EV battery repair vs replacement: cost, safety and adoption
At Fleet Europe Days, experts say EV battery repair can cut costs by 60–80% versus replacement, is safe when certified, and aid adoption as markets grow.
At the Fleet Europe Days conference in Luxembourg, experts weighed the key challenges and the next steps for electric-vehicle battery technology. The central issue was repairability: most automakers still do not permit battery repairs, favoring full replacement instead.
Daniel Pataki, who runs Gablini, a center certified to repair batteries in Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, noted that replacing damaged modules can cut customer costs by 60–80 percent compared with buying a new pack. He emphasized that when done properly, restoration is safe and extends a battery’s service life.
Participants also highlighted that the EV market continues to grow, while battery costs are easing only slowly. New chemistries such as solid-state and sodium‑ion are set to complement current solutions rather than replace them outright.
Against this backdrop, enabling battery repairs looks like a practical lever to reduce ownership costs and speed the shift to cleaner transport. The industry’s caution is understandable, yet giving drivers a repair option avoids needless expense and keeps more cars on the road for longer.