How long do electric car batteries last?

Just like the battery in a smartphone, electric car batteries don’t last forever. Over time, the battery will degrade and won’t be able to hold as much charge, effectively shortening your car’s range. Batteries can be very expensive to replace, so it begs the question: how long do electric car batteries last?

There’s no one-answer-fits-all here, unfortunately, but most EV batteries are designed to work far beyond 100,000 miles or over 10 years. Some can last longer than this, while most manufacturers provide a separate battery warranty that lasts longer than the standard car warranty. This means if something goes wrong with the battery during your ownership, you shouldn’t have to fork out for a replacement.

But it’s important to point out that an EV battery will naturally lose some of its capacity over its lifespan, through a process known as ‘degradation’. As the years go by and the mileage racks up, an EV’s battery will degrade and won’t be able to hold as much charge, shortening its range. Most EV battery warranties only cover battery degradation up to a certain percentage – usually if it has lost more than 30% of its capacity within the warranty period.

However, there are ways to slow the degradation of your electric car battery. We’ll cover some of the best practices that will help your EV battery to last as long as possible.

How to make an electric car battery last longer

Battery degradation is pretty much impossible to avoid, but it can be slowed. Your electric car will use a Battery Management System (BMS) to take care of the battery and optimise its charging, but there are a few things you can do to help as well.

Although it can be tempting to recharge an electric car after every use, even if there’s plenty of charge left in the battery, this isn’t the best idea. The more charges and discharges you carry out on an electric car’s battery – a process known as ‘cycles’ – the quicker it degrades. 

Ideally, you should only recharge your EV once the battery drops to around 20% remaining charge. Regularly charging the battery to 100% can also cause the battery to degrade faster. That’s why most manufacturers also recommend only charging your EV to around 80% for day-to-day driving, and why rapid chargers often slow down past this point.

Many electric vehicles now include software that lets owners stop the battery from charging above 80% – even when the car is plugged in for long periods, such as overnight. This is worth setting up, as it will help to prolong your EV’s battery life in the long run, and you can still easily change the battery settings to charge to 100% before a long journey.

Similarly, regularly rapid-charging the battery can speed up the degradation process, so it’s best to stick to slower charging if you’re not in a rush.

How much does an electric car battery replacement cost? 

There’s no way around it – batteries are expensive. Costs vary depending on the make and model of the car, but owners could be looking at a bill between £4,000 and £20,000 for a replacement unit.

That’s why a separate battery warranty is very important. Depending on the manufacturer, some of these warranties transfer over to the next owner when the car is sold, so if something goes wrong with the battery and you’ve bought your EV used, you might still be able to get a free replacement – it’s worth checking when you buy your electric car.

It’s also worth considering that the price of electric car batteries has fallen significantly over the past decade. This does not necessarily mean EV battery prices will continue to fall, though continued research and development of battery technology could result in further reductions to the cost of EV battery packs in the future. 

How many times can an electric car battery be recharged? 

Electric car batteries naturally degrade with each cycle – the process of charging and then discharging the battery. Each cycle only causes a tiny amount of degradation, but this can stack up over years of use, reducing the maximum range of the EV. It’s the same reason why an old smartphone battery won’t last as long as a brand new one.

Most manufacturers believe that an EV battery should still have around 70% of its original capacity by the end of the typical eight-year warranty. On average, an EV battery pack that is used for eight years would go through between 1,000-1,500 charge cycles, at which point the battery may have lost around 30% of its available range.

Manufacturers advise that an electric car’s battery life can be extended drastically by only charging it to a maximum of 80% capacity and not allowing it to fall below 20%. Similarly, regularly using rapid chargers will cause the battery to degrade faster, so sticking to a slow charger will help your battery last longer.

How long do electric car batteries last on a single charge?

This depends on the make and model, but today’s EVs offer anywhere from around 150 miles to 450 miles of range on one charge. Range is dependent on many factors, including battery size, battery condition, vehicle weight, and even the size of the wheels. Temperature also plays a significant role – cold weather will usually see range drop significantly, because batteries don’t work as well when they are at a low temperature. 

Some of the latest EVs feature a heat pump that can help control the temperature of the battery pack to boost winter efficiency and pre-heat the battery before arriving at a charging station to improve charging speeds.

We’ve covered the longest range electric cars on sale today, as well as other EV topics like ‘range anxiety’ and EV charging stations.

What happens to electric car batteries at the end of their life? 

EV batteries are either repurposed or recycled at the end of their lives. Retired EV batteries can be reused for storing energy in places such as factories, shopping centres or even homes, helping reduce the pollution caused by disposing of electric car batteries at the end of their life.

If an EV’s battery has degraded to the point where it can no longer be repurposed for energy storage, it can be dismantled and broken down into fine powders. The valuable raw minerals, such as lithium, can be extracted to create new products, including new car batteries. 

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