Why Do EVs Lose Range Over Time?

An electric car’s usefulness depends solely on how far it can travel on a single charge. Acceleration and top speed take a back seat to range, because it would be pointless to own a car that can’t cover long distances on a single charge.

That’s why most EVs offer about 250km to 500km of range on a single charge. In addition to this, they can also be charged up from 10% to 80% in half an hour with a rapid DC charger. This quick charging ability adds to its overall usefulness.

However, over time, the total range achievable on a single charge gradually decreases. It’s a phenomenon called battery degradation and it’s bound to affect every EV at some point in their lifetime.

This happens because the cathode and anode of the batteries begin to degrade, making it a lot tougher for them to retain the same amount of charge as before. As time progresses the issue gets worse, which in turn, shortens the overall range further.

Learn more about how EV batteries work and how they are recharged.

There are many things that accelerate a battery pack’s degradation process:

Running the battery to empty

Like our smartphones’ batteries, running an EV’s capacity to empty, repeatedly, will take a toll on its overall health. And over time, the charge capacity will also continue to deteriorate.

Overcharging or charging to 100% continuously

This can hurt battery health as well and cause irreversible damage. The result is even shorter ranges because the battery is constantly being recharged, which in turn speeds up the degradation process.

Using DC Fast Charging

Rapid DC charging allows EVs to recharge their batteries in about 30 minutes. It’s what makes it possible for electric vehicles to travel long distances between charges. But it’s this same technology that accelerates battery degradation.

That’s why it would be better to rely on slower, overnight AC charging for daily use but lean on rapid DC charging for times when you need to cover long distances in a short amount of time.

Taxing the battery with heavy acceleration

Rapid acceleration places tremendous stress on the battery to supply the necessary power to the electric motor. This rapid discharging can also cause serious problems to the battery over time.