That the primary concern when purchasing an used EV.
Some good news:
A new large‑scale UK dataset suggests EV batteries are holding up far better than many skeptics expected.
In older 8‑ to 12‑year‑old vehicles, the bottom quartile averaged 82%, the median 85.04%, and the top quartile 90%.
That spread suggests battery condition depends heavily on factors like usage patterns and charging behavior, not just age.
One of the clearest takeaways from the report is that mileage alone isn’t a reliable indicator of battery health. In some cases, a younger vehicle with very high mileage outperformed an older car that had been driven less.
In other words, a three‑year‑old fleet EV with 90,000 miles could have a healthier battery than a six‑year‑old car with only 30,000 miles, depending on how both were used and charged. That runs counter to how used vehicles have traditionally been evaluated in the gas‑car era.