How long do EV batteries last?

[Ian Key]

An article in Auto Express says they last longer than expected. Cars with 160000 miles on the clock still showed 95% SOH.

Electric car batteries are lasting a lot longer than expected | Auto Express

UK’s largest used EV battery survey reveals the average state of health for electric cars of all ages is 95 per cent

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[JimD]

I think the only ones pushing the idea that EV batteries didn't last was the fossil fuel lobby.

 

[slmorgan42]

This is a rough guess for my situation. No home charger.

• 6,500 miles/year
• mostly AC
• only ~6 DC-trip bursts/year
• normally 50 - 80%

Assuming ~250 miles mixed real-world when new:

Age​	Expected SOH​	Estimated mixed range​
1 year	98.5% (current)	~246 miles
2 years	97.8–98.4%	244–246 miles
3 years	97.0–98.0%	242–245 miles
4 years	96.0–97.3%	240–243 miles
5 years	95.0–96.6%	238–242 miles
6 years	94.0–96.0%	235–240 miles
7 years	93.0–95.2%	232–238 miles
8 years	91.5–94.5%	229–236 miles
9 years	90.0–93.5%	225–234 miles
10 years	88.5–92.5%	221–231 miles

 

[salty]

I could live with that.

 

[johnb80]

My BMW i3 has Sanyo cells fitted which guarantee at least 6000 full cycles before deteriorating to 80% capacity. My i3 will do around 130 miles on a full charge so, simple maths, 6000 x 130 = 780,000 miles. Keeping in mind this is what Sanyo guarantee, it's most likely a lot further than that.
My home batteries, LifeP04, have been running now for 4 years and on the last check just before Christmas, the SOH 99.8%
I'm not in the least bit concerned about battery degradation.

 

[salty]

I'm not in the least bit concerned about battery degradation.

Agree. What's the point in worrying.
What will be, will be.

 

[tsedge]

An article in Auto Express says they last longer than expected. Cars with 160000 miles on the clock still showed 95% SOH.

Electric car batteries are lasting a lot longer than expected | Auto Express

UK’s largest used EV battery survey reveals the average state of health for electric cars of all ages is 95 per cent

www.autoexpress.co.uk

They do indeed.

Our customs of lovingly caring for our charge levels are apparently quaint cargo-cult rituals akin to witch doctory.

 

[Giller]

An article in Auto Express says they last longer than expected. Cars with 160000 miles on the clock still showed 95% SOH.

Electric car batteries are lasting a lot longer than expected | Auto Express

UK’s largest used EV battery survey reveals the average state of health for electric cars of all ages is 95 per cent

www.autoexpress.co.uk

That’ll do for me, at my age, hope I can wear the bloody thing out

 

[Ian Key]

That’ll do for me, at my age, hope I can wear the bloody thing out

What a way to go. Worn out and sparkless

 

[T1 Terry]

What a way to go. Worn out and sparkless

At the rate of performance decline, I'm sure my MG4 will out last me
I'm glad they don't run an SOH on the driver, I would have been sent to the recyclers years ago and a driver in better condition installed in my place .....

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

At the 2-year service my dealer said my LFP battery was at 93%. The previous year they had said 100%. I'm not sure if I believe them because I don't honestly notice any less range than when the car was new.

 

[T1 Terry]

At the 2-year service my dealer said my LFP battery was at 93%. The previous year they had said 100%. I'm not sure if I believe them because I don't honestly notice any less range than when the car was new.

I would be surprised if it dropped below 90%. 45.9kwh, close enough to 46kwh and far closer than the claimed 51kwh. The new battery is 49kwh claimed, still LFP .... do you believe they would fit a lower capacity battery in the base model? Or are they slowly reducing the claimed capacity till it reaches the actual battery capacity?

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

That's way above my pay grade.

 

[tsedge]

I really get tired of all the SOH crap. The numbers don't mean anything and are algorithically generated and not comparable at all across models, let alone makes. They are not a measure of anything.

Either the needed range is still there or it isn't, that's the relevant factor. Mine is.

 

[Rolfe]

Mine too.

 

[Data]

At the 2-year service my dealer said my LFP battery was at 93%. The previous year they had said 100%. I'm not sure if I believe them because I don't honestly notice any less range than when the car was new.

I would imagine someone has made a typo on that second year figure. It would be more like 98% in reality Rolfe. You wouldn't lose so much in a further year of use no matter how far you drove.

 

[siteguru]

I would imagine someone has made a typo on that second year figure. It would be more like 98% in reality Rolfe. You wouldn't lose so much in a further year of use no matter how far you drove.

It might be more like 98% in reality, but it was almost certainly reported as 93% after 2 years via the OBD connection. That ties in almost exactly with how my SE SR SoH has been reported.

Year 1 95%
Year 2 93%
Year 3 91%

 

[Rolfe]

Are you aware of any loss of range, though?

 

[Ian Key]

I'd have thought to check the SOH accurately every system in the car must be turned off, have had a recent under 10% to 100% balance charge and checked at a pre-described ambient temperature so just randomly plugging in the OBD reader won't give an accurate reading.

I agree with @tsedge and @Rolfe unless the range has noticeably decreased it is irrelevant unless you are using 100% of the battery plus there are many other factors which affect the range.

If you had a plate with 100 peas on it and whoever served them miscounted would you notice there were only 95?

 

[tsedge]

I'd have thought to check the SOH accurately every system in the car must be turned off, have had a recent under 10% to 100% balance charge and checked at a pre-described ambient temperature so just randomly plugging in the OBD reader won't give an accurate reading.

It is worse than that. The SOH can only be accurately measured by draining the battery from 100% to 0% under controlled repeatable conditions.