No more fear of changing batteries?

One of the biggest fears of potential electric vehicle (EV) buyers is the costly battery replacement after a few years of use. However, a comprehensive data analysis conducted by Geotab shows that these fears were unfounded. The research shows that modern batteries with advanced cooling systems degrade surprisingly slowly, meaning that in most cases they will last the entire life of the car.

Electric cars are designed to make the most optimal use of available electrical energy.

Geotab's analysis of more than 10,000 electric vehicles has yielded encouraging results for sustainable mobility. The average battery degradation rate is only 1.8 % per year. To put this into perspective: after ten years of use, a battery will still retain more than 80 % of its original capacity. This is a significantly better result than studies showed five years ago, when the average degradation was around 2.3 % per year.

The study highlights that battery health is greatly influenced by the cooling method. Vehicles with active liquid-cooled batteries (such as Tesla models or newer Hyundais) perform much better than those with air cooling. The researchers also find that frequent use of fast chargers does not damage batteries as drastically as initially thought, although they still advise moderation. Interestingly, for vehicles with high annual mileage – some drive more than 30,000 kilometers (about 18,600 miles) per year – degradation does not increase proportionally, suggesting that the time component of aging is as important as the number of charging cycles.

This is great news for used car owners. The fear of having to pay between €10,000 and €20,000 for a new battery is becoming less and less justified. Most manufacturers now offer a battery warranty of up to 8 years or 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles), and studies show that these batteries will easily exceed the 250,000 or even 300,000 kilometer mark. Electric vehicles are thus becoming an increasingly rational long-term investment, as their mechanical simplicity is now combined with the proven durability of the energy heart.