How long it lasts and how often the e-car battery needs to be changed

How long does the battery of an electric car last?

The battery is supposedly the weakest link in the chain of components of an electric car. Above all, the electric motor itself hardly requires any maintenance and lasts forever. It is therefore the service life of the battery that significantly determines the life expectancy of the electric car.

How long the battery of an electric car lasts depends on various variables and many details. The most important are:

the service life of the electric car battery guaranteed by the manufacturer
and how to handle the battery while driving and charging.

How long does the battery of an electric car last?

The details

The best and safest answer is given by the manufacturers themselves: with their warranty on the battery. With it, they guarantee that the battery retains a large part of its storage capacity, its original capacity.

Most manufacturers currently offer a warranty of 8 years or 160,000 kilometers on the batteries of their electric cars.
It is guaranteed that the storage capacity of the battery will retain at least 70% of its nominal capacity until then.
For some older electric cars, the guaranteed mileage is slightly lower at 100,000 kilometers - but for some top models, some of them are significantly higher; about 240,000 kilometers for the Tesla Model S, 250,000 for the Mercedes EQS and even 1,000,000 kilometers for the Lexus UX 300e.

▶ Batteries last longer than warranty periods

The actual service life of current lithium-ion batteries significantly exceeds these warranty periods – as the research results now indicate. If you were to store a modern lithium-ion e-car battery unused at the right temperature, it would last 20 years: that's its calendar lifespan.

▶ For these reasons, e-car batteries age faster

However, the batteries age faster due to the ongoing charging and discharging – above all, the usable capacity decreases slowly but steadily. However, how quickly the storage capacity decreases can be influenced by the owner and driver:

e.g. by a careful driving style,
regular maintenance,
gentle charging (no constant fast or constant emptying and full loading).

If the battery is parked for longer periods of time, it is advisable not to fully charge the battery and to store the electric car at moderate temperatures – 15 to 25 °C.

Of course, this conservation is not a must: The batteries are now so robust and the battery management system is now so good that the guaranteed service life is usually achieved without any problems, even with demanding handling. The only important thing is that the central warranty provisions are observed: otherwise, if you have a defect, you will have to pay for the repair or replacement of the battery yourself – and that is expensive.

Battery life

In everyday life, lifespan is the time between birth and death; in the case of a battery, this would be the period between production and scrapping.

In electric cars, however, the service life of the battery describes a different time frame. The battery life of BEVs is the period guaranteed by the manufacturer during which the storage capacity maintains a certain value of the initial capacity.

The delivery of the battery or e-car marks the beginning of the period, known in technical jargon as the "Begin of Life", or "BoL" for short. The manufacturer delivers the battery with predefined characteristics, not least with a nominal capacity (kWh) and nominal voltage (400 or 800 volts).
Every battery, every rechargeable battery, ages over time: in storage as well as through electrical use, charging and discharging. Above all, the ability to store energy decreases – capacity shrinks.
The end of life (EoL) is reached when the storage capacity falls below a certain percentage of the nominal capacity: currently usually 70% or sometimes even 80%. In this area, the long, steady aging process begins to accelerate; albeit less strongly than feared years ago. [Autobild, VDE p. 11]

In this sense, the service life of an e-car battery is equivalent to the warranty period that the manufacturers grant on the battery.

Manufacturers currently guarantee these service lives for their electric car batteries

The battery warranty states that the usable capacity of the battery does not fall below a certain value over a promised period of time - or for a certain mileage. It applies to a brand-new e-car (first owner) and with correct use; this is laid down in the warranty conditions. The warranty or service life of the e-car battery is determined as follows:

over the period (expressed in months or years);
the mileage;
and the minimum capacity after the expiry of these deadlines – expressed as a percentage of the nominal capacity.

▶ But how long does the battery of an electric car currently last at least according to the manufacturer's warranty? And which models offer the longest service life?

