Electric vehicle batteries can be used effectively for 20 years or more
Whether an electric vehicle battery is durable or not was a problem that once hesitated users before switching to using an electric vehicle. However, a series of studies published in recent years in the US and Europe have concluded: Electric vehicle batteries are actually much more durable than previously thought.
In 2024, used electric vehicle sales platform Recurrent, which tracks battery health, analyzed data from 20,000 electric vehicles in the US and discovered that the actual rate of vehicles requiring battery replacement is very low. Only 2.5% of the vehicles in this group have had repair batteries and most of them are very old cars, manufactured before 2015.
For models from 2016 onwards, the battery replacement rate is less than 1%. Many actual battery replacements occurred during the warranty period and were mainly due to manufacturing errors, not due to battery deterioration over time as many people were still worried.
Geotab's research earlier this year also corroborated the findings. Based on data from 10,000 electric vehicles, Geotab recorded an average battery depletion rate of only 1.8% per year, down significantly from 2.3% in 2019. With this speed, electric vehicle batteries can be used effectively for 20 years or more, a figure that far exceeds the life of many other parts on the vehicle.
Regular driving habits make the battery more durable
Another surprising study was conducted by the Pin SLAC-Stanford Center (USA), published in the journal Nature Energy in December 2024. In the study, the team tested 92 lithium-ion batteries over 2 years, under charging and discharge scenarios that simulate real traffic conditions.
The results show that the battery is used more closely to the daily driving routine - such as driving slowly in the city, increasing - slowing down continuously, parking for a long time - life is even longer. This way of driving will be more beneficial for the battery than ideal laboratory testing conditions. Therefore, the battery life under actual usage conditions can be 40% longer than the current estimate.
We have been testing electric vehicle batteries incorrectly so far, said Professor Simona Onori, lead author of the study. Its surprising because driving every day when we accelerate and then chip the regenerated brakes to recharge the battery, stop the car and let the battery rest for a few hours makes the battery last longer than we thought.
Another indicator of battery durability is the manufacturer's warranty period. Currently, most automakers offer an 8-year or 160,000km battery warranty, with a commitment that the capacity will be at least 70% after that time. Some companies have drastically increased the warranty level to 10 years.
This shows that manufacturers are increasingly confident in the durability of electric vehicle batteries, partly because new vehicle lines are equipped with a smarter battery management system, helping to adjust the charging - discharge process to avoid overloaded or depleted batteries.
Data from P3 also shows that if users have a reasonable charging routine - such as charging at a moderate level, avoiding keeping the battery full or running out for too long - the battery will be less likely to decrease. Many vehicles, even when traveling over 200,000km, still retain almost the original capacity.
Another survey of users by the UK consumer protection organization Which, conducted with 3,595 electric vehicle owners, also showed that the battery decline after 5-7 years is insignificant. Vehicles purchased in 2017 2018 still have about 93% capacity, vehicles purchased in 2021-2023 will retain up to 97%.
That means: If your vehicle can travel 300km at a time when it is new to charging, after 7 years it can still reach 280-290km. This number is truly ideal for a vehicle that is operated continuously every day.
