EV Owners' Verdict on EV Battery Life Expectancy

This discussion about the EV battery life expectancy is from a KIA Soul EV group on Facebook. The group is a public group this is why I am sharing electric car owners' opinions from there for Torque News readers to see.

EV Battery Still Good Above 100,000 Miles

"I have 175000 miles on a 2013 Tesla Model S. It's only about 7% degraded. It's getting a bit creaky in the suspension but still drives straight," writes Robert Olson in the group.

"The Kia Soul EV has a battery capacity and powertrain warranty of 100,000 miles, and/or 10 years. Excluding extreme climates, or extreme operations, I believe the Soul EV is fully capable of meeting/exceeding these expectations.

"My 2016 Soul EV+ has 41,000 miles and it still retains 99.2% of new battery capacity. With the nice late spring weather I am seeing ~100 miles of range on a full charge. I was seeing 80s in wet cold of winter. My Kia Soul EV's odometer has little to due with age related battery symptoms. Calendar age, is more in play that odometer metrics," writes Brian Henderson.

"I am at 76,117 miles with little to no noticeable degradation in the driving range," writes Ian Finley, who is a Kia Soul EV owner. "I think battery life is more about trying to avoid charging in the high heat of the day - and accepting range falls of significantly when it gets cold in the winter," he adds.

Liquid Cooling For Your Batteries

Tim Newob writes. "We have had a couple guys on here from Arizona with premature battery issues and full replacements with earlier Kia Souls. I have heard horror stories with first gen Nissan Leafs there and in Vegas as well. Air cooled EVs are just generally not equipped for that kind of heat in a daily onslaught. I guarantee the extent of Kia's "desert testing" lasted a week, tops. Search in this group and You Tube before you decide. Lots of discussion out there on air cooling in desert climates." But Torque News' Aaron Turpen's this story shows that the failure rate in Nissan LEAF Battery Pack is very low.

In order to increase the electric car battery's life expectancy EV owners say in high heat, liquid cooling is a must. But the act of fast charging a hot battery is tough on any EV, much less so on liquid cooled.

The below two stories about EV Battery Life expectancy may also help you to determine how long will your electric car's battery last.

How long will electric vehicle batteries last? Tesla’s Roadster could be a guide
One of the most important questions to the electric vehicle industry does not have a clear-cut answer. However, certain factors such as temperature and charging habits are known to have a great effect and the Tesla Roadster provides intriguing real world data.

How Far Will the New 40 kWh Nissan Leaf Drive as it Ages? Projections Revealed
A new study estimates how far the new 2018 Nissan Leaf will drive as it gets older. See if the projected ranges are enough for you.