The standard warranty period – and thus the standard service life of an electric car battery – is currently 8 years or 160,000 kilometres. Manufacturers such as Fiat, Citroen, BMW, Audi, VW, Opel, Mazda, Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda and Volvo guarantee their customers that the battery will retain a usable storage capacity of at least 70% of the nominal capacity until then (as of the end of 2022).
For some older and inexpensive electric cars, the warranty lasts for 8 years or 100,000 kilometers. Kia currently promises a battery warranty of 7 years or 150,000 kilometers for its model.
However, some manufacturers also promise significantly longer warranty periods. At Tesla, the battery warranty for the Model S and Model X, for example, lasts. 8 years or 240,000 kilometers, for Mercedes it is 10 years or 250,000 kilometers for the EQS.
The batteries of the Lexus UX300e currently last the longest; Toyota guarantees a service life of 10 years or 1,000,000 kilometers for the battery of its luxury brand's compact SUV.

Warranty Brand Information

Brand	Warranty in years	Warranty in kilometers
Fiat	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Citroen	8 years	160,000 kilometers
BMW	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Audi	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Volkswagen	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Opel	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Mazda	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Mercedes	8 years	160,000 kilometers

Brand	Warranty in years	Warranty in kilometers
Peugeot	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Seat	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Skoda	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Volvo	8 years	160,000 kilometers
Kia	7 years	100,000 kilometers
Tesla	8 years	240,000 kilometers
Mercedes	10 years	250,000 kilometers
Toyota	10 years	1,000,000 kilometers

Guaranteed, actual life & the second life of a car battery

However, practical experience now indicates that the batteries last longer than expected; the guaranteed service life of a BEV battery is usually significantly exceeded in everyday use. Experts assume that current lithium-ion batteries last at least 10, but probably more like 15 to 20 years. However, there is still a lack of reliable long-term data in large numbers for a conclusive assessment. [ISI 2030, Autobild]

However, the battery's life does not have to end after use in an electric car. Its use in a second life – for example as a stationary storage system for PV systems – will become increasingly important in the future: also in order to further improve the climate and environmental impact of the electric car. The same applies to the orderly recycling of the most important raw materials.

If we succeed in establishing a sustainable battery cycle, the CO2 balance of battery-electric drives will continue to improve. The greenhouse gas balance of BEVs can be reduced from the current quarter to a third compared to diesel and petrol cars. [VDE, p.23, Focus on Roadmap, p. 18, World Economic Forum (2019)]

How the battery of an electric car works & why it ages

The fact that chemical energy can be spontaneously converted into electrical energy was discovered by the Italian physician Luigi Galvani in the 18th century. With various types of metal tools, he succeeded in stimulating the muscles of frogs' legs.

The heart of every battery, the galvanic cell, is named after Galvani. With a galvanic element, the principle discovered by Galvani is technically implemented. At its core, it consists of:

consisting of two electrodes, a positive and a negative pole,
and an electrolyte, i.e. a solid, liquid or polymeric chemical compound that enables the exchange of charged particles between the poles.

Modern batteries also work according to this basic principle, in which several galvanic cells are connected. In the case of the so-called primary batteries, the chemical reaction that takes place is irreversible. In the case of secondary batteries, on the other hand, it can be reversed: the battery can be recharged – we know this type of battery as accumulators, or rechargeable batteries for short.

The traction batteries in cars with a battery-electric drive (BEV for "Battery Electric Vehicle") are all secondary batteries – and now almost without exception lithium-ion batteries. The technology was developed in the 1970s and was first used commercially in a video camera. The main advantages of the lithium-ion battery are:

the high energy and power density,
the high cycle stability (they can be discharged and discharged very often)
durability, robustness and safety.

The highly reactive alkali metal lithium, number 3 in the periodic table of elements, is present in all three central components or all three phases of the electrochemical reaction. Both the electrolyte and the reactive components of the electrodes contain lithium ions.

The lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars today differ primarily in the composition and shape of the electrolytes; and in the active materials used in the electrodes. The electrodes are composed of a current arrester, the collector, and a coating of active materials.

In the negative pole, the anode, the collector is usually made of copper graphite – when the battery is charged, the lithium ions are deposited in the graphite layer.
At the positive pole, the cathode, lithium mixed oxides are applied to an aluminum oxide – the lithium ions are deposited in the metal oxide during discharge.

