Laetitia Vasseur is in a cold sweat. After mobile phones and electronic devices, the co-founder of the association Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) publishes, with Julie Caillard and Flavie Vonderscher, a report entitled “The accelerated and planned obsolescence of thermal and electric cars”. To make the issues clear, the authors project themselves into twenty years and describe the roads, garages and car graveyards on that date. “If nothing changes, we are heading straight towards disposable cars in 2044”, warns this 35-year-old activist who succeeded in imposing the repairability index, which has become 1er January sustainability index, for household appliances.
In the dystopian world of 2044 that HOP traces, “electric vehicles have a fairly limited lifespan, because the batteries are generally neither repairable nor replaceable. In 2044, despite relative reliability, when the battery tires or malfunctions, you have to throw away the car! As a result, the second-hand sector is not attractive. Especially since the efforts of manufacturers to lower production prices are paying off: new electric cars are less expensive than before”.
Today, the automotive sector in the thermal engine version is “at the forefront of good practices for reuse, repair and used parts, rich in a diverse and dynamic economic ecosystem”, greets HOP. Twenty years from now, all of this may be gone. “In 2044, the circular economy is essentially based on a new “fast fashion” model” of the automobile, we can read in the report. “We are primarily seeking to integrate recycled materials into manufacturing rather than encouraging reuse or repair. »
No standards
How would we get to this point? The first reason is the batteries. Manufacturers and users had a nice surprise with those of the Zoe, released in 2012, “which still displayed an average value of 80% of their initial capacity after ten years of use”, notes Louis-Pierre Geffray, expert for the Mobility in Transition Institute. Tesla also announces good performance: 10% loss on initial capacity after 200,000 miles (321,800 kilometers).
But these results are not written in stone: they do not correspond to any standard. They could deteriorate, particularly if motorists use fast charging more. The electronic components of the battery management systems – called BMS (Battery Management System) – or the connectors also cause problems. “random failures”, according to HOP. Battery chemistry can also develop defects as it ages. Repairing them is then a complex operation for which few technicians are trained.
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