The video explaining the EV battery degradation and range of a 6-year-old electric car has been shared on YouTube by Viral Beans EV on their channel. It starts off with the vlogger mentioning that a lot of people who want to buy an EV have a common question. They ask what is going to happen to the battery of the vehicle that they buy after a long period of time. As a result, in this video, he will be showing what the real-world effect is on the battery of a 6-year-old electric car.
He then mentions that this particular vehicle is an MG ZS EV electric SUV which was bought in 2020. At the time of the purchase, MG claimed that this SUV will offer an ARAI-claimed range of 340 km. However, the actual range 6 years ago was around 280 to 300 km. Following this, he then mentions that today he will be driving this SUV around 150 km to check out its actual range after 6 years of ownership.
Following the introduction, the vlogger then mentions that the vehicle has 99 percent charge on the battery and the trip meter has been set to 0. After this, he starts driving the vehicle on the roads of Gurgaon. During his drive, he explains a number of different points. But before that, he gives an update that the battery has dropped by 10 percent and the vehicle has covered around 41 km.
Next up, he then continues driving on the highway and gives a disclaimer. He mentions that the range of an electric vehicle and the degradation of the battery depend on more than just the age of the vehicle. He emphasizes that the degradation also depends on the distance driven and the number of charging cycles the battery has been through.
The host explains that, for example, this particular ZS EV has covered 45,000 km and it might have gone through 150 charge cycles. So, its battery degradation will be low compared to a vehicle which might have driven 1 lakh km and has gone through 300 or 500 charge cycles. As for the range of the electric vehicle, it depends on the driving style, outside temperature, usage of the air conditioning system and the elevation of the road.
Following this, he also highlights that the type of battery is also an important factor in battery degradation. The MG ZS EV uses an NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery, which is energy-dense. However, it is sensitive to heat and frequent heavy charging. Meanwhile, other popular EVs in the market use LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries, which are becoming popular for their durability and cycle life.
However, the downside is that they have lower energy density. As for the result of the drive, the host mentions that the vehicle has covered 166 km and the current battery left is 44 percent. This means that, in theory, the vehicle has a range of 300 km on a single full charge, and it is the same as the original range of the vehicle from 6 years ago.
Towards the end, the host also highlights that EV owners with high-mileage vehicles of around 1 lakh km can expect a typical range loss estimated at 8-15 percent for NMC batteries. Meanwhile, for the LFP batteries, this drop is around 5-12 percent.