New study shows how much better than expected e-car batteries last
A new study by Stanford University shows astonishing results with regard to the batteries of electric cars. Unlike in the laboratory tests, the batteries, which are so important, perform better than expected in practice.
In a modern e-car, the battery is one of the most important, if not the most important, component. Accordingly, around a third of the price of an electric car is usually paid for the battery. So if a battery has to be replaced early, it can quickly lead to sensitive costs. That's why the average runtime of a battery is also crucial. A study from the USA now shows an astonishing result.
Longer service life than expected
Until now, it had been assumed that the manufacturers' laboratory tests of the batteries simulated the durability losses of electric car batteries well. In a new two-year study by researchers at Stanford University, it now turns out that the real situations in daily road traffic benefit the service life of the batteries. For the study, the researchers developed four different driving and discharge profiles from real driving data and then tested 92 different lithium-ion batteries across all profiles. Surprisingly, it turned out that everyday driving with numerous acceleration and braking processes or hours of parking was better for the batteries than could be expected from previous laboratory tests.
Charging cycles and acceleration phases not as harmful as expected
The closer the tested profile was to everyday driving, the higher the actual life expectancy of the tested batteries. Among other things, because the study was able to refute some old assumptions. For example, the researchers found that short, intense accelerations do not harm the battery, but actually extend the life of the battery. The assumption that too many charging cycles would severely damage a battery was also rejected. In fact, this limit is only the case for commercially used vehicles such as buses or trucks. For the everyday traffic of commuter or family cars, the general passing of time is the far more influential problem with battery aging.
Overall, the researchers found that the batteries in electric cars last up to 38 percent longer than previously assumed. This would correspond to an underestimation of the service life by almost 300,000 kilometers. The concerns of many potential buyers regarding the service life of the batteries in electric cars therefore seem to be unfounded, the batteries are instead more durable than previously assumed.