It’s time to be clear and honest about battery health on used electric cars
Paul Barker explains why sellers need to be clearer about battery degradation in order to give used EV buyers a confidence boost
It feels increasingly like the key to the whole electric car market is getting sales of used EVs fired up, and that made me think about how to encourage second-hand buyers to look more closely at moving to EVs.
We all know that, for now at least, you need to be able to home-charge for EVs to make sense, but as long as you can, a recent chat with Polestar’s UK boss, Matt Galvin, drummed home an important point.
Manufacturers and dealers need to do more to help themselves, and dispel myths about used EVs. And a big one for used-car buyers is the state of the battery.
Galvin admitted that his brand doesn’t make enough of the battery health check that accompanies every pre-loved Polestar, especially because that’s a key area where used buyers’ hearts and minds haven’t yet been won over. According to Galvin, the cars are showing very little degradation after a couple of years.
That’s backed up by a quick look at Auto Express’s used-car marketplace. Few dealers publicise the battery health on their main advert picture, but kudos to Frosts4cars for making it really clear! At the time of writing, that dealer had a 2020 Peugeot E-2008 with almost 57,000 miles on the clock for £10,995, with a battery still at 89 per cent of its original capacity.
Given the scaremongering about battery degradation, I’d say there’s plenty of life left in a car that’s losing less than two percentage points a year. A Renault Zoe from the same dealer was down at 86 per cent after six years and 12,400 miles, but that’s still nowhere near triggering battery warranties that tend to be around 70 per cent of original capacity after seven years.
We’re all used to the semi-disposable nature of smartphones, where battery health can become a big issue as you head into the third year and beyond, and that’s the sort of experience people who don’t know EVs are bringing with them.
Battery health is such a key piece of info in terms of changing minds and giving people the confidence that a used EV won’t be worthless after a couple more years. And it’s up to car makers and dealers to make it easier for buyers to see that information.
Used EVs can be a bit of a bargain because the demand isn’t matching new-car sales, but that won’t change until people know they can be confident that a car’s battery is going to last. So if you’re considering a used EV, make sure the battery health check is high on your list of questions.
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