The following material combinations are currently used as active materials for the cathode:

nickel-manganese-cobalt in different concentrations (NMC);
nickel-cobalt alumina (NCA);
Iron phosphate (LFP) – especially in batteries from China.

Lithium-ion batteries age during storage as well as during electrical use

It is these components – the electrolyte and the active materials of the electrodes – that primarily age in a lithium-ion battery. Aging means that the electrochemical properties deteriorate, i.e. the internal resistances increase and the storage capacity decreases.

Ageing happens in the warehouse state as well as during electrical use, during loading and unloading – slowly and continuously for a long time, but then significantly accelerated at a certain point

The ageing process in the bearing condition is referred to as the calendar lifespan,
which is referred to as cycle stability or cycle life during loading and unloading.

In idle mode, lithium-ion batteries undergo decomposition processes on the one hand and interaction between the active materials of the electrodes and the electrolyte on the other. The extent to which these processes influence aging depends heavily on the storage conditions: the state of charge, for example, and the storage temperature. If, for example, the temperature is only 10 degrees above the nominal temperature range (usually 20 to 25°C), the calendar service life is halved.

If stored properly, experts currently estimate that modern lithium-ion batteries achieve a calendar life of around 20 years. [Source – Autobild]

Aging due to the use of the battery

However, the main reason for the aging of the battery of electric cars is the energy throughput, i.e. the continuous charging and discharging cycles. A lot of heat is generated during loading and unloading. It causes a wide variety of mechanical and chemical reactions in the battery.

In the electrodes, for example, there are expansions and voltages, especially at the anode. They lead to changes in volume, fine cracks and deposits, such as lithium plating.
The reserves of active lithium are decreasing with each charging cycle, while the inactive lithium is increasing.

How many charging cycles a lithium-ion battery can tolerate before the capacity drops abruptly can be influenced by cell chemistry: by the materials of the electrolytes and the active metals of the electrodes. The principle here is that the longer the cycle life, the more expensive the battery becomes.

The batteries in our smartphones and notebooks are designed for around 300 to 600 charging cycles. According to the warranty, the lithium-ion batteries in electric cars can manage at least 500 to 1,000 cycles; however, as things stand at present, they can already cope with 2,000 to 3,000 full charging cycles.

How to improve battery life

Ein sorgsamer, pfleglicher Umgang verzögert den Alterungsprozess und verlängert die qualitativ hochwertige Lebensdauer – das ist beim Menschen nicht anders als bei technischen Geräten, so auch beim Akku eines Elektroautos.

Das heißt: Geht man mit dem Akku seines Elektroautos sorgsam um, hält er nicht nur deutlich länger als vom Hersteller garantiert – auch der unweigerliche Abfall der Speicherfähigkeit lässt sich länger hinauszögern.

Der behutsame Umgang mit der E-Auto-Batterie ist – abseits der Garantiebestimmungen – jedoch kein Muss, sondern eine Option. Die Lithium-Ionen-Akkus aktueller Elektroautos sind auf eine intensive Belastung ausgelegt: so konzipiert, dass sie 2.000 bis 3.000 volle Ladezyklen verdauen können. Bei einer Reichweite von 300 Kilometern käme man rechnerisch auf eine Laufleistung von 600.000 bis 900.000 Kilometern.

Wer seinen Akku schont, hat aber länger mehr von ihm, insbesondere eine anhaltend hohe Kapazität und Ladegeschwindigkeit:

So schonst Du den Akku Deines E-Autos

▶ Das Laden: Beim Laden kann man besonders viel für das Wohl des Akkus tun. Grundsätzlich schont es den Akku, wenn man Extreme vermeidet:

Gleichstrom-Schnellladen mit hoher Leistung (DC-Laden) sollte man den Akku nur, wenn es wirklich nötig ist – und dann möglichst nur bis 80% der Kapazität
Der Ladehub sollte möglichst geringgehalten werden, sprich: Es ist besser, die Batterie von 30% auf 80% zu laden anstatt von 10 auf 90%. Am besten bewegt sich der Ladestand in der Regel zwischen 20 und 80%.
Das Auto sollte mit vollgeladenem Akku möglichst nicht lange stehen, sondern gleich gefahren werden.
Bei Standzeiten von mehr als einem halben Tag empfiehlt es sich, den Akku nicht mehr als 80% aufzuladen.

