For this reason, it is important that the condition of the battery is checked when purchasing a used electric car, especially on the car has a few years on the neck.
But how do you really go? There is currently no standard for checking the capacity of electric car batteries – ie battery health.
However, such a standard should enter into force in 2027.
While some traders control battery health on their electric cars, it is far from everyone who does.
“We see that few consumers are aware of this,” says Jonathan Parr, Head of Analysis at the use car dealer Rebil.
– It is alarming, because buying a used electric car with poor battery health can have major consequences.
Like the battery on a mobile phone, an electric car battery deteriorates over time. There is no established mapping of battery health and we do not yet know how the batteries will age for 20 or 30 years.
At best, impaired battery health means shorter reach – in the worst case, the car must be scrapped.
– If you buy from a dealer, you must ask the seller to enter the battery health in the agreement. You can ask the dealer to check the battery condition when you visit the workshop. It only takes five minutes. But if you buy from a private person, you probably have to do the job yourself and use an error code reader. Not all diagnostic scanners show battery health, so be sure to choose one that does just that, says Parr.
It is possible to buy an error code reader for a few hundred kronor.