Mikkel Christensen
Electric vehicles have long faced doubts about battery life and durability.
Electric vehicles have long faced doubts about battery life and durability.
But new research suggests EVs may last just as long as traditional vehicles, and in some cases even longer.
Several studies now point to electric cars matching or surpassing petrol and diesel vehicles in long-term reliability, according to CarGuide.ph.
Massive vehicle analysis
A study published in the journal Nature Energy examined nearly 29.8 million vehicles.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham, the London School of Economics, and the University of California San Diego analysed 264 million MOT roadworthiness tests conducted in the United Kingdom.
The dataset included 15.1 million petrol vehicles, 14.7 million diesel cars and more than 41,000 battery electric vehicles.
Researchers estimated vehicle lifespan by tracking the last MOT test recorded before a car was scrapped.
Lifespan findings
The study concluded that the average vehicle lasts about 17.8 years and travels roughly 138,000 miles, or about 220,000 kilometres.
Petrol vehicles were found to last around 1.9 years longer than diesel models, although they typically travelled about 44,000 fewer miles.
Researchers projected that battery electric vehicles could last about 18.4 years on average and cover more distance than petrol cars over their lifetime.
Battery durability
Additional insights came from fleet management company Arval, which analysed battery health certificates for 8,300 electric vehicles across 30 brands.
The vehicles had travelled about 70,000 kilometres on average and still retained around 93 percent of their original battery capacity.
Even after surpassing 200,000 kilometres, battery health remained close to 90 percent.
Asian study results
Similar findings were reported in research from Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
The study analysed nearly 5,700 vehicles operating in Vietnam between 2020 and 2024, including more than 1,000 electric vehicles and over 4,600 petrol models.
Researchers found that after around 12 years of use, petrol vehicles showed a significantly higher probability of failure than electric vehicles.
“Electric vehicles demonstrate durability both in theory and in real-world conditions. The findings offer a scientific and objective view of long-term vehicle reliability,” said Dr. Dam Hoang Phuc, who led the research team.
Sources: CarGuide
