One of the biggest question marks for electric vehicles over the years has been battery degradation. What is the duration of the battery? And will it then all at once fall off a cliff? And will the EV of today turn out to be the very costly driveway decoration of tomorrow? According to a new study, the short answer is to relax.
According to a 2025 real-world fleet telematics battery health survey by Geotab, modern EV batteries appear to be aging at a slow, predictable rate and well beyond manufacturers’ warranty expectations. Better still, the results indicate that simple charging routines could be used to have a significant impact on the overall battery well-being.
What the Survey Looked At
Geotab examined the data of 22,700 electric cars with 21 different models, including passenger cars, multi-purpose vehicles (e.g., light vans), and even some trucks. The data set covers several battery chemistries, performance packs, longevity packs, and a variety of battery management systems.
That breadth matters. It implies that the conclusions are not made on the grounds of laboratory testing or individual brands’ claims, but on the basis of the actual behavior of EVs in the real world.
The Headline Numbers
The typical EV battery is depleting at 2.3% per year. That is more than 2023 at Geotab, which was 1.8%, but again, extremely small. At this pace, the average EV is expected to maintain a capacity of approximately 81.6% after eight years – a lengthy period compared to the warranty limits of most manufacturers.
In other words, your EV is dead in the background. It is growing old gradually and in a foreseeable way,y just like any other significant mechanical part.
The Design Is Less Important Than Charging Habits
Among the more interesting results is the extent to which the difference between the vehicle types is not very large. All MPVs were 2.7% per annum, and passenger cars were 2.0% – a difference of only 0.7% points. It implies that your EV charging and usage can be more important than the size or purpose of your vehicle.
The largest offender in increasing degradation? Frequent fast charging.
Is Quick Charging Harmful to Your Battery?
- A high-power AC charging with mostly low-power AC charging can degrade at a rate of 1.5% per year.
- With over 12% DC fast charging, degradation is forced to 2.5%.
- Once 40% (or greater) of fast-charge sessions are on chargers of over 100kW, the degradation increases to 3.0% per year.
Those figures are small, however, in eight years, that sums up. The distinction between cautious and aggressive fast charging use can be 88% battery health and 76% battery health left.
There Are Also Temperature and Charging Cycles
Heat is another factor. The additional 0.4% per annum degradation was observed in vehicles spending over 35% of the days at temperatures above 25°C. Although it is not that critical in colder weather, this indicates the relevance of proper thermal management software.
The frequency of charging is also important. Batteries charged once a week, only once a complete charge cycle,e degrade the slowest. Constant complete cycles – in essence,ce emptying and filling the battery daily or every two days – hasten wear.
