How expensive to replace battery when becomes slow to charge

I just got my new eGolf 2016. Very happy with it; but I am leasing it, and thinking that in 3 years I will buy it. Then I starte reading about the effective life of the EV battery. Looks like after a few years it starts becoming less efficient, and thus the range becomes shorter. So I think to either:

1. Lease, and return it after the 3 years, or hopefully
2. Buy it and eventually replace the used up battery by a new one

Anyone knows if it is possible to replace it and how expensive would that be (parts/labor)?

thanks!

In October or November of 2015, I got a quote from Neftin VW in Thousand Oaks, CA. They had done a warranty repair on a battery, and billed VW about $16,500 for the R&R. A special repair team is sent out to do the work at the VW dealership, due to the level of the high voltage, and safety involved with not getting someone electrocuted and killed.

I have since hear different figures, one from I believe it was Dirito Brothers in Walnut Creek, CA that it runs $10,500 to $11,500. So take it for what it is worth, go down to your local VW dealership to the parts department and ask them what the price is for the battery pack itself. Then figure another $2000 to R&R it, as a ball park figure. YMMV, that's how I would go about it.

Also, the battery doesn't become slow to charge, it just loses kwh capacity, therefore your range decreases between recharges.

Long story short: it's cheaper to get a new car than replace the battery.

Thanks for the responses! So it looks like it might be better to lease. My residual value after the 3 years of the lease pass by, is about $11k. But then I would have to eventually buy a $10k to $12k battery, effectively doubling the price of the car....

I wonder what happens then with the second hand market of ecars....

debrito said:

I wonder what happens then with the second hand market of ecars....

Click to expand...

While the Leaf and Fiat 500e are not the same as the e-Golf, both of those cars are available now for $6,000-$8,000 used. The Leaf batteries do degrade significantly, reducing their range, but it seems the degradation on the 500e and the e-Golf is minimal, as in <10% in 3 years.

In the end, you really have to think about what would make you pay for a new battery pack. If the starting EPA range is 84 miles and the car car loses 10 miles of range (12%) is that a deal breaker? Does a 25% loss (63 mile range) make the car unusable? It all depends on how you use the car.