Whenever we talk about electric cars, we should definitely talk about electric car batteries. Here we are addressing the question “what happens to electric car batteries after 2 years, 3 years, after 4 years, and after 5 years?”
An electric car battery retains 96 percent of the state of health after 2 years, 93.8% after 3 years, 91.9% after 4 years, and 89.9% after 5 years.
While, if we consider 2.3% of the electric car battery degradation, a 100kWh battery retains 95.45 kWh battery capacity after 2 years, 93.257 kWh after 3 years, 91.11256 after 4 years, 89.0169 after 5 years.
| Battery Age | State Of Health (%) |
| 1 year | 98 |
| 2 years | 96 |
| 3 years | 93.8 |
| 4 years | 91.9 |
| 5 years | 89.9 |
In this article, when we are addressing what happens to electric car batteries after years, we are talking about battery degradation with the electric car battery with vehicle age.
So if you are interested in it, check out this article further.
Methodology:
Here for the data, we used the EV Battery Degradation Comparison Tool by Geotab to see what is the average state of health after the respective years.
Also based on the data, that says EV batteries degrade by 2.3% each year, we made calculations based on that for a 100 kWh battery and tabulated it in order to make it more comprehensive.
How Much Does Electric Car Battery Degrade Each Year?
Being an aware EV owner you might have wondered How much electric car batteries degrade a year. All electric car batteries degrade over time. The rate of degradation of an electric car battery depends on the factors such as usage, temperature, climate, surrounding, etc.
EV batteries degrade at the maximum rate of 2.3% a year. Electrek has found that electric car batteries degrade in a non-linear fashion. There is an early drop and the degradation rate slows down over time.
“The data clearly shows that for the first 50,000 miles (100,000 km), most Tesla battery packs will lose about 5% of their capacity, but after the 50,000-mile mark, the capacity levels off and it looks like it could be difficult to make a pack degrade by another 5%.”
Tesla battery data shows the path to over 500,000 miles on a single pack
Tesla’s battery pack shows less than 10% degradation of the energy capacity after over 160,000 miles.
Based on the data from more than 6000 electric vehicles, Geotab has created the EV battery degradation comparison tool.
Here is a table of battery degradation over the years for all vehicles on average.
| Battery Age | State Of Health (%) |
| 1 year | 98 |
| 2 years | 96 |
| 3 years | 93.8 |
| 4 years | 91.9 |
| 5 years | 89.9 |
Let’s discuss it in more detail, and see what happens to electric car batteries over the years.
What Happens To Electric Car Batteries after 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years?
Here is a table showing the retained battery capacity of a 100 kWh battery with the age of the battery. (based on the estimate of 2.3% of battery degradation each year).
From this table, you can get an idea of what happens to electric car batteries after 3 years, 5 years, and 6 years.
| Age of the electric car battery | Retained Battery Capacity (kWh) |
| 1 | 97.7 |
| 2 | 95.45 |
| 3 | 93.257 |
| 4 | 91.11256 |
| 5 | 89.0169 |
The average lifespan of electric car batteries is 10 to 12 years. Considering that the electric car battery will be not that old in 4 years, but still it must have undergone enough usage.
Here is a graph showing the retained battery capacity of a 100 kWh battery with the age of the battery.
What Happens To Electric Car Batteries After 2 Years?
There are variations in what can happen to electric car batteries after 2 years. The various EV batteries have batteries of different capacities, also the usage of the vehicles varies from owner to owner.
The electric car battery will retain 95.45 kWh of capacity after 2 years, we consider 2.3% of the battery degradation each year.
But when we consider data of all vehicles on average, Electric car battery retains 96 percent of the state of health, after 2 years, as per the EV Battery Degradation Comparison Tool by Geotab. But here we should admit that the EV battery degradation is not linear.
Tesla Model 3 showed a 6 percent battery capacity loss after 20000 miles. After that, the vehicle did not degrade any further for 40000 miles over the next 2 years.
What Happens To An Electric Car Battery After 3 Years?
An electric vehicle battery of age three years is not a very old battery. Each year electric car batteries degrade by 2.3%.
With that calculation, we can say that after 3 years,93.257 kWh of the battery capacity will be retained. But real-world conditions are different.
From data from more than 6000 vehicles, the average state of health of the electric car battery after 3 years is 93.9 percent.
What Happens To An Electric Car Battery After 4 Years?
After 4 years, electric car battery retains 93.8 percent of the state of health as per the EV battery degradation comparison tool.
When we consider 2.3% of the degradation each year, a 100 kWh hour battery will retain 91.11 kWh of the Electric car battery capacity.
What Happens To Electric Car Batteries After 5 Years?
An electric car battery may have completed about half of its life, in five years (if we consider the total lifespan as 10 years).
Considering 2.3% battery degradation each year, the 100 kWh battery will retain about 89.02 kWh (89.2%) of the battery capacity.
While according to the geotag EV battery degradation comparison tool, electric car batteries will retain 89.9 percent of their capacity after 5 years.
Why Does An Electric Car Battery Degrade?
Electric car batteries degrade due to the following reasons.
- Battery Age
An electric car battery with a degradation age of it is called Calendar Aging. Electric car batteries are destined to degrade with time. It is found that the decline in energy capacity is not linear. It is not the same every year. There is the Quick Drop in the capacity initially and then the decline slows down. And at the end, there is another fast drop. Here is what the graph of battery degradation looks like.
- Temperature
Higher temperatures cause fast battery degradation. This is because the reactions occur fast in hot climates.
The cold weather causes the liquids to become more viscous in the electric car batteries. This causes the slow down of the reactions and that causes the power to fade.
Modern EVs have thermal Management Systems which keep EVs away from damage due to the temperature.
- Usage
Whenever an Electric car uses battery power, the reactions inside the battery use lithium ions. When batteries are used again and again the lithium ions get used permanently and this causes a loss in the battery capacity.
How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
An electric car battery lasts for 10 to 20 years before it needs replacement. In the future maybe the batteries last even longer.
Electric car automakers give battery replacement in a warranty period of 5 to 8 years.
But considering the estimated degradation rate of the electric car batteries, most of the Electric car batteries will exceed the estimated lifespan given by automakers.
Conclusion
In this article, we basically talked about the battery capacity degradation over the years.
We used a tool made by geotag and on other hand we made a basic calculation considering 2.3% of the battery capacity degradation each year, and then determined the capacity retained over the years.
We also talked, about the reasons for the battery degradation. We tried to make the data more comprehensive by including graphs and tables.
Hope it helped you to know, What happens to electric car batteries after 2 years, after 3 years, after 4 years, and after 5 years?
What are your thoughts on, what can happen to electric car batteries after several years? Comment down. below.
FAQs
What Happens To Old Electric Car Batteries?
Old electric car batteries get recycled, reused, or dumped into landfills. But recycling is the more economical and eco-friendly way to dispose of old electric car batteries.
What Happens To Electric Car Batteries After 10 Years?
After 10 years, electric car batteries lose their capacity significantly as per the various estimations and reports. But with proper care, the batteries can live longer than the estimated lifespan.
Can Electric Car Batteries Be Reused?
Electric car batteries can be reused, in various applications. Such as the Vehicle to Grid, Vehicle to Load, for powering the house, etc. Provided that the electric car battery has sufficient power to perform that specific task.
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