Electric Vehicles: How long until batterys need replacing?

The UK and the rest of the world has seen a huge surge in demand in recent years for electric vehicles (EVs), as they become ever more popular with motorists due to their green and cost-saving credentials.

In 2019, 37,850 electric vehicles were registered on UK roads compared to just 15,510 in 2018 according to The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT). That’s an increase of 144% year on year.

With hundreds of models being prepared for release over the next 18 months and beyond, the electric vehicles as a trend  is only set to accelerate.

Electric Vehicles: Battery degradation and how long it takes

In their latest research, Select Car Leasing has identified the best and worst models for battery degradation.

Some of the lithium-ion batteries in the first commercially available EVs suffered greatly from battery degradation and the Nissan Leaf was no different.

As the data below shows, the 2013–2015 models of the Leaf are currently down to around 80% of their full battery capacity.

The 2015 model lost 6% of its battery capacity in the first year alone, while the 2014 model is a shocking 23% down in year 5.

This is all the more worrying considering that the Leaf only comes with an eight-year, or 100,000-mile warranty. These figures look much more favourable for the 2017 model, which is down 5% in year 3 and the 2019 model which saw just a 1% reduction in performance over the first year.

To find out if the trend of huge improvements in battery capacity retention rates evident in the Nissan Leaf, is the same across the board, Select Car Leasing analysed the year 1 capacity percentages of some of the world’s favourite EV cars.

Comparing the findings below to the 6% loss of capacity within the first year for the Nissan Leaf 2016 model, you can see that even the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which lost the most battery capacity on our list, was less than 4% down in the first year. That’s around 2% less than the Nissan Leaf over the same period.

Naturally, Tesla’s range features prominently in our top 10 with the Model 3, X and S losing a meagre 1% capacity over the first year.

However, it’s bad news for Volkswagen as their flagship e-Golf and Golf GTE models slump to the bottom 10. This is surprising considering the car brand’s reputation for high quality and efficiency but could be reversed in the coming years as VW prepare the ‘iD’ electric range for worldwide release.

you can find Select Car Leasing’s full research here: https://www.selectcarleasing.co.uk/news/article/electric-car-battery-losing-charge/

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