One of the biggest concerns about switching to electric cars is the longevity of their batteries; some even fear they will need to be replaced at high cost.
But a new report has attempted to allay these fears by claiming that batteries in new electric vehicles last 20 years or more.
In fact, research based on 5,000 real-life modern electric vehicles says batteries show signs of degradation slower than components used in internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
A new report claims that batteries in most modern electric vehicles typically last longer than components used in internal combustion engines. Therefore, an electric car battery should last 20 years or more.
Bold claims are made by Geotab: a leading company in fleet and corporate telematics, which involves tracking vehicles and connecting them to the Internet.
The company says it has conducted an analysis of the battery health of nearly 5,000 private and fleet EVs, using 1.5 million days of telematics data to explore how the latest battery technology stands up to the rigors of daily use.
Data suggests that current model EV batteries degrade, on average, by 1.8 percent per year.
When it conducted the same study in 2019, it found that battery efficiency was declining at a rate of 2.3 percent per year on average, suggesting progress has been made in the past five years in extending the lifespan of the technology.
The report went on to say that EV batteries now “generally degrade more slowly than internal combustion engine drive system components.”
David Savage, Vice President UK and Ireland at Geotab, added: “With these higher levels of sustained health, batteries in the latest EV models will comfortably outlast the life of the vehicle and will likely not need to be replaced.
‘Yet we still see battery reliability being used as a weapon to defeat EVs.
“We hope that data like ours can finally dispel these myths.”
The report says an average 1.8 percent decline in battery health is unlikely to “have a significant impact on most drivers’ daily vehicle needs.”
He adds that this degradation should decrease in the future with the arrival of new models of electric vehicles and new advances in batteries, such as solid-state battery technology.
“People should have confidence that many of today’s electric vehicles are suitable and cost-effective for replacing a range of light, medium and heavy duty internal combustion vehicles,” David continued.
One of the biggest concerns holding drivers back from switching to electric cars is the longevity of their batteries and how often they might have to replace them at a high cost.
How the electric vehicle battery analysis was performed
Geotab calculates degradation using telematics data collected during charging.
Take the kWh added during a charging session and divide that value by the change in state of charge increase for each qualifying charging event.
This calculation, performed on recent charges, provides an estimate of the current battery capacity, which creates a ratio when divided by the vehicle’s initial battery capacity (battery capacity for that make/model as new).
Then take the weekly or monthly average for each vehicle to create a data point over time.
Geotab uses curve fitting by make-model-year for all weekly midpoints for each vehicle model.
The data is based on 21 different EV models, with the best performers seeing annual battery degradation at a rate of just 1 percent.
Possible contributing factors to some vehicle models’ batteries, on average, degrading faster than others include battery chemistry and battery pack thermal management.
“While today’s EVs primarily use lithium-ion batteries, there are many different variations of lithium-ion chemistry and this will influence how they respond to stress,” Geotab’s report notes.
‘In addition to cell chemistry, temperature control techniques differ between vehicle models.’
Another important distinction is whether the battery is cooled and/or heated with air or liquid.
A surprising finding from the research is that high-mileage EVs did not show significantly accelerated battery degradation compared to others.
“This should be good news for fleet operators in particular, as electric vehicles offer better value the more they are driven,” the report added.
Geotab’s report suggested that EV batteries in current models degrade, on average, by 1.8% per year.
What is battery degradation and should it stop you from switching to an EV?
Battery degradation is a natural process that permanently reduces the amount of energy a battery can store or the amount of energy it can deliver.
Electric vehicle batteries can typically supply more power than the powertrain components can handle.
As a result, power degradation is rarely seen in electric vehicles and all that matters is the loss of the battery’s ability to store energy.
The state of an electric vehicle battery is called state of health (SOH).
Batteries begin their useful life at 100 percent SOH and deteriorate over time.
For example, a 60 kWh battery with 90 percent SOH would effectively function as a 54 kWh battery.
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