A new study from Canada’s Geotab finds that EV battery longevity should not be a concern when considering the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV).
In fact, the analysis of more than 22,700 EVs from 21 different models finds that modern EV batteries will likely outlast the service life of the vehicle.
Another finding is that high-power DC fast charging (>100kW) is the single largest stressor, leading to degradation rates up to twice that of the low power charging group (3.0% vs 1.5% per year).
This is in direct contradiction to a study we reported on in November which found that no statistical difference between the heavy use of DC fast charging vs AC charging in battery degradation.
That study focused solely on Tesla models, however and regardless, the additional 1.5% figure cited by Geotab is quite small, which was their point.
The study also found that hot climate conditions pushed battery degradation up an additional 0.4% than in mild climates.
There was no discussion of whether cold climates degrade high-voltage batteries faster than mild climates, which has been a personal concern of late.
Geotab did say that their dataset lacked sufficient cold-only samples to isolate the impact of extreme cold on long-term degradation. However, they expect that “an EV in Arizona will likely have a shorter battery life than the same model driven in Norway.”
The Geotab study offers much more and can be seen here.
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Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 30+ years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s, ME: MS, RPI, NY
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