Photo: Polestar/Weibo/edited by autoevolution
A recent EV collision in China brought back an old discussion about electric cars: how truly viable are they when their battery packs cost so much? Any damage to this component basically turns the entire vehicle into trash. That’s what happened to an owner identified solely as Mr. Huang. He crashed his Polestar 2 and allegedly received a bill that charged him twice as much as what he paid for his car. His EV ended up in the junkyard.
The story seems to have emerged on Weibo, which explains why we only know this customer was called Mr. Huang. There is no information about when he crashed his Polestar 2 or what made him leave the road with his EV. That damaged the headlights and the underbody.
According to Lanjinger, the battery pack was dented inward. We can see that in the pictures shared on Weibo. What the Chinese website added was that the battery modules were not affected. The damages were only to an aluminum plate, thanks to an H-shaped distribution method Polestar adopts. Sadly, the EV maker stated it could not repair only that part of the battery pack. In other words, any solution would demand replacing the entire component.
Some early reports stated that the battery pack alone would cost RMB540,000 ($79,004 at the current exchange rate). Polestar already denied that was the case. However, the true situation does not seem to help the Swedish brand owned by Geely more than the rumor.
According to Yicai, Mr. Huang said in a video that repairing the vehicle's front end would cost more than RMB90,000 ($13,167). If all the other costs were related to the battery pack, it would have an RMB450,000 ($65,837) price tag. A Polestar representative told Chinese media outlets the battery pack actually costs RMB400,000 ($58,522). As the component has structural functions, it is allegedly more difficult to replace than those of competitors.
As you may imagine, a Polestar 2 costs much less than RMB540,000 or RMB400,000. The Polestar 2 Dual Motor Long Range Mr. Huang crashed costs RMB338,000 ($49,451). However, the Chinese customer managed to buy it for RMB249,000 ($36,430). That makes the RMB540,000 bill even more surreal.
Polestar tried to make it look like business as usual when it informed that the EV would be scrapped and that the insurance would give this customer a new Polestar 2. However, that does not change the fact that any defect on the battery pack makes a car that should be repairable become scrapyard material. Insurance prices for battery electric vehicles also tend to be much higher than those for cars that are not so dependent on a single component. Lanjinger states that a battery pack represents 50% of the cost of the vehicle. Ironically, Mr. Huang’s insurance company would be happy if that were true.
According to Lanjinger, the battery pack was dented inward. We can see that in the pictures shared on Weibo. What the Chinese website added was that the battery modules were not affected. The damages were only to an aluminum plate, thanks to an H-shaped distribution method Polestar adopts. Sadly, the EV maker stated it could not repair only that part of the battery pack. In other words, any solution would demand replacing the entire component.
Some early reports stated that the battery pack alone would cost RMB540,000 ($79,004 at the current exchange rate). Polestar already denied that was the case. However, the true situation does not seem to help the Swedish brand owned by Geely more than the rumor.
According to Yicai, Mr. Huang said in a video that repairing the vehicle's front end would cost more than RMB90,000 ($13,167). If all the other costs were related to the battery pack, it would have an RMB450,000 ($65,837) price tag. A Polestar representative told Chinese media outlets the battery pack actually costs RMB400,000 ($58,522). As the component has structural functions, it is allegedly more difficult to replace than those of competitors.
As you may imagine, a Polestar 2 costs much less than RMB540,000 or RMB400,000. The Polestar 2 Dual Motor Long Range Mr. Huang crashed costs RMB338,000 ($49,451). However, the Chinese customer managed to buy it for RMB249,000 ($36,430). That makes the RMB540,000 bill even more surreal.
Polestar tried to make it look like business as usual when it informed that the EV would be scrapped and that the insurance would give this customer a new Polestar 2. However, that does not change the fact that any defect on the battery pack makes a car that should be repairable become scrapyard material. Insurance prices for battery electric vehicles also tend to be much higher than those for cars that are not so dependent on a single component. Lanjinger states that a battery pack represents 50% of the cost of the vehicle. Ironically, Mr. Huang’s insurance company would be happy if that were true.
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