Having an independent, certified assessment of how well previous owners have looked after an EV’s battery is seen as important by 87% of used car buyers, according to research by Startline Motor Finance.
It found that 82% of those surveyed would want to know how long the battery would take to fully charge, 82% would want verification of the amount of battery capacity that lost since new, 81% would want to know how much capacity it was likely to lose in the future, and 79% would like an indication of how much charge the battery currently held.
Startline CEO Paul Burgess said: “Probably the number one fear that consumers have when buying a used electric car is that the battery will fail or otherwise degrade very quickly. They know it could cost several thousand pounds to buy a replacement.
“In real-world conditions, these worries are largely proving to be unfounded. There are now millions of electric cars on roads across the world and battery degradation is generally happening much more slowly than anticipated while outright battery failure, although not unknown, remains a rare occurrence.
“However, used car buyers clearly want reassurance and some form of formal testing that shows the battery of the vehicle they are considering buying has been well-looked-after, with a good idea of how it is likely to perform in the future, is probably the best available solution to allay their worries.”
Burgess noted that a manifesto policy of the new Labour government was the introduction of a standardised battery health check.
He said: “In our view, this would be a very good idea. Having a government-backed and approved battery test that provided the information consumers want would be a very real boost for the used electric car market, especially if it was backed by some form of warranty.”
