Battery Health and Degradation

Some battery degradation and range loss is expected and normal with Electric Vehicles. Owners can expect roughly 5-10% reduction in range in the first year of ownership and approximately 1% reduction in range per year in subsequent years. Following simple OEM recommended charging recommendations either in the owners manual or on the touchscreen is the best way to preserve battery life (typically to just plug it in, follow the recommended max charge level and leave it alone). Owners don’t need to worry about battery “cycling” or other tricks to preserve long term battery life. All EV’s in the US are required to have an eight year 100,000 mile warranty. Tesla considers anything more than a 30% reduction in range to warranty a battery replacement. Owners can expect to see an average of 13-18% degradation at the end of the 8 year warranty period. Owners of older EV’s may want to consider some aftermarket warranty options to cover the high voltage battery as replacement costs can be high ($5 - $20K depending on the make and model).