Prolong Your Electric Vehicle’s Battery Life With These Top Tips

With so much information available about electric vehicles in terms of how far they will travel and how long they take to charge, it can be easy to forget that the battery life itself plays an important part of each individual vehicle’s efficiency.

Understanding the battery life of your vehicle will help you to recognise the signs of wear and tear with continued use of your vehicle and will prove important in constantly optimising the health and efficiency of your vehicle. So, what is the battery life of an electric vehicle like?

Battery Life Explained

With a much simpler construction than the standard car engine, including fewer moving parts and gear boxes, there is essentially less that can go wrong with an electric vehicle. What this means on the surface is that your electric vehicle is less likely to face ongoing wear and tear issues and is less likely to need continued repairs - however there are things to be aware of.

Just as the lifespan of a phone battery starts to waiver over time, it is likely that an electric vehicle battery will also degrade over time - losing the ability to hold full charge. However, the loss of efficiency should be subtle with the battery cells themselves still sitting at 70% health even after 200,000 miles.

To ease the concerns over battery health in the long term, electric vehicle owners in CITY can add a separate extended warranty onto that of their car which also covers the battery itself. Most manufacturers will cover electric vehicle batteries for a minimum of 8 years and/or 100,000 miles. It is worth checking with the manufacturer regarding their individual warranty offers however, as (for example) Hyundai and Tesla both offer cover above this, with up to 125,000 and 150,000 miles covered depending on the vehicle model.

How To Prolong Battery Life In Your Electric Vehicle

Maintaining the battery in your EV will allow you to travel without worrying about the authentic efficiency of each charge. Here are some of the best ways to care for and prolong the life of your battery.

Keep it cool. There is a system inside the vehicle which keeps the battery cool, but it is still worth keeping it in the shade and out of direct sunlight where possible - just as you would a phone.

Avoid overcharging. If your vehicle is consistently allowed to overcharge, then the battery temperature will fluctuate to a point of damage. To avoid this, keep your battery between 20% and 80% and set an automated schedule to keep the battery protected even when you’re not around to check the charge progress.

Don’t let your battery go flat. We recommend working to always keep your battery above 20% charge, as letting the battery die completely is not conducive to a healthy battery.

Don’t rely on fast chargers. While fast chargers are useful when on the go, they generate more heat in your battery and can cause damage to a vehicle battery when used to regularly.

Don’t charge straight after driving.