▶ Das Fahren: Auch beim Fahren kann man den Akku seines E-Autos schonen. Wer ständig voll beschleunigt, fordert den Akku ungleich stärker als jener, der vorausschauend fährt. Beispielhaft führen diese Fahrweise die adaptiven Abstandsassistenten vor.

▶ Die Temperatur: Lithium-Ionen-Akkus fühlen sich bei Temperaturen von 15 bis 25 Grad am wohlsten. Während der Fahr oder beim Laden regelt das Batteriemanagement-System die Temperatur über die Kühlung bzw. Heizung aktiv. Im Stillstand ist das auf Dauer nicht möglich; bei längeren Standzeiten sollte man auf möglichst moderate Temperaturen achten.

▶ Die Standzeiten: Ein Elektroauto und seine Elektronik arbeiteten am effizientesten während der Fahrt. Steht das E-Auto für längere Zeit, sollte es vor direkter Sonneneinstrahlung, Kälte und Nässe geschützt abgestellt werden. Außerdem ist es gut, den Ladestand des Akkus zu beobachten: er sollte sich idealerweise zwischen 50 und 60% der vollen Kapazität bewegen.

Wie oft müssen E-Auto Akkus ausgetauscht werden?

So fern alles wie geplant und garantiert läuft, nie. Der Erstbesitzer eines Elektroautos kann auf die Batteriegarantie vertrauen. Der Großteil der Hersteller garantiert, dass der Akku für mindestens 8 Jahre oder 160.000 Kilometer über 70% seiner Ausgangskapazität hält. Einzelne Hersteller dehnen die garantierte Lebensdauer der Batterie ihrer Elektroautos mittlerweile auf noch größere Zeiträume aus. Die Lithium-Ionen-Akkus der aktuellen Generation sind noch haltbarer als gedacht und schaffen problemlos 2.000 volle Ladezyklen und mehr.

Fällt das Speichervermögen dennoch einmal früher stärker ab als garantiert, ist das ein Garantiefall: Der Akku wird auf Kosten des Herstellers repariert oder ausgetauscht.

Ein Garantiefall sollte dem Hersteller sofort gemeldet werden. Er leitet die Garantieabwicklung ein. Repariert oder ausgetauscht wird die Batterie ausschließlich in den dafür vorgesehen Reparaturzentren und Werkstätten.

Die Reparatur nimmt rund einen Arbeitstag in Anspruch und kostet ungefähr so viel wie ein Motorentausch bei einem Diesel oder einem Benziner: einige tausend Euro.

Der Tausch des Akkus geht etwas schneller, er ist aber ungleich teurer. Je nach Hersteller und Modell bewegen sich die Kosten zwischen knapp 7.000 und rund 38.000 Euro.

Wie bei allen technischen Bauteilen kann es aber auch bei E-Auto-Akkus zu Fehlfunktionen kommen; Unfallschäden sind ebenso wenig auszuschließen. Deshalb sind die aufladbaren Batterien von E-Autos so konstruiert, dass sie bei Bedarf repariert oder komplett ausgetauscht werden können.

Die Möglichkeit des Austausches bzw. der Reparatur ist zentral, denn der Akku ist das mit Abstand wertvollste Bauteil eines Elektroautos. Der Nachteil seines hohen Werts: der Austausch und die Reparatur sind teuer.

Während der garantierten Lebensdauer der Elektroauto-Batterie übernimmt diese Kosten jedoch der Hersteller – sofern die Garantiebedingungen eingehalten wurden.

