- New report is the largest ever analysis of the state of EV batteries in the UK
- The results suggest that older vehicles retained an average battery capacity of 85%
- Even vehicles with very high mileage rarely have problems with the manufacturer’s warranty.
The latest results from Generational’s 2025 Battery Performance Index reveal that electric vehicle batteries are more robust and reliable than anticipated, with most packs likely to outlast the life of the vehicle itself.
Generational, which is a UK-based innovator in EV battery health diagnostics, says the report is the largest analysis of EV battery health carried out 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 used vehicles involved sits at a solid 95.15% capacity compared to new ones.
Battery evaluations were conducted on some 36 manufacturers, including vehicles ages 0 to 12 years and mileages from zero to more than 160,000 miles, and results showed that even vehicles eight to nine years old still retained an average capacity of 85%.
According to the report’s authors, high-mileage electric vehicles, or those with more than 100,000 miles on them, often returned a health status score of 88-95%.
The evidence is designed to increase consumer confidence when it comes to second-hand and older electric vehicles, a market that has been struggling with residual values partly due to this reason.
Many used EV buyers assume they will inherit a vehicle that can only manage a small fraction of its original electric range.
But in stark contrast, Generational’s findings show that OEM warranty thresholds, which typically kick in when a battery’s health drops to 70% within eight years or 100,000 miles, are rarely met.
Boost consumer confidence
The results showed that even the worst-performing 25th percentile of the group containing eight- to 12-year-old vehicles still retained an average health status of 82%.
Naturally, the company that carried out the research wants to make its message clear that battery degradation is not a systemic risk once assumed, but rather the way the vehicle is used, stored and charged plays an important role in the health of the battery.
“Transparency into battery health is the biggest challenge facing the market today, and an essential infrastructure for a healthy used EV sector; as vehicles age, the gap between the best and worst performers widens, and that dispersion defines risk,” said Oliver Phillpott, CEO of Generational.
Phillpott believes that by establishing clear benchmarks for what is a typical state of health, above and below average, it will give the used EV market clearer benchmarks for pricing accurately, strengthen residual values, and accelerate adoption of EVs overall.
While the health of an internal combustion engine can generally be predicted based on its mileage, as overall wear and tear is relatively linear, the same cannot be said for electric vehicles, as recent studies suggest that numerous factors influence the behavior of a battery pack.
Generational says that’s why it’s important to have verified battery testing for all used electric vehicles. Without transparent data on conditions, worst-case scenarios can dominate pricing and decision-making, they say.
But overall, the results of the UK’s largest battery study show that, once again, real-world battery degradation is much slower than many assume.
Of course, there will be naysayers who give examples of ICE vehicles with hundreds of thousands of miles on them, but most of those engines will have had almost every part replaced anyway.
The point here is that electric vehicles can happily run for ten years without needing to change their battery, which should give potential buyers confidence that their vehicles will be worth something when it comes to replacement.
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