Battery replacement is the most significant expense associated with owning an EV. While early EV models showed faster battery degradation, contemporary batteries, with improved technology and management systems, are now much more durable than before.
New Research Suggests It's Way Longer Than You Might Think An independent analysis of 15,000 EV batteries finds that most don't need to be replaced until they're well over a decade old. For many EV-curious buyers, the fear of spending thousands on a battery replacement at some point could understandably keep them from going electric.
Onori and her colleagues determined, however, that this is not an ideal approach for predicting the life expectancy of EV batteries — a find of particular importance, since batteries still account for about a third the of price of a new EV.
Modern EVs are designed to last 15-20 years, comparable to or even longer than traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The key factor in their longevity is the battery. EV batteries are typically considered at the end of their life when they drop below 70 to 80 per cent of their original capacity.
Of the 15,000 vehicles, only 1.5% had been replaced. This excludes major battery recalls, such as the Chevy Bolt and Hyundai Kona. "So far, it seems that EV batteries have much longer lifespans than anyone imagined, since very few of them have been replaced," the study says.
Data published in September 2024 by Geotab, a transportation telematics company, claims the “vast majority of EV batteries will outlast the usable life of the vehicle”. The company says how, with a sample size of 5,000 EVs representing 1.5 million days of ownership, the average battery degrades by 1.8 per cent per year.