Controversy over how long electric car batteries will last, has caused confusion. A replacement can cost as much as half the price of a new car. This has caused interest in green transport to wane in some quarters, as skepticism grows. Until now, there has been little hard evidence of actual electric car battery life, to settle the debate.
Hard Evidence of Actual Car Battery Life Is Rare
We can’t travel ahead in time, because our experience is only current and retrospective. Battery scientists have had to make informed projections until now, while the crowd of skeptics grows. Finally, we have some hard evidence in a report by Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC).
The ADAC has earned a sterling reputation for its independent, third-party tests of cars of all kinds. The club has just completed a four-year endurance test of a 2021 Volkswagen ID.3 electric car. This is a model we had not heard of before.
The Volkswagen ID.3 electric car is a battery electric vehicle in production since 2019. Wikipedia confirms that around 57,000 units sold in 2020. This achievement ranked the ID.3 among the world’s top-ten best-selling plug-in cars, after just four months on the market
The Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club testing center in Bavaria, trialed a Volkswagen ID.3 electric car intensively for four years. ADAC engineers clocked up 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) during this period, before they released their electric car battery life findings.
Firm Evidence of Electric Car Durability
The findings by Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club make interesting reading. The Volkswagen ID.3 lithium-ion electric car battery retained 91% of its original energy storage capacity (and driving range) after 100,000 miles. This was despite the ADAC engineers rigorously recharging it on every shift change.
The lithium-ion battery is beyond its warranty period by now, which only promised 70% energy retention after 100,000 miles. The 77 kilowatt-hour battery – still in the car – retains 263 miles of its original 275-mile range through the rear wheels. We append the full ADAC report, which contains more technical detail.
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