- A new report is the largest ever analysis of the state of electric vehicle batteries in the UK.
- Results suggest older vehicles retained a median battery capacity of 85%
- Even very high mileage vehicles rarely breach their manufacturer warranty.
The latest results from Generational’s 2025 Battery Performance Index reveal that electric vehicle batteries are more robust and reliable than expected, with most packs likely to exceed the lifespan of the vehicle itself.
Generational, a UK-based innovator in electric vehicle battery health diagnostics, says the report is the largest electric vehicle battery health analysis undertaken in the UK, with more than 8,000 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles analyzed in the study.
The results show that the average battery State of Health (SoH) across all affected used vehicles stands at a robust 95.15% capacity compared to new.
Battery evaluations were conducted on some 36 manufacturers, including vehicles aged 0 to 12 years and miles ranging from zero to more than 100,000 miles, with results proving that even vehicles aged eight to nine years still retained a median capacity of 85 percent.
High-mileage electric vehicles, or those with more than 100,000 miles on the odometer, frequently returned a health score of 88 to 95 percent, according to the report’s authors.
This evidence aims to boost consumer confidence when it comes to used and older electric vehicles – a market that is struggling with residual values, in part for this reason.
Many used electric vehicle buyers assume they will inherit a vehicle that can only handle a small fraction of its originally advertised electric range.
But in contrast, Generational’s findings show that original manufacturer warranty thresholds, which are typically triggered when a battery’s health drops to 70 percent over eight years or 100,000 miles, are rarely approached.
Strengthen consumer confidence
The results showed that even the lowest performing 25th percentile of the group comprising vehicles aged eight to 12 years still maintained an average health of 82%.
Naturally, the company that conducted the study wants to make it clear that battery degradation is not a systemic risk once assumed, but that how the vehicle is used, stored and charged plays a major role in battery health.
“Battery health transparency is the biggest challenge facing the market today, as well as critical infrastructure for a healthy used electric vehicle sector; as vehicles age, the gap between the best and worst performers widens, and this dispersion defines risk,” said Oliver Phillpott, CEO of Generational.
Phillpott believes that by establishing clear benchmarks for what is typical, above and below average health, it will give the used electric vehicle market clearer reference points for accurate pricing, strengthen residual values and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in general.
While the condition of an internal combustion engine can generally be predicted based on its mileage, given that general wear and tear is relatively linear, the same cannot be said for electric vehicles, with recent studies suggesting that many factors play a role in how well a battery lasts.
Generational says that’s why it’s important to have battery tests checked for all used electric vehicles. Without transparent data on conditions, the most pessimistic assumptions can dominate pricing and decision-making, they say.
But overall, the results of Britain’s largest battery study prove that once again, actual battery degradation is much slower than many think.
Sure, there will be naysayers who give examples of ICE vehicles with hundreds of thousands of miles on the odometer, but most of those engines will have had almost every part replaced anyway.
The fact is that electric vehicles can run for ten years without needing a battery replacement, which should give potential buyers confidence that their vehicles will be worth something when it comes time to replace them.
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