There are 2.8 million registered private cars in Norway. 68,873 Leafs doesn't equal "tons" in comparison:

https://www.ssb.no/en/transport-og-reiseliv/landtransport/st...

> It's like replacing the engine of an ICE car

I downvoted you because that's not true. It's far easier to replace batteries than an engine. It requires minimal skill.

If they start building them into the body that may change though.

It's not the same kind of skills for sure. Some cars are easy to replace the battery, but you still need to deal with high voltage procedures. I wouldn't trust myself with an e-golf, but I wouldn't mind replacing the ice engine of a Twingo with the right tooling.