Study Reveals Some EV Batteries Cost as Much as a Brand New Car
Many of the new electric vehicles hitting the market or coming soon are SUVs and pickups with big and heavy batteries (the GMC Hummer EV’s weighs as much as a Mazda3!) designed to offer drivers compelling range. However, these batteries can be quite expensive, accounting for up to nearly a third of an EV’s price, a new study reveals.
While the actual costs are hard to determine since automakers tend to keep this information close to their vest, Visual Capitalist used data from Benchmark Minerals to calculate the replacement cost of different types of batteries in six existing and upcoming EVs.
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The most eye-popping example is the 2025 Ram 1500 REV, whose 229kWh Nickel Cobalt Manganese battery (made by LG Energy Solution) is estimated to cost the equivalent of $35,000 CAD—same as a brand new 2024 Honda CR-V. Ram has yet to announce the truck’s pricing, mind you, but the battery alone could represent almost 32 percent of the total.
And what about the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ that made its debut in August? Once again, pricing has yet to be announced, but the 200kWh Nickel Cobalt Manganese Aluminum battery (also made by LG Energy Solution) is said to cost approximately $31,000 CAD, or 17 percent of the vehicle’s price.
Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are known to be more cost-efficient, and the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E serves as evidence. According to the study, the crossover’s new 70kWh pack costs roughly $9,400 CAD, equal to 16 percent of its price. Due to their affordability and superior fast charging capacity, Visual Capitalist expects the market share of LFP batteries to double to around 40 percent by 2026.
If you’re shopping for an EV, the good news is that high-voltage batteries typically have a long life cycle. Most are backed by an 8-year/160,000km warranty, but they can easily last more than 300,000 km. Some have been shown to last over 400,000 km.