Buyers want battery health history for used electric vehicles

An independent, certified used electric car assessment, showing how well previous owners have looked after the battery of an electric vehicle (EV), is wanted by nine out of 10 motorists (87%), research suggests.

A similar proprtion (83%) want to know how long the battery will take to fully charge, verification on the amount of battery capacity that has been lost since new (82%) and how much capacity it is likely to be lost in the future (81%).

Four-in-five motorists (79%) would also like an indication of how much charge the battery currently holds, according to August’s Startline Used Car Tracker.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Probably the number one fear that consumers have when buying a used electric car is that the battery will fail or otherwise degrade very quickly. They know it could cost several thousand pounds to buy a replacement.

“In real-world conditions, these worries are largely proving to be unfounded. There are now millions of electric cars on roads across the world and battery degradation is generally happening much more slowly than anticipated while outright battery failure, although not unknown, remains a rare occurrence.”

However, Burgess added: ”Used car buyers clearly want reassurance and some form of formal testing that shows the battery of the vehicle they are considering buying has been well-looked-after, with a good idea of how it is likely to perform in the future, is probably the best available solution to allay their worries.”

Publishing its Plan for the Automotive Sector last year, the Labour Party said that assurances of the battery health of used cars is the best driver to stimulate demand.

It promised to implement a standardised battery health certification scheme for used vehicles similar to those already in place in other countries such as Norway.

Alongside this, it said it would continue to monitor developments in the European Union proposals to require the fitting battery state of health monitors to new EVs.

“In our view, this would be a very good idea,” said Burgess. “Having a Government-backed and approved battery test that provided the information consumers want would be a very real boost for the used electric car market, especially if it was backed by some form of warranty.”

The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research.