What Is The Projected Lifespan Of An EV Battery?

Prospective or new EV owners often worry about the life of the car’s key power storage system: the battery.

But are these concerns warranted, or are they being deliberately spread by legacy vehicle makers keen to fuel rumors about unrealistic drawbacks of driving an electric car?

We set out to expose the truth…

Understanding the Basics of Battery Lifespan

You own or want to own an electric car. But you’ve heard some crazy propaganda about battery life which is, at times, confusing. Obviously, if you go to the expense of buying an EV you want it to last a long time, and you don’t want your battery dying after a few years. This article will provide an overview of the basics of battery lifespan, why you probably don’t need to worry so much, as well as give you some tips on how to help extend the life of your electric vehicle battery.

There are many things that determine the useful life of a battery:

• battery chemistry
• user care
• number of cycles and
• charging history…

… all of which we’ll get into.

But first, let’s look at…

Battery Warranty versus Battery Life

I have heard so many times people confuse battery warranty and battery life. The common mistake is they think that if a battery only has an 8-year warranty, that its life is limited to 8 years. This is simply not true.

Battery warranty and battery life are two distinct concepts.

Battery Warranty: A battery warranty typically covers defects in workmanship and materials for a certain number of years or cycles, but it does not guarantee the battery's lifespan or degradation rate.

A certain amount of battery degradation is factored in (expressed as a percentage). If the battery degrades to a figure lower than that warranted, then the battery will either be replaced or repaired.

Battery warranty can be misleading, as it does not necessarily reflect the same lifespan as the battery. Battery chemistry, evolving technology, and user care can all impact how many cycles a battery can handle before experiencing significant degradation. Typically, EV manufacturers guarantee their battery's performance for 8-10 years or 100,000-150,000 miles.

Battery Life: This refers to the amount of time a battery lasts before it significantly deteriorates and loses its ability to hold a charge. Lithium-ion batteries, the most common type used in EVs, typically last between 15 to 20 years.

The warranty only covers defects in manufacturing, battery failure or significant capacity loss, while battery life refers to the time until it can no longer hold a charge. It is the duration a battery can function before degradation.

Battery Degradation with Superfast Charging

Though the exact definition is hard to pin down, ultrafast charging speeds are generally considered to be 100 kW and higher. The fastest degradation of a battery comes with frequent ultrafast charging, especially if the battery is frequently charged above 80% (from 80 – 100%). Because of the propensity for most wear or degradation to occur with very high DC power delivery in this final portion, EV ultrafast charging times are often quoted for the time taken to get from 20 – 80%.

But not every modern electric car will charge at such high speeds, so for some of us, this issue simply isn’t relevant. Check your car’s manual or ask your dealer what your EV’s highest charge speed is. For some smaller cars, it could well be under 100kW.

AC versus DC charging

How you drive, charge and how much and how often you charge your car are all factors that determine the rate of degradation of your battery (if at all significant) and its useful EV life.

Latest anecdotal information from countless EV owners shows that AC charging up to 100%, even daily, does not significantly degrade the battery capacity. What may degrade your battery, however, is frequent ultrafast DC charging above 80% (and frankly, the jury is out with this one as well. Some owners who have always charged this way are reporting excellent battery conditions even after 100,000 miles driven).

AC chargers are the ones you will use at home, or at work, restaurants, and community chargers.

DC chargers are the superfast ones where a current is fed at high speeds from the public charger directly to your battery, bypassing your car’s onboard inverter.

Pro tips:

• To prolong the lifespan of your EV battery, avoid frequent ultrafast DC charging to full capacity.
• Try not to let your car sit at 100% for more than a few hours (overnight should be fine).
• And the most consistent findings seem to be that constantly running your battery down to single figures of charge—and leaving it that way—may be the worst thing to do.

Getting into a habit for keeping your battery in that sweet spot of 50 – 80% with small AC-charging topups here and there is a good thing!

Battery Chemistry

Different chemistries have different properties and degradation rates. Newer technologies, such as solid-state batteries, are expected to offer better performance and longevity than current lithium-ion batteries. A Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery is a cobalt-free, lower cost, more sustainable battery and can withstand frequent charges to 100% with no hit to its performance. While it’s extremely rare to have EV batteries explode or cause a battery fire (contrary to some sensationalist reports), LFP batteries have an even lower risk of burning.

Battery Chemistry and Evolving Technology

Battery technology is constantly evolving and EV batteries are now more stable, less flammable (it’s exceedingly rare for EVs to burst into flames without extreme provocation such as a massive accident), and far more durable. Emerging battery technologies such as solid-state and lithium-sulfur batteries offer promising advancements in increasing battery efficiency and lifespan. Other parallel technological advancements concern the sustainability of batteries so their components are neither wasted or have deleterious effects on the environment. Much R&D is directed towards repurposing batteries to give them extended service, and recycling into component elements and parts to be reused.

Fires in EVs, Hybrids and Gas-powered cars

There’s a lot of bad press about fires caused by electric cars. Maybe it’s because the newness of the electric car industry shines a spotlight on any perceived problems. These are wildly exaggerated. An insurance company in the US called AutoInsuranceEZ conducted a study. They examined the stats as reported by several national agencies to discover some rather amazing results.

