Report: Replacing Battery for Electric Vehicle Costs More than Car Itself, Family Says

A Florida family recently discovered that replacing the battery for their electric vehicle costs more than what they paid for the car.

Avery Siwinski, 17, of St. Petersburg, received a used 2014 Ford Focus Electric from her parents that cost $11,000 and had 60,000 miles on it, WTSP reported.

After six months of driving, the vehicle started having some mechanical issues before it stopped running altogether.

Siwinski’s grandfather, Ray, sought to help her with the car problems, as her father had passed away in June from Stage 4 cancer.

Ray Siwinski realized it was a common problem for this type of vehicle to need its battery replaced.

But when he received a quote from the Ford dealership, he was told it would cost a whopping $14,000 to replace the battery – $3,000 more than what the family paid for the used electric vehicle.

He also noted that the quote did not include “installation and labor costs,” WTSP reported.

After more research, Ray discovered that Ford was no longer producing batteries for that type of electric vehicle.

He issued a warning to anyone who was thinking about buying an electric vehicle.

“If you’re buying a new one, you have to realize there is no second-hand market right now because the manufacturers are not supporting the cars,” he told WTSP.

Despite the reliability and financial problems electric vehicles may pose for owners, such as what the Siwinksi family faced, the Biden administration is heavily pushing American families to ditch their gas-powered cars for electric ones.

“People from rural to suburban to urban communities can all benefit from the gas savings of driving an EV,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in March, amid record-high gas prices.

A Wall Street Journal reporter recently rented an electric vehicle for a four-day road trip and noticed she was spending more time charging the car than sleeping. The reporter then noted that “[f]umes never smelled so sweet” when filling up her gas-powered vehicle after the conclusion of her trip.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.