Akkutausch als Garantiefall

Diese Grundregeln solltest Du beachten

Die Nutzungsregeln in den Garantiebedingungen sind im Detail von Hersteller zu Hersteller verschieden. In jedem Fall aber ist es ratsam, sich die Bedingungen genau durchzulesen – auch wenn es juristisch bisher nicht eindeutig geklärt ist, ob es sich um strikt einzuhaltende Vorschriften oder eher um Handlungsempfehlungen handelt.

Um die Garantie im Schadensfall sicherzustellen, sollten dennoch einige generelle Regeln beachtet werden:

Die vom Hersteller vorgeschriebenen Wartungsintervalle müssen eingehalten werden.
Auch die Software-Updates des Herstellers sollten eingespielt werden. Bei Tesla müssen alle bereitgestellten Updates installiert sein; sonst geht die Garantie verloren. Bei anderen Herstellern betrifft das vor allem Updates für Rückrufe und bestimmte Servicemaßnahmen.
Zudem empfiehlt es sich, das Elektroauto nicht in Eigenregie nachzurüsten – zum Beispiel mit einer Anhängerkupplung; die angegeben Anhänge-, Stütz- und Dachlasten sind unbedingt einzuhalten.
Möglichst zu vermeiden sind außerdem Tiefentladungen durch lange Standzeiten; sie gelten allerdings nur bei einigen Herstellern als Ausschlussgrund, etwa bei BMW.

Das kostet ein Akku-Tausch

If the defect in the battery is a warranty case, the costs of repair or replacement are covered. A case for the warranty would be, for example, if the usable capacity drops below the guaranteed minimum percentage of the nominal capacity before the end of the service life.

▶ Complete replacement of the battery

After the expiry of or out of warranty, replacing a battery is only worthwhile in the rarest of cases. The costs are high – in the case of used cars, often higher than the residual value of the e-car.

How much it costs to replace the battery is reluctant to be openly communicated by the manufacturers. The cost differences are enormous, with some car manufacturers the costs also differ depending on the cause of the damage (defect, accident).

What is certain, however, is that replacing an electric car battery is expensive: it costs at least 6,500 euros, for example for a Smart EQ or a Dacia Spring Electric. In most cases, however, the costs are in the five-digit euro range:

Mercedes estimates almost 20,000 euros for battery replacement for an EQS and even a good 27,000 euros for the electric V-Class EQV. At VW, replacing the battery costs around 10,000 to 20,000 euros. Battery changes are currently particularly expensive for a Hyundai Kona Electric: at 34,000 euros for the large battery; and for the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric with a good 38,000 euros. The replacement of the battery itself is usually quite fast. Depending on the capacity and manufacturer, it takes a few working hours to one working day.

▶ Repairing the battery

In many cases, however, the damage, such as too low a capacity, can be repaired by repair.

Repair means that one or more defective modules are replaced; possibly only a defective electrical or electronic component. At least one module is always replaced and never the smaller units of the battery, the cells. The repair is usually somewhat more time-consuming than replacing the entire battery – the entire battery housing must be removed and reinstalled, the defective module(s) must be replaced and the repaired battery must finally be technically inspected in detail. The effort is comparable to replacing a combustion engine after engine damage. On average, a repair takes one working day – the costs amount to several thousand euros, as with engine damage. In any case, repair or replacement can only be carried out by the manufacturer's authorized specialist workshops; although not all workshops are currently equipped for this. VW, for example, currently operates almost 500 bases in Germany that can repair or replace batteries. [Source – Stern, ADAC]

How are modern batteries constructed?

It cannot be ruled out with certainty that the battery of an electric car will have to be repaired or replaced. Modern lithium-ion batteries therefore have a modular design. This makes both easy for professionals.

The finished battery is installed in a protective housing (steel, aluminum, carbon) as a uniform battery pack in the "skateboard" design: i.e. in the underbody of the electric car between the two axles. This ensures the highest possible safety on the one hand and the lowest possible overall centre of gravity on the other – a plus in terms of driving dynamics and road holding.

