The Nissan Leaf recently celebrated its 10th birthday, and the Tesla Model S isn’t far behind. That means we’re smack dab in the middle of a decade of “modern” battery electric cars, and we can now observe how these vehicles — and their battery packs — have aged.
However, we need your help to do it! If you’ve owned a battery-electric car for five years or more, we want to hear from you. We especially want to hear from those with even older EVs who have never had their car’s battery pack replaced. We’re hoping for feedback on how these cars are enduring and particularly whether those original range estimates still hold true or have diminished over time.
The goal is to compile the responses we’ve gotten into an article that will present a reasonable picture of how many years of solid range a new EV owner can expect before battery service is required. Some manufacturers offer reassuringly long battery warranties, covering failures within the first 100,000 or 150,000 miles, usually paired with around eight to 10 years of use. Those don’t always account for lost capacity, though. Even if they do, a full charge typically has to deplete to a certain level (maybe 30 to 40 percent less capacity from when new) to qualify for replacement.
Bearing all that in mind, if you’re still driving an old EV, we’d like to know:
- Your name
- What car do you own and how old is it?
- Did you buy it new or used?
- How many miles are on it?
- How and where do you charge it?
- Has the battery pack been serviced or replaced? If it has, when did the service occur, and was it under warranty?
- Has range on a full charge diminished over time? How so?
- A photo of your car
If you want to be interviewed, please let us know in an email with an re: EV Battery Stories to tips at jalopnik dot com!