However, would you say an EV to be the ‘most expensive’? Gets used every day (usually). Battery decreases over time. It’s a very heavy, unsafe, job to change the battery without the appropriate skills and tools and costs as much as a new car does..
(No offence to EV enthusiasts..)![]()
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Focusing on iPhones is a furphy. Mobile phones of all ‘persuasions’ have soldered in non-replaceable batteries excepting for the businesses with the tools and talents. Why? Consumers seemingly demand svelte thin mobiles and that requires thin flat batteries without bulky contacts.
It remains to be seen whether even that requirement is lawful or unlawful under forthcoming EU phone battery regulations.
However the internet says that the EU allows a phone to be exempt
if the device maintains 80% capacity after 1,000 recharge cycles
and that
iPhone 15 and above meet that requirement.
Apple allows you to buy or rent parts / equipment for this and other jobs, apparently, but also requires you to enter the IMEI? SN?, which means that they gatekeep the “right to repair”.
In some cases (e.g. a relatively dead phone) you may not be able to get the IMEI / SN from the device itself i.e. if you didn’t previously make a record. The IMEI and SN are printed on the box but not everyone keeps the box.
My recent experience was with a 12 where removing the battery was basically impossible without damaging the battery (a hazardous thing to do!) but maybe the battery itself was faulty.
Opening up a device may compromise water-resistance - as the OP (you) noted in respect of a toothbrush but the same applies to a phone.
So there’s a complex interplay between regulation, design and corporate greed. ![]()
I will leave it to the OP to clarify what the intended rules for this topic are. ![]()
I don’t own an EV and hence have never tried to replace the batteries of an EV when they reach the end of their usable life. So I can’t comment on the practicality of that process.
Perhaps the ideal would be a battery that can cycle endlessly without degradation. So that the battery is not a point of failure in this way and battery degradation is not the limiting factor for the life of the device. Does this break any law of physics? Is this fantasy? I don’t know.
Apple AirPods (all variants) have non-replaceable batteries as do all other ear buds I have come across. These can cost around $300 and last around 2 years of medium use then throw them away.
Most hearing aids now have non-replaceable rechargeables. $1,000 up, and up. But for the challenge are they ‘commonly used’?
For anyone with significant hearing loss or condition - very common.
Possibly also more common than BEV’s?
Replacing the built in lithium batteries in either - you will need to do without for a period of time. YMMV
Hearing aids for me, not everyday I suppose “unless you use them” (as above) but damn! they would outstrip just about anything else if you replaced just due to battery demise. Thankfully my chosen brand has a fixed repair price (incl battery replacement) & the battery is on the MB; so you “can” get the battery & electronics replaced for 1/10+ of the price of the devices “if” you do it before they are out of support completely…
Both hearing aids and earbuds are so ubiquitious (@MickJF) that they qualify as everyday devices. ![]()
Smart watch batteries. Some brands/models the battery can’t be replaced. Other brands if battery can be replaced, the cost if often close to the price of a new watch.
Not overly good, when batteries run out of puff after a few years.