The modular design of a lithium-ion battery for electric cars means that several cells are linked to modules, and several modules are linked to form a battery:

Several battery cells are combined into one module – usually in series. This merger is also necessary because the voltage of a single cell would be far too low to drive an electric car. The cell voltages currently range between 2.2 and 4.2 volts, depending on the cell and electrode chemistry used.
Each module is equipped with its own cell control system.
What the modules lack are, among other things: a protective housing and the electronic control devices.
For this reason, depending on the size and desired range of the batteries, around a dozen modules are combined to form the battery.

Part of the finished battery is the battery management system (BMS), the control center, the brain of the individual cells and modules.

It monitors and regulates the state of charge during loading and unloading at the level of the cells as well as at the level of the entire system.
It compensates for slight production-related fluctuations in individual cell parameters (capacitance, voltage, internal resistance, etc.). This "balancing" function prevents individual cells from being unintentionally over-discharged or over-discharged.
It acts as a central interface between the battery and the other electrical and electronic components of the electric drive. In doing so, it monitors and regulates the voltage, currents and temperature: of the entire battery and the individual cells.
It allows exact logging of processes and possible errors and can thus switch off the system or individual modules in a targeted and safe manner.

In short, the battery management system guarantees the highest possible electrical safety and battery life of an electric car.

The mechanical, physical protection of the sometimes highly sensitive individual parts of the battery and the cooling system is provided by the housing of the battery. It protects the battery from stone chips, dust, water and corrosion. It is made of steel, aluminium or, in the case of particularly high lightweight construction requirements, also of carbon fibres (carbon).

Can you extend the service life as a driver?

Modern lithium-ion batteries are robust and cycle-resistant. Many experts now assume that they will outlive the cars in which they were originally installed.

The guaranteed service life of a battery in current electric cars is at least 160,000 kilometres: that is an average of around 1,000 full charging cycles (full charging and discharging). However, the experience of the last ten years and ongoing inspections show that the current battery generation can easily withstand 2,000 to 3,000 full charging cycles.

Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt not to strain or strain the battery unnecessarily: especially since it can be easily avoided. With these simple tips, you'll get more out of your battery for longer.

An electric car with a fully charged battery should not be left standing for long – this would promote the aging process of the battery.
Fast charging with direct current and high power puts more strain on the battery than slow charging with alternating current and little power - the latter should therefore be the rule.
You should avoid completely discharging the battery at all costs; At the same time, you should not charge too "early", if possible at 20 to 40%. The reason: a large charging hub stresses the battery chemistry.
Batteries feel most comfortable at outside temperatures of 10 to 25 °C and at operating temperatures between 20 and 40 °C. The operating temperature is regulated by the electronics, and if the electric car is parked for a longer period of time, you should keep an eye on the outside temperature.

Freilich handelt es sich hierbei wie erwähnt nur um Handlungsempfehlungen, die nichts sklavisch befolgt werden müssen. Lithium-Ionen-Antriebsbatterien der jüngsten Generation sind extrem haltbar, eigensicher – und mit einem schlauen Management-System ausgestattet.

Wer Extreme vermeidet, wird mit seiner Batterie lange viel Freude haben und den Akku nie tauschen müssen. [Quelle Autobild, VW, ADAC]

Can I replace the battery of my electric car myself?

Short answer: No. Long answer: No, absolutely not.

The manufacturers do not intend to replace the battery by the owner. It is the sole responsibility of the authorised workshops.

If you try it anyway, you lose the warranty on the life of the battery. In addition, lithium-ion batteries of today's BEVs are high-voltage batteries with voltages of 400 or 800 volts – only experts should handle such high voltages: improper handling poses a risk to life.

The trained specialists in the manufacturer's authorized repair centers and workshops are of course able to safely repair or replace a battery.

Depending on the manufacturer and size of the battery, a specialist needs a few hours to a day to replace the entire battery. The cost ranges are high, with enormous fluctuations between the brands and models: from about 7,000 to almost 40,000 euros. The repair of individual modules is somewhat more complex and therefore takes longer; however, it is significantly cheaper than complete replacement. On average, the repair of a module takes one working day – comparable to a conventional engine change. The costs are also within a similar range. Outside the service life of the electric car battery, repair is therefore usually the only financially sensible option; in the majority of cases, however, the problem can be solved.