“Yes, EV batteries are ageing better than the ‘they wear out fast’ myth suggests – but that's not the most useful thing this report tells you.” said AVILOO’s CEO, Marcus Berger. “What matters is that battery health varies significantly between models, and even more between individual cars of the same model.”
| 1 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 91.67% | 97.13% | 99.15% |
| 2 | Mercedes EQA | 91.30% | 96.56% | 98.67% |
| 3 | Hyundai Kona | 90.71% | 96.27% | 99.12% |
| 4 | Audi Q8 e-tron | 90.04% | 95.71% | 98.16% |
| 5 | BMW i4 | 90.61% | 95.60% | 98.04% |
| 6 | Volkswagen ID.4 | 88.88% | 95.24% | 97.87% |
| 7 | Volvo XC40 Recharge | 90.06% | 95.15% | 98.22% |
| 8 | Skoda Enyaq | 89.19% | 95.14% | 97.84% |
| 9 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 89.46% | 95.09% | 97.81% |
| 10 | Audi Q4 e-tron | 88.41% | 95.04% | 97.85% |
| 11 | Polestar 2 | 89.85% | 94.96% | 98.10% |
| 12 | Cupra Born | 89.59% | 94.76% | 98.57% |
| 13 | Volkswagen ID.3 | 89.29% | 94.57% | 97.69% |
| 14 | Tesla Model Y | 89.04% | 94.42% | 97.19% |
| 15 | Peugeot E-208 | 88.18% | 94.15% | 97.10% |
| 16 | Vauxhall Corsa Electric | 88.16% | 94.14% | 97.09% |
| 17 | MINI Cooper SE | 87.03% | 94.11% | 97.41% |
| 18 | Tesla Model 3 | 87.51% | 93.77% | 96.91% |
| 19 | Renault Zoe | 86.28% | 91.64% | 94.96% |
| 20 | Nissan Leaf (ZE1) | 85.41% | 91.23% | 95.39% |
Charging patterns crucial to battery health
As a general rule, AVILOO found that cars with smaller battery packs tended to show the greatest levels of degradation; the Nissan Leaf (ZE1) and Renault Zoe, for example, both have comparatively small battery packs and showed the greatest level of degradation over 50,000km. The Leaf recorded an average SoH of 91.23 per cent and the Zoe managed 91.64 per cent. The reason for this is that smaller batteries will need charging more frequently, with the charging cycle causing wear that gradually reduces overall capacity.
At the other end of the scale, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which can be specified with large batteries in excess of 80kWh, achieved the highest median SoH at 50,000km with 97.13 per cent.
There are some outliers to the big-battery rule; the Tesla Model Y, which has long been the UK and the world’s best-selling electric car, actually performed poorly in comparison to other large-battery EVs, alongside the smaller Model 3; the pair returned a median of 94.42 and 93.77 per cent respectively. Such a finding somewhat contradicts Tesla’s own studies in which it claims it would take 20 years and 200,000 miles for their cars’ batteries to lose 15 per cent capacity. The firm did admit to Auto Express, however, that drivers will see an “initial drop” in SoH over the first few thousand miles before the curve flattens off.
| 1 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 89.10% | 95.27% | 98.42% |
| 2 | Mercedes EQA | 89.20% | 95.01% | 97.80% |
| 3 | BMW i4 | 88.79% | 94.34% | 97.33% |
| 4 | Hyundai Kona | 88.22% | 94.31% | 98.30% |
| 5 | Volvo XC40 Recharge | 87.88% | 93.66% | 97.08% |
| 6 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 87.06% | 93.45% | 96.69% |
| 7 | Polestar 2 | 87.54% | 93.36% | 96.93% |
| 8 | Audi Q8 e-tron | 86.61% | 93.13% | 96.53% |
| 9 | Cupra Born | 87.02% | 92.95% | 96.96% |
| 10 | VW ID.3 | 86.86% | 92.83% | 96.33% |
| 11 | Skoda Enyaq | 86.19% | 92.67% | 96.12% |
| 12 | VW ID.4 | 85.88% | 92.54% | 96.07% |
| 13 | Audi Q4 e-tron | 85.55% | 92.35% | 96.04% |
| 14 | Peugeot E-208 | 84.40% | 91.98% | 95.89% |
| 15 | Vauxhall Corsa Electric | 84.38% | 91.96% | 95.86% |
| 16 | Tesla Model Y | 85.51% | 91.89% | 95.62% |
| 17 | Tesla Model 3 | 83.32% | 90.81% | 95.23% |
| 18 | MINI Cooper SE | 82.24% | 90.12% | 95.49% |
| 19 | Renault Zoe | 82.36% | 88.87% | 92.98% |
| 20 | Nissan Leaf (ZE1) | 80.91% | 88.27% | 93.82% |
Big variances in examples of the same model
On top of all this, it’s worth considering the sheer variation in battery condition within individual models themselves; the aforementioned Leaf, for example, saw the widest variation, with SoH readings ranging from 85.41 per cent to 95.31 at 50,000km and even more as the mileage increased.