Geotab report says EV batteries could have a lifespan of 20 years or more
A new report from commercial fleet management company Geotab has found that electric vehicle (EV) batteries could 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 drivetrain components.
Battery degradation is a natural process that permanently reduces the amount of energy a battery can store or the amount of power it can deliver. The batteries in EVs can generally deliver more power than the powertrain components can handle. As a result, power degradation is rarely observable in EVs and only the loss of the battery’s ability to store energy matters. An EV battery’s condition is called its state of health (SOH). Batteries start their life with 100% SOH and over time they deteriorate. For example, a 60 kWh battery with 90% SOH would effectively act like a 54 kWh battery.
The best-performing EV models in the updated Geotab analysis posted a battery degradation rate of just 1%. Potential contributors to why some vehicle models, on average, degrade faster than others are battery chemistry and thermal management of the battery pack. While current EVs mostly use lithium-ion batteries, there are many different variations of lithium-ion chemistries and this will influence how it responds to stress. In addition to cell chemistry, temperature control techniques differ across vehicle models. A major distinction is whether the battery pack is cooled and/or heated by air or liquid.
Battery health is also influenced by its environmental and operating conditions. Hotter climates and higher use of fast charging can increase degradation, leading to faster-than-average decline. One potentially surprising insight from the Geotab research is that high-use electric vehicles did not show significantly higher battery degradation than others. This should be welcome news to fleet operators in particular since EVs offer better value the more they are driven.
“With these higher levels of sustained health, batteries in the latest EV models should comfortably outlast the usable life of the vehicle and will likely not need to be replaced. In fact, 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. Even more importantly, high-use batteries do not show increased degradation rates, meaning that EVs offer better value the more they are driven,” said Phil Barnes, business development manager Ireland & UK at Geotab.
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