April 3, 2022 – Buying or selling a used EV is inherently different from its ICE counterpart. The primary reason is that the battery, which is the most expensive part of any electric vehicle, is hard to evaluate. Batteries age differently than combustion engines.
An odometer is not a particularly accurate indicator of battery health. The high voltage lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars naturally degrade with time and charging cycles. As an EV buyer (new or used), to maximize the chance of getting a battery that’s in great shape, pretend you’re in the dairy section of the supermarket, looking for the carton of milk with the furthest out expiration date.
For some EVs, the calendar age of the battery pack starts to really diverge from the production date of the car. Most recently, Chevy has been replacing battery packs in Bolts due to initial manufacturing QA problems. In addition to the safety benefit of the recall, owners are getting a huge range boost with their replacement batteries.
