That's what concerns me the most. If cars become like long life computers. 8 to 10 year shelf life and then.. "oh we can't get an official battery replacement for that model anymore. Would you like an untrusted refurb battery we can't guarantee for more than 2 years?" Or even worse, sorry no more software security updates for that model. Best to upgrade.

This is one of those places where we need regulators so step up I think. The Nissan Leaf has been so thoroughly reverse engineered that people can transplant almost all of its components into another Leaf or even an ICE car.

However, there are so many cars coming out (particularly from startups with manufacturing in China) at the moment that it could quickly overwhelm the efforts of the limited number of car hackers to keep up. There should be a reasonable path to detailed specifications if / when manufacturers no longer are willing to supply a replacement battery.

Well that's what the tech can do right now. So while we wait for advances replacing and recycling just the battery is our best bet. At least that keeps the rest of the car (and thus its carbon print) in circulation.

A bit like I've kept my iphone for ~5 years now but did a battery refresh halfway through. Its the best option within constraint given