The owners of electric vehicles in Italy, are now being disturbed by a number of unscrupulous electric vehicle battery thieves. This unrest spread after there were recorded 12 incidents of theft of the main components of electric motorcycles in Milan.
Quoted from EVMagz, electric vehicles such as bicycles and scooters are the targets of the perpetrators. The battery cells are disassembled and sold on the black market or on the second hand market with the components being reconditioned.
In fact, stealing battery packs from electric two-wheelers can be a bit tricky. Most battery packs today include extensive code and software interfaces that are only available from the manufacturer.
In other words, conquering these technologies requires criminal organizations that are highly intellectual and well equipped with the skills and knowledge to go beyond these protective measures. This may indicate a new modus operandi for organized crime.
During 2020 and 2021, an estimated 700 battery packs have been stolen. Some of those detained have a history of petty theft and drug-related activities.
City Scoot, a scooter-sharing company in Milan, reported a high incidence of battery theft in 2020. The company reported around 600 lost batteries in total, which equates to around 600,000 Euros, with each battery pack estimated to cost 1,000 Euros.
Given the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, in the future, it may be necessary to take additional steps to maintain the safety and security of battery packs in electric vehicles. Moreover, the battery is a crucial component that makes the price of electric vehicles more expensive than conventional vehicles.
According to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) research in 2019, the cost of manufacturing battery cells reaches up to 70% to 75% of the total cost of producing batteries as a whole. According to statements by automakers Volkswagen, General Motors and Tesla, the average production cost of nickel-combalt aluminum oxide (NCA) batteries in 2018 ranged from US$100 to US$150 per kWh (kilo Watt hour).
Meanwhile, for nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) which is produced more limitedly, the cost reaches US$150 to US$200 per kWh. This means that the higher the battery capacity and the longer the range of the electric vehicle, the higher the cost.
However, with the development of technology which of course is accompanied by mass production of batteries, the production costs will be lower. This requires a balance between production costs and the amount of production produced, in order to achieve lower prices.
Therefore, then comes the estimate of the cost of making the battery is getting lower. Battery production costs are expected to fall to US$130 to US$160 per kWh in 2020-2022. Then it will be US$120 to US$135 in 2025.
Tesla says it will be able to reach a cost of $100/kWh by 2022, tied to battery packs based on NCA technology and based on higher production volumes than before. The BloombergNEF (BNEF) industry survey shows the cost of producing battery packs will drop to US$62 per kWh by 2030.
With the collaborative approach of automotive manufacturers with battery makers being increasingly applied in recent times, the selection of materials and technologies is getting cheaper. Plus, the EV production volume, which is expected to continue to increase, will obviously make battery costs and electric car prices more affordable.
