More commonly than ever before, batteries in early-model electric vehicles are dying, and as a result, EV experts said drivers needing replacements are getting sticker shock.

Carl Medlock, owner of Medlock and Sons on Delridge Way in Seattle, said one early EV adopter he knows, a Washington woman, was visiting her daughter in Oregon when the car's battery died completely.

"The car shut off in her daughter's driveway," said Medlock. "She was gonna get the $17,000 repair. The car books out at $20,000, and she just didn't feel like it was worth it. So they walked away from it."