Whether you're a fleet manager or a private driver, "range anxiety" has slowly turned into "degradation anxiety". As EV ranges have improved, the focus has shifted towards the actual longevity of the batteries themselves. I get it, batteries seem like very finicky things. When you look at a smartphone, you assume that the battery is going to be much worse in 3 years time, but is that the same with EVs?

Well, as I'm sure the title of this article suggests, it's not the same with EVs. In fact, new data is proving that EV batteries are far more resilient than people may think.

The Myth

People have historically seen batteries as pretty much the same no matter their application. "It's just a little thing that holds electric, right?". Well, kinda, but also kinda no. If we look more at smartphones, it's expected that after 2 years you'll notice that it doesn't hold a charge as well and you're recharging more and more often. Move this thinking to an EV? Suddenly that 250 mile of range will become 200 after 2 years, and even lower as time goes on. This would be a giant issue for EVs. As most people typically own a new car for around 7-8 years, you'd be looking at a lot of lost battery capacity if the above logic were true.

The Reality

We know that EV batteries are much smarter than a typical smartphone battery, partly by the very smart technology managing them. Recent large-scale industry studies (analysing over 22,000 EVs) actually reveal that EV batteries are holding their health remarkably well. On average, EV batteries only lose around 2% of their capacity per year. A vast difference to the 20% every 2 years for the average smartphone.

This means that, even after 5 years of heavy use, a car with 250 miles of range would still comfortably offer 225 miles. For the average UK commute or fleet route, this degradation is pretty much negligible. Now as with all things, your mileage may vary (pun intended).

To put that into perspective for typical ownership cycles:

• Age: Most EVs are expected to retain between 90% and 95% of their original capacity after 5 years.
• Mileage: Data from thousands of vehicles shows that modern batteries typically hold 80-90% of their health even after passing 100,000 miles.
• Life Expectancy: At the current rates of wear, you can expect a modern EV battery to last between 15 and 20 years - which often outlasts the life of the vehicle chassis itself.

The Top Performers

Whilst all of the EVs in the study showed some pretty impressive stats in terms of battery health, there were a few popular models that came out on top. If you're looking for the absolute top contenders, here they are:

• Tesla Model Y & 3: Tesla has always been known for their brilliant batteries and were one of the first brands to make a real push towards electric vehicles. The studies shown that the Model Y & 3 faced 1.5% and 2% annual degradation, respectively.
• Toyota bZ4X: A less popular EV that still performed very well, showing an annual degradation of just 1.4%.
• Audi e-Tron: Audi's offering managed a very impressive 1.2% annual degradation.
• Mercedes-Benz EQS: The absolute best performer, showing a tiny annual degradation of just 1.1%.

Now, whilst these vehicles all did very well, it should be said that the differences between them are so minuscule that they would be absolutely unnoticeable to most people. Because EV range (much like ICE vehicles) depends on a number of factors like driving habits, amount of passengers, vehicle load, external temperature, internal temperature, age of components, charging habits, time of day*, whether Neptune is in retrograde* and even how much food your pet ate this morning*. You wouldn't notice any meaningful battery degradation at all unless you were actively tracking it very precisely.

*Not actual factors that determine vehicle range.

The Tips

With the study showcasing how batteries degrade over time, you might be thinking "What can I do to slow the degradation?" and I've got some good news here. There are actually quite a few things you can do that can give your battery a long and happy life:

• Driving Habits: This is widespread advice for any car really, but if you love to get to 62mph in just a few seconds, there's going to be more wear on your battery for both the short-term and long-term. Driving a bit more gently and easing into your pedals will definitely help with this.
• The 20-80 Rule: Another well-known fact, to keep your battery healthy, you should try to keep your battery between 20-80%. For the absolute best outcomes, batteries are at their best between 40-60%, but this is pretty difficult to achieve, so 20-80% is fine. Don't worry if you sometimes need to charge to 100% or a long journey home leaves you at 2% (I've been there, it's scary), a one-off won't cause harm. Some EV batteries can safely be charged to 100% regularly without causing harm, so it's good to check with your manufacturer.
• Charging Speed: A lesser known fact, but frequently using fast chargers (more than 100kW) can cause the battery to degrade a little faster. Think of them a little like fast-food, every so often is fine, but using them more than 10% of the time? It'll likely increase the wear on your battery.
• Manage Temperature: Batteries have a 'golden zone' for operating, usually between 15°C and 30°C. If it's cold out, use your vehicle's app to precondition the battery and warm it up. If it's scorching hot outside, try parking in the shade.
• Storage: If you know the vehicle isn't going to be used for 2 weeks or more, don't leave it at 100% or 0%. Around 50% is the sweet spot if it isn't going to be used for a while.
• Software Updates: I get it, nobody likes updating their stuff, but they do actually help. Manufacturers often push out important updates that optimise how your Battery Management System operate, meaning they'll help your battery last that little bit longer.

With all of these tips combined, you can probably expect your battery to degrade at half the rate it might if you didn't follow these at all. Although it's still important to note: Batteries are consumable parts, in that they will degrade over time and right now, there's nothing we can do to stop it, but we can slow it down.

The Guarantee

If you're noticing some severe degradation on your battery, it might be an idea to see if your vehicle came with a guarantee. Many EVs (and even PHEVs) come with a guarantee on their batteries, usually covering either 5-10 years or a certain mileage (or both).

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Ultimately, whilst many doubted the longevity of EV batteries, they've shown to be far more resilient than people expected. Even without following the tips above, you can still expect your EV to take you a far distance even after 10 years of using them. If we've convinced you that EVs aren't as awful as they're often made out to be, maybe we can convince you to check out some of our latest EV Lease Offers? Worth a try.