Valuing Battery Degradation from a Battery Lessor’s Perspective

Abstract

In order to promote the market-introduction phase of electric mobility, car manufacturers will have to face the residual value risk of electric cars for consumers, particularly concerning the battery. An increasingly common trend to minimize uncertainties for the consumer, is the separate leasing of the battery. In this paper we examine degradation in lithium-ion batteries from a lessor’s perspective. We suppose that battery life can be influenced directly by the user. In the case of a lease contract, the battery always remains the property of the lessor. In this respect, there are no direct incentives for the user to increase battery life by expending additional effort. Therefore, we discuss the idea of a dynamic leasing concept as an opportunity for car manufacturers to encourage consumers to adopt a gentle treatment of the battery in order to extend battery lifetime and thus the residual value. Therefore, we examine the effects of different charging strategies on a battery’s residual value to verify whether there is potential for a deeper investigation of a dynamic battery leasing approach. In order to quantify the extent of user influence on battery life, lifetime simulations are performed for different charging scenarios. For our calculations we use a degradation model as a function of the depth of discharge. Furthermore, realistic driving patterns are taken into account to estimate the quantity of energy processed as a function of use mode.