With a degradation rate of just 1.8% per year, the vast majority of EV batteries will outlast the usable life of the vehicle
- Geotab analysed the battery health of approximately 5,000 electric vehicles (EVs), representing 1.5 million days of data
- Average battery health has improved by 22% over the past five years (1.8% degradation in 2024 versus 2.3% in 2019)
- “EV batteries will never need to be replaced”; the findings bust one of the long-held myths around electric vehicles – that batteries are less reliable than their ICE counterparts
- The best-performing EV models on sale today have battery degradation rates of just 1.0% annually; this number will only come down as battery technology improves
- High-use batteries do not show increased degradation rates, meaning that EVs offer better value the more they are driven
- High res images: https://bit.ly/BatteryDegradation
LONDON, United Kingdom – Geotab Inc. (“Geotab”), a global market leader in connected transportation solutions, has released new data that indicates electric vehicle (EV) batteries will now last 20 years or more.
The company analysed the battery health of almost 5,000 fleet and private EVs, representing nearly 1.5 million days of telematics data, to explore how the latest battery technology holds up to the rigours of daily use. The data highlighted how batteries degrade, on average, by 1.8% per year – compared to 2.3% when Geotab last performed a wholesale analysis of EV battery health in 2019, and generally more slowly than internal combustion engine (ICE) drivetrain components.
“With these higher levels of sustained health, batteries in the latest EV models will comfortably outlast the usable life of the vehicle and will likely not need to be replaced,” said David Savage, Vice President for the UK and Ireland at Geotab.
“However, we still see battery reliability being used as a stick to beat EVs with. Hopefully, data like ours can finally put these myths to bed. The fact is that a 1.8% decline in battery health is unlikely to have a significant impact on most driver’s daily vehicle needs, and this number will only come down further with new EV models and improved battery technology. People should feel confident that many current EVs are suitable and cost-effective to replace a range of light, medium and heavy-duty ICE vehicles.”
A Geotab report from earlier this year found that two-thirds of vehicles (cars and vans) operated by private and public sector organisations in the UK are ready to go electric. The ‘Taking Charge: On the Road to an EV Future’ report analysed driver data from 1.3 million vehicles across seven countries over 12 months, and also suggested that fleets could save an average of £13,279 per vehicle over seven years when replacing ICE vehicles with EVs.
