Recurrent is an organization with a mission of “providing more transparency and confidence in pre-owned electric car transactions,” in order to “accelerate the overall adoption of electric vehicles.” In Late March, they released a report titled “How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?” With their permission, we’re summarizing some of their conclusions and sharing their data charts. (The entire report is worth your time; you can read it here.)
Report author Liz Najman points out a salient fact about all lithium-ion batteries: as soon as they’re born, they start to die.
“Lithium ion batteries start to degrade as soon as they are made and that affects available range as cars age. … Even if you never use lithium ion batteries, they slowly lose power and efficiency over time.”
Her report has three topline conclusions:
- Battery replacements are rare. “In our community of 15,000 cars, only 1.5% have been replaced (outside of big recalls like Chevy Bolt).”
- Degradation is not linear: “There's some drop in the beginning then it levels out for a long period.”
- Most replacements occur under warranty: “For example, a new Rivian has battery coverage for 175,000 miles or 10 years. The federal minimum warranty is 8 years or 100,000 miles.”
With Recurrent's permission, let’s take a look at the data.
