A study by Pickles in Australia noted that EVs retained over 90% of their battery capacity, even after 120,000 km of driving.
While EVs have become more and more commonplace in the market recently, there are nevertheless still many motorists that are hesitant towards transitioning to what is still widely seen as a novel means of automotive propulsion. And among the top concerns for this subset of people is to be what happens with the battery pack down the line, with there being the fear that they will be left with a car that can’t even make it out of their house, and rather pricey replacement bill on their hands after just a couple years of driving.
A comprehensive study conducted by Australian auction house Pickles Automotive Solutions has however recently analysed over 250 used EVs down under, and found that EVs with more than 120,000 km on the clock (equivalent to approximately 10 years of typical Australian driving) still retained on average an impressive 90.1% of their original battery capacity!
Now delving into a little bit more detail regarding this recent Pickles study, the findings have further shown that EV batteries on average show a rather gradual and predictable decline with both age and milage. This study has for instance found that EVs still managed to retain nearly 94% of its original battery capacity, even after 4+ years on the road.
Here are the tables that provide a detailed breakdown of battery capacity retention across different age and mileage brackets:
| Vehicle Age | Battery Capacity Retention Percentage |
| 0-2 years | 97.2% |
| 2-4 years | 95.6% |
| 4+ years | 93.7% |
| Distance Travelled | Battery Capacity Retention Percentage |
| 0-20,000km | 98.2% |
| 20,000-40,000km | 95.7% |
| 40,000-80,000km | 94.5% |
| 120,000km+ | 90.1% |
One of the more intriguing aspects of the study performed here too was the battery capacity retention between automakers, and it is interesting because both Hyundai and BYD have appeared to beat out the industry-benchmark Tesla at its own game. EVs from the South Korean automaker for example have demonstrated in the study an impressive 99.3% capacity retention after 29,000 km and 39 months of use, with it to more impressively be capable of maintaining 99.31% capacity after 120,000 km.
BYD meanwhile followed closely behind Hyundai, showing 98.6% battery retention after 16,000 km and 17 months of use. Tesla EVs on the other hand yielded a comparatively lower capacity retention of just just 93.3%, but it is worth pointing out that this was after a comparatively longer average driving distance of 42,000 km and 27 months.
Worth highlighting at the end here is that while this study does provide some valuable insights into early and mid-life battery performance, there are still to be questions regarding about how these batteries will fare in the longer term. Battery degradation after all tends to follow a non-linear pattern, with the potential for more rapid capacity loss as cells approach the end of their useful life. But to those who are perhaps currently considering to capitalise on the massive depreciation affecting nearly new EVs right now, this study could allays any fears for longer term fully-electric ownership.
Oh, one more thing to note too is that this study from Pickles came about as it is pushing a reliable EV battery health assurance process, to give its customers confidence when buying used EVs in Australia. So there might be the case here for an entrepreneurial spirit to start something similar over here perhaps?
