EV Batteries Outlive the Cars as Degradation Concerns Evaporate

This article was written and edited before Krystyna Lagowski passed away in October 2023. She was a valued member of the Globe Drive team, contributing regularly since 2022 on topics including electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, car buyer protection and dealer regulation.

Even as electric vehicles become an increasingly common sight on Canadian roads, consumers are still anxious about EV battery reliability. Many wonder whether the battery will provide as much range and longevity as a gas engine, how much it costs to replace a battery and how often they need to be replaced.

In a survey of Globe readers, of those who aren’t considering an EV for their next vehicle, 40 per cent cited overall battery life as one of their main concerns.

There is little reason to worry, says Cara Clairman, president of non-profit EV advocacy organization Plug’n Drive, because for average drivers, 12-year-old batteries are still going. “This idea that you’ll have to replace a battery over the life of the car is probably, in most cases, wrong,” she says.

Clairman is backed up by recent studies and drivers’ own experiences. The majority of EVs that have been driven more than 160,000 kilometres still have at least 90 per cent of their original range left, according to a study by Seattle-based battery analysis company Recurrent Motors Inc.

As well, a Canadian Automobile Association study of EV owners showed drivers’ worries about battery degradation fell significantly (54 per cent of EV owners said it was a serious or moderate concern before they bought their EV, dropping to 13 per cent after purchase).

Even drivers who give their batteries a beating are seeing them hold up over time.

Darryl Kolewaski, owner of Current Taxi – an all-Tesla taxi fleet in Kelowna, B.C. – had to pay to replace just one battery in six years. It was in a 2018 Model 3 with 430,000 kilometres on the odometer. It cost $13,000 to replace the battery, but Kolewaski says it was well worth it.

“The cost and maintenance savings on the vehicle far outweigh what we paid for a new battery,” he says.

Six or seven of the smaller 75-kilowatt battery packs have also been replaced during that time under warranty. “The batteries are not babied,” Kolewaski says. “The cars are supercharged five to seven times a day and run 23-hour shifts. We do everything Tesla tells us not to do, and it is still not easy to kill them.”

That’s also been the case for Sylvester Caprietar, a veteran Uber driver in Toronto with a 2023 Tesla Model 3 that’s rated at 540 kilometres on a full charge.

He puts on 90,000 kilometres a year but isn’t at all worried about his battery health. “Tesla claims it should last 10 years,” he says. There’s also an eight-year warranty on it, or 192,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.

Caprietar first discovered the world of EVs when his Honda Civic had to go into the repair shop. He rented a Tesla to continue working and was immediately impressed with the savings he saw by not having to gas up. “I was spending about $1,500 [a month] just on gas with the Honda Civic,” Caprietar says. “For that same $1,500, I could do the monthly payment and charging for a Tesla, and still have money left over.”

The rental went so well, he decided to purchase his own Tesla.

Savings extend beyond the pump, says Clairman of Plug’n Drive. Replacing a gas-powered car’s engine or transmission can cost upward of $10,000, on top of regular maintenance and repairs over the life of a vehicle.

While EVs need some of the same routine maintenance as their gas-powered counterparts – brakes, tire rotation, sometimes replacement of pieces and power components – it costs less over all to maintain. The U.S. Department of Energy calculated in 2021 that EV scheduled maintenance costs 6.1 cents per mile, or about 3.8 cents per kilometre. Conventional cars cost about 10.1 cents a mile, or 6.3 cents per kilometre.

Prices are coming down, too, as adoption grows. Today, it’s far less expensive to swap in a new or refurbished battery, says Clairman: “You can get a refurbished Nissan Leaf battery for $3,000.”

Some used Tesla batteries go for even less on eBay and other online marketplaces.

As well, manufacturers are providing generous warranties on EV batteries, many stretching between eight and 10 years – far longer than most warranties on gas cars.

According to a spokesperson for General Motors Canada, battery life is dependent on several factors, including how often you charge, the level of charging used, climate and temperature. GM EV batteries are expected to last the life of the vehicle and are covered by an eight-year, 100,000 kilometre warranty with 75 per cent of battery capacity retained.

If battery repair is required, current GM Ultium batteries were designed to be “repairable and serviceable at a module level.” That means that individual modules can be replaced, and functioning modules from a defective pack can be recovered – a less expensive option over replacement.

Geotab, a fleet management company, has seen growing interest in electrifying vehicles from their clients. Organizations using fleets tend to focus on the total cost of ownership including maintenance and resale value, not just the purchase or lease price.

Charlotte Argue, Geotab’s senior manager of sustainable mobility, says newer generations of EVs have low rates of battery degradation – about 1.8 per cent per year. “From the early analyses that we’ve done, it looks like the battery in most cases will actually outlive the lifespan of the vehicles themselves,” she says.

That’s something Caprietar is glad to hear, because he intends to keep the Tesla for its seven-year financing term.

While he saves on fuel and maintenance, the cherry on the cake, he says, is that the Tesla qualifies for Uber’s premium fares. He also gets better tips compared to his Civic, especially when passengers start up a conversation about the car – which they often do.

“People are just fascinated with the vehicle,” he says.