How long do electric car batteries last? Everything You Need to Know

A critical component of the make of any electric car is the battery. With technological advancements, the efficiency and resilience of electric vehicle batteries has shot up to an impressive range, making EV’s an even more advanced and attractive option. Electric car battery life is 10 to 20 years, which can be extended with the proper care by maintaining a minimum battery charge ideally between the range of 20-80% among other practices.

EV batteries require very less maintenance

Electric vehicle batteries do not require any maintenance, and with lesser fluids and less brake wear due to regenerative braking, EV owners have very less to worry about, especially since batteries are becoming more advanced with an increasing number of charging cycles.

Electric car battery replacement cost

An EV battery is one of the most expensive components of the electric car. Although the existing electric car battery replacement cost in India is priced between 4-6 Lakhs, the cost is forecasted to reduce in the coming 3 years, with developments in scaled technologies and manufacturing. It is also to be noted that there has been a noticeable fall in battery costs since the last decade, which will continue to persist.

Electric car battery recycling

EV batteries are composed of lithium-ion which have the capacity to be recycled by 95%. Not only are the batteries easy to dismantle, the extracted materials are highly valuable too. In India only 5% of the batteries are recycled and since the number of discarded batteries are expected to go up to 10 folds in the near future, it raises the need for large scale battery recycling done in the formal sector.

Electric car battery charging

When it comes to charging EV batteries, there is a variable time frame depending on the battery size and speed of the charging point. A typical EV takes between 30 mins to 12 hours to fully charge. The range of the time to charge the EV battery reduces if the battery size is bigger and the charging port is slower.

How far can one charge go?

Range anxiety is one factor of EV adoption that influences the potential EV buyers to take the plunge. The biggest fear is the challenge and uncertainty of finding a charging station if the EV runs out of power on the road. As EV batteries are becoming more powerful and less expensive, the range is increasing, with an average range of 300 Kms. EV’s began with a maximum range of 175 Kms which has increased to 640 Kms as of today.

How do you recharge an electric car battery?

Charging your EV depends on various elements distributed across the electric vehicle, the battery capacity and the charging system. There are three ways to charge your EV car battery -Plug it into a chargepoint, charge it through an app or use an RFID card. The two types of charging are DC and AC with the former being the fastest form of charger. For Home charging AC chargers are available, whereas for public charging both AC and DC chargers are available.

How safe are electric car batteries?

Electric car battery manufacturers equip electric cars with charging safeguards so the batteries are protected during repeated rapid charging sessions done in a short period of time. This is especially true in the case of concern of thermal runaway, since Li-ion batteries are flammable. However, the chances of that happening are extremely minimal.

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