Battery degradation is a topic that interests both electric vehicle owners and those pondering whether to buy one. This question is relevant both to those looking to buy new, who want to know how much range loss to expect, and to those considering saving some money by picking up a used EV.
While studies show that in general EVs hold up well with normal use, there is no single, clean answer to the battery degradation question. That's why I started Degradation Diaries, a column where I break down one example of EV range loss and see what we can learn from it. The first in the series is this 31,000-mile (50,000 km) BYD Seal single-motor car from 2024, tested in Australia by YouTube channel Beyond EV. It’s around two years old, and they check how much capacity it’s lost through an OBD2 dongle and the Car Scanner app.
