Can you damage an Ev?

[mdk1]

Just wondering can you damage an ev by driving it hard as soon as you get and go.
Ie if you rag an ice car from cold it can damage the engine if the oil isn’t up to temperature.
Basically should you worry how a car has been driven if you looking at a used car?

[dvs_dave]

Powertrain wise, not really. Suspension, brakes, tyres etc, same as any car.

A life of fast charges to 100% is about the most tangible thing you could do in terms of wearing it out prematurely.

[anonymous-user]

It has no oil which needs to get up to a safe operating temperature/pressure and no moving parts in the “engine” which rely on that lubrication.

If the battery is outside it’s optimal temperature range then power is automatically limited.

Basically, no, don’t worry about it. The car will still suffer the usual wear and tear to other components if it constantly has it’s head kicked in but mechanical sympathy is far less relevant in terms of warming it up and cooling it down.

[Torquey]

We have an idea of life expectancy of parts shared with ICE cars (suspension, brakes etc...).
After that I believe batteries seem to be deemed the next most deminishing part of EV.

But how about electric motors? Electric motors are known to burn out and fail (not taking about EVs specifically). So can electric motors in most EVs be reliable for 200-300k miles?? Even if that means replacing the battery during that time.

[ATG]

Torquey said:

We have an idea of life expectancy of parts shared with ICE cars (suspension, brakes etc...).
After that I believe batteries seem to be deemed the next most deminishing part of EV.

But how about electric motors? Electric motors are known to burn out and fail (not taking about EVs specifically). So can electric motors in most EVs be reliable for 200-300k miles?? Even if that means replacing the battery during that time.

Some electric motors use carbon brushes, and they wear down and eventually need to be replaced. But cars don't use that type of motor. There'll be some bearings to support the shaft, similar to the those that support a crankshaft, except that the ones in the electric motor will have a much easier life. That's the only bit that's a classic moving part. The rest is just bundles of wire. There very, very little to go wrong.

[Evanivitch]

charltjr said:

It has no oil which needs to get up to a safe operating temperature/pressure and no moving parts in the “engine” which rely on that lubrication.
.

There can be oil in various parts of a EV powertrain.

Nissan Leaf has a reduction gearbox that has ATF in it. Most cars have something similar.

That's not to say they need warming up.

[JonnyVTEC]

Some of the stuff above…

The gearbox oil does benefit from being a little warmer, still has a operating window for optimum protection but getting on it at 0C won’t be ideal.

[Pica-Pica]

ATG said:

Torquey said:

We have an idea of life expectancy of parts shared with ICE cars (suspension, brakes etc...).
After that I believe batteries seem to be deemed the next most deminishing part of EV.

But how about electric motors? Electric motors are known to burn out and fail (not taking about EVs specifically). So can electric motors in most EVs be reliable for 200-300k miles?? Even if that means replacing the battery during that time.

Some electric motors use carbon brushes, and they wear down and eventually need to be replaced. But cars don't use that type of motor. There'll be some bearings to support the shaft, similar to the those that support a crankshaft, except that the ones in the electric motor will have a much easier life. That's the only bit that's a classic moving part. The rest is just bundles of wire. There very, very little to go wrong.

Very little to go wrong? Bodywork has been the death-knell of my ICE cars. Everything else survived or was replaceable. ICEngines last a long, long time,

[off_again]

That is the great thing about EV's - start up and go. Usually not much to worry about.

I guess you should consider very cold weather and attempting to go for flat out launches - lots of heat getting generated - but the software systems usually stop you from doing a lot of this anyway. So yeah, not much to worry about.

Now, blasting around in a 400BHP EV on stone cold tires.... thats another thing, easy to damage them that way.

[Toaster Pilot]

dvs_dave said:

A life of fast charges to 100% is about the most tangible thing you could do in terms of wearing it out prematurely.

The most worn out Leaf I’ve ever seen had been rapid charged only a handful of times in 85k miles. It had been plugged in to a slow charger approximately once every 15 miles though - so constantly charging from high % SoC to 100%

[gangzoom]

off_again said:

Now, blasting around in a 400BHP EV on stone cold tires.... thats another thing, easy to damage them that way.

There was a thread going around the Tesla forums last winter about people worried their P Model 3s were broken because they were getting 4 second 0-60 times instead of 3.5 seconds whilst doing WOT launches on UK roads with temperatures just above zero......Its amazing how low EV insurance costs are for the instant performance on offer .

Edited by gangzoom on Monday 18th April 07:57

[aestetix1]

dvs_dave said:

Powertrain wise, not really. Suspension, brakes, tyres etc, same as any car.

A life of fast charges to 100% is about the most tangible thing you could do in terms of wearing it out prematurely.

In fact Leafs that were rapid charged at least once a day, often twice a day, help up really well. Taxi firms love them for that reason.

What seems to be the worst thing for EVs is hardly using them, especially letting them stand for weeks or months at a high state of charge.

[GT6k]

No. Software limited to the hilt and lots of sensors. Similarly with charging stop worrying. Charge cycles don't matter. Temperature matters, don't live in Arizona or Australia

[trevalvole]

ATG said:

Some electric motors use carbon brushes, and they wear down and eventually need to be replaced. But cars don't use that type of motor. There'll be some bearings to support the shaft, similar to the those that support a crankshaft, except that the ones in the electric motor will have a much easier life. That's the only bit that's a classic moving part. The rest is just bundles of wire. There very, very little to go wrong.

Won't the bearings in electric motors be grease-packed ball or roller bearings, rather than the oil-fed plain bearings on a crankshaft?

[granada203028]

Over speeding one on tow or down a hill could do damage, I think there was a story about an i3 damaged by towing.

As most have a permanent magnet motor which is permanently connected to the power electronics this could generate excessive voltage and cause damage. Only the battery is disconnected when ignition off.

The power electronics needs to be powered correctly to weak field the motor above base speed. So in my Leaf on a down hill motor way section at 60mph turning the ignition off could be a bad idea...

[ZesPak]

Pica-Pica said:

Very little to go wrong? Bodywork has been the death-knell of my ICE cars. Everything else survived or was replaceable. ICEngines last a long, long time,

In a ship of Theseus way they can outlast most cars.
But still incomparable to an electric motor.

[Evanivitch]

granada203028 said:

As most have a permanent magnet motor which is permanently connected to the power electronics this could generate excessive voltage and cause damage. Only the battery is disconnected when ignition off.

[ZesPak]

Well, on the other hand you have ICE which releases toxic fumes that can lead to brain damage in some cases .

[ecs]

You can indirectly damage a Taycan by thrashing it from cold, before regenerative braking is enabled, and suddenly finding out about 80% of your brake power has gone missing at an awkward moment

[Evanivitch]

ecs said:

You can indirectly damage a Taycan by thrashing it from cold, before regenerative braking is enabled, and suddenly finding out about 80% of your brake power has gone missing at an awkward moment

I don't believe that's a temperature issue, isn't that due to high state of charge not leaving any capacity in battery for regen?