Battery degradation. It is one of the biggest regular talking points in the EV world, with many fearful for years that, as time goes on, the quality of an electric car’s battery will fade. Many people believe that batteries will fade as mileage and years are put on them; however, a recent study has disproven that theory.
This particular study was done by Swedish car marketplace Carla. The company took nearly 10,000 EVs, from a range of brands such as Tesla, BMW and Audi, and put them through their paces from 2022 to 2026, conducting health tests on the cars.
The ultimate aim of the study was to see which one of the cars came out on top with the most battery capacity after 62,000 miles. With the study also conducted over four years, it was an excellent way to see how batteries degraded.
What the tests actually showed, however, was that, in reality, the batteries hardly degraded at all. In fact, two of the EVs tested were able to retain 97 percent of their original capacity after hitting the 62,000-mile mark. If that doesn’t debunk the battery degradation theories, then we don’t know what will.
Which EVs Had the Least Battery Degradation?
In total, Carla conducted 9,954 battery health tests from 2022 to 2026, with the aim of getting each car tested to roughly 62,000 miles by the end of this test period. There were all kinds of cars, ranging from BMWs to Audis to Teslas- you name it, and all the big names were in it.
However, just two of the cars tested were able to hit the gold standard of 97 percent battery capacity retained. Those were the Kia e-Niro and the Hyundai Kona. That may come as a surprise to some; however, Hyundai and Kia EVs regularly score very highly when it comes to reliability and how long they can last. Just below those two was the Kia EV6, rounding out the top three at 95.95 percent.
With all the top cars from South Korea, it is a big thumbs up for those companies. In fact, looking at the rest of the top five, there are no German cars or, in fact, any Teslas. In fourth place came the Volvo XC40 Recharger, with a 94.70 percent battery capacity. Below it and rounding out the top five was the Polestar 2, only just below the Volvo at 94.35 percent. The first German car was the BMW i3, coming in at sixth place with 93.77 percent total battery capacity after four years.
Tesla Did Not Do as Well as You Would Expect
If you were expecting Tesla to be in the top three or top five, then you will be very disappointed at the rest of the list. Only one Tesla, the Model 3, made it into the top ten. The 60.5kWh model of the Tesla EV scored 93.94 percent of battery capacity. You have to go to 12th and 13th place to see the next two Tesla EVs, the 78.8kWh Model 3 at 92.83 percent and the Tesla Model S at 92.80 percent. The top five, however, were filled with South Korean and Swedish EVs.
A caveat, however, is that while it’s a big win for Volvo, Kia and Hyundai, the list shows just how good batteries have become over the years. The lowest-scoring car was the 58kWh Volkswagen ID.3, which still boasted 91.7 percent of its battery capacity. Much higher than some EV naysayers like to think you’d get. So if you are worried about battery degradation at all, it turns out you don’t have to be.