A curious case occurred in Florida the other day, when a Chevrolet dealership charged a Volt EV owner $30,800 for an out-of-warranty battery swap. You can find a used Volt in reasonable condition for around $10,000.
The dealership responded with a breakdown of the costs. Apparently, installing the new battery costs $1,200; another $2,800 goes on changing liquids and paying state taxes. The remaining $26,800 is the cost of the new battery. To put things into perspective, a comparably sized battery pack for Tesla sedans will set you back $14,000, which may be a lot of money but still barely half as much.
A representative of the dealership commented that the high price was owing to the sheer age of the electric vehicle – the Bolt came out in 2012, and sourcing a battery with the suitable (read: outdated) technical specifications nowadays can be difficult.
