Many EV motorists have perfectly valid concerns over the longevity of the batteries in EVs. We have all been there with other batteries in the past, for example phones or other electric devices, where after a few years, the battery does not last as long as when they were newer. And so, many people have thought that this premise would carry over into the EV world and mean that after a few years of driving an EV, you would get less miles out of the battery.
However, a new UK-based survey of over 1,000 EV drivers showed that their EV batteries did not degrade as much as had been forecasted. According to this survey, three-year-old EVs only showed a 2% decline in battery capacity and six-year-old EVs only had an 8% decline.
To put that in terms of range of the EV, if an EV had a range of 250 miles, by 6 years you would have only lost 20miles in range and since most people do not keep their cars for longer than 6years, this would not affect your driving much at all.
Most people lease new cars these days and give back the car after three or four years. This means that the degradation of EV battery would not be a concern at all since the change is so small. Even if you are one of the few that keeps your car for longer, most EV manufacturers have guarantees for their batteries up to 100,000 miles, which for the average driver is about 8years. This means that should your battery decline prematurely or if anything else goes wrong, you could get it fixed by the makers of your EVs.
Something else to consider, is that EV technology has been advancing at an incredible rate, and so the cars that are six years old will have outdated technology compared to the ones being made now. For example, the Nissan Leaf uses cool packs which act passively and this has been shown to be less effective at protecting the battery than the active cool packs used in newer EVs.
So in summary, there seems to be no reason to be concerned of how your EV battery will age and even if it does age prematurely, you should be covered by your manufacturers guarantee.
If you have any questions about EVs or EV charge points, please get in touch. A member of our technical team will happily answer any questions you may have. Call us on 0141 280 8890 or drop us an email at info@britetechnicalservices.co.uk.
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