This isn't a new problem though, anyone who owned a mobile phone back in the days of the removable battery knows that rechargeable batteries degrade over time and while there have been improvements and innovations and innovations to the technology over the years that fact has always remained. The cynic in me figures that the electric car manufacturers are taking a leaf out of Apple's book and made sure that changing the dead batteries is something that has to be done by a specialist so they can charge an arm and a leg for it.