The article linked above has a terrific summary, but if you want to research for yourself, here are the agencies who all reported on the most flammable cars:

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)

Recalls.gov

When it all boils down to it, from the actual figures you can see that EVs are so far the safest options. Fewer things by far can go wrong with an electric car. Yes, a battery fire can be harder to extinguish but here are a couple of interesting points:

• A diesel or gas car holds potentially many tens of gallons (or liters) flammable fuel. The bigger the car, the more fuel you carry onboard. When you are in an ICE car, you are literally sitting atop a machine that holds fuel, that is fed into an engine which literally explodes fuel to power the engine. So, yes you are sitting on a fuel source and that fuel is intentionally being exploded… with you just inches away. If you are ever in the unfortunate situation and involved in an accident, if an ICE car ignites, then you may not have time to get out. This includes you (or any passengers, or kids strapped into car seats). Sadly many occupants have lost their lives due to a gas-fueled automotive fire.
• It is unlikely that an EV will explode into flames instantly in the same way an ICE vehicle will. If an EV is unfortunately involved in an accident, you are most likely to see a plume of smoke or a flame which is less likely to erupt to instantly engulf the car. A fire in an EV will likely allow sufficient time to evacuate all the occupants.

Let’s look at the car fire stats

You Do the Math

• For every 100,000 sales of hybrid cars, there were almost 3,500 fires.
• For every 100,000 sales of ICE cars, there were over 1,500 fires.
• For every 100,000 sales of battery electric cars BEVs, there were only 25 fires.

If you watch the news, you could be forgiven for believing that EVs burst into flames at the drop of a hat. But, the total number of fires across the USA for the year was just shy of 200,000. To put that in perspective, that’s an average of 547 gas cars catching fire PER DAY. For the same period, only 52 cars were in EVs.

And with new protective shutdown technology along with the safer battery chemistries (LFP for example), the real-world risk is far lower than any ICE vehicle.

Charging History and Number of Cycles

With current battery technologies, the more times a battery is charged and discharged, the more it degrades. Battery management systems (BMS) help optimize charging and prolong battery life.

Frequent use of ultrafast charging may in some cases accelerate battery degradation. Best practice for charging means you should avoid (where you can) full charges and deep discharges. This applies particularly with ultrafast DC charging. Frequent AC charging at Level 1 and 2 speeds appears to maintain battery status, and over years, and even many tens of thousands of miles of travel. The initial fears about degrading batteries seem to be relatively unfounded.

IMPORTANT NOTE about charging cycles:

• Degradation of an EV battery seems to most correlated with very frequent ultrafast charging (very fast DC charging at public chargers generally above 100kW speeds right up to 350kW).
• Recent evidence shows that the EVs of people who mostly AC charge their vehicles (home, work and shopping centers etc) and very infrequently use ultrafast DC chargers, tend to have no significant battery degradation after tens of thousands of miles, even when top-up charging all the time.

Take Proper Care

Battery degradation can vary depending on usage:

• Expect to decrease battery life if you consistently have an aggressive driving style, and have consistently high operating temperatures.
• You can increase battery life with proper user care and maintenance, such as avoiding frequent DC supercharging (at Level 3 or ultrafast speeds) from 80 – 100%.
• In cold conditions, using preconditioning (if your EV is fitted with this function) can also help put less stress on the car’s battery when ultrafast charging. It will also help you maintain high charging speeds and save you time at the charging station.

Rule of thumb: If you’re mostly using AC at-home charging (or AC speeds below 50kW) you should have no issues with battery longevity.

Repurposing and Recycling of EV Batteries

The success of electric vehicles (EVs) relies heavily on the performance of the batteries that power them. Over time, all batteries in any device will experience some degree of degradation, which can result in reduced range and performance. While modern EV batteries have become increasingly efficient, their lifespans are still limited and repair and/or replacement of battery cells and modules may be required.

Repurposing and recycling EV batteries is a key part of creating a sustainable EV market.

Battery Life After EV Service: Recycling, Repurposing

As battery technology continues to evolve, the options for repurposing and recycling EV batteries are expanding, which gives these batteries an even longer lifespan and reduces their environmental impact.

Used and inefficient batteries do not have to go to waste. There are new and evolving efficient systems that can break batteries down into components back into remanufacture.

Second Life Use for EV Batteries

Fortunately, there are several options for repurposing and recycling EV batteries to give them a "second life".

Once an EV battery is no longer suitable for use in a vehicle, it can still be repurposed for other energy storage needs, such as powering homes or businesses. Battery materials can be recycled to create new batteries or other products. There are many viable options:

• Home batteries
• Grid-scale battery systems.
• To power electric boats, forklifts and other vehicles and devices.

Recycling and Disposal of EV Batteries

Battery recycling and repurposing is an essential part of the process to reduce waste and promote sustainable energy consumption. With growing awareness and technological advancements, we can make electric vehicles more sustainable and eco-friendly, and a key component of a circular economy.

Recycling involves breaking down the batteries into their component parts for reuse in manufacturing. Batteries are composed of a variety of materials many of which are hazardous to the environment if not properly disposed of. These include metals, chemicals, and plastics.

Be proactive: When it's time to dispose of your EV battery, always seek out authorized recycling centers and facilities to ensure proper disposal and minimize environmental impact.

Conclusion: Understanding and Maximizing EV Battery Lifespan

With proper care and attention to your choice of car (and battery type), driving style, charging habits and conditions, you can maximize the lifespan of your EV.