Battery life of an electric car

Optimize the battery life of your electric cars

Electric cars have become essential for businesses, but their battery life is a major concern, with an impact on costs and efficiency. This guide covers the key factors, the best practices, and Dadycar's role in making batteries last longer.

Understanding electric car battery life: myths and realities

Historically, there were doubts about how long electric vehicle batteries would last. Technological progress has swept away most of those fears. Today, most manufacturers guarantee electric car batteries for 8 to 10 years or 160,000 km, with a guaranteed minimum capacity (often 70%).

But how long does a battery actually last? It is not a sudden death but a gradual loss of capacity. A battery at the end of its life does not "die"; it simply offers less range. The life of an EV battery is often estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 charge/discharge cycles. It is crucial to understand that the average life of an electric car battery varies. No battery lasts forever, and wear is a natural phenomenon.

What affects the battery life of electric cars?

• Charge/discharge cycles: each cycle (one full charge followed by one full discharge) slightly wears the lithium-ion battery. Battery degradation is directly linked to the number of cycles.

• Depth of discharge (DoD): routinely running the battery down to very low levels (below 20%) is more harmful to its health than partial discharges.

• Prolonged high state of charge: keeping a battery at 100% for long periods can speed up its degradation, especially in hot weather. That is why keeping an optimal state of charge matters.

• Temperature: extreme temperatures (very hot or very cold) are batteries' worst enemies. Excessive heat is particularly harmful to long-term battery life.

• Charging type: DC (direct current) fast charging is convenient, but it generates more heat than AC (alternating current) charging, which can affect battery life if used exclusively. High charging power puts more strain on electric vehicle batteries.

• Driving style: aggressive driving with hard acceleration and deceleration puts more strain on the battery.

Essential strategies to extend the battery life of your fleet

Optimizing the battery life of your company electric vehicles is not rocket science, but it does take a structured approach and good practices.

a) Optimal management of charge cycles:

• Favor partial charges: encourage your employees to charge often, but partially (for example, between 20% and 80%). That is the "sweet spot" for battery longevity, and it helps the battery last longer.

• Avoid deep discharges: make drivers aware that the battery should not regularly drop below 20%.

• Limit 100% charges: except for long trips, it is recommended to set charging to stop at 80 to 90% rather than 100%. Some electric vehicles let you set a maximum charge level, which is healthier for the battery.

b) Temperature control:

• Smart parking: in summer, park in the shade. In winter, park somewhere sheltered from the cold if possible.

• Preconditioning: use the battery preconditioning functions (through the vehicle's app) before driving off or charging. This brings the battery to its optimal temperature.

• Active cooling: most modern electric vehicles have sophisticated thermal management systems. Make sure they work properly through regular maintenance.

c) Choosing the right type of charging:

• AC (slow/normal) charging first: for daily charging at the depot or at employees' homes, AC charging is preferable. Less thermal stress, longer life.

• Fast charging, in moderation: keep DC fast charging for long trips or urgent needs. Overuse can shorten battery life.

• Charging infrastructure: invest in suitable charging stations, with AC charging options and, if needed, fast chargers, for optimal flexibility. The battery type also affects charging.

d) Driver awareness and training:

• Eco-driving: smooth driving (moderate acceleration, anticipating braking to make the most of regeneration) reduces the strain on the battery and optimizes range.

• Communication: explain to your teams why good charging and driving practices matter. A well-treated EV battery means controlled operating costs.

Dadycar: your strategic ally for managing the battery life of your electric fleet

This is where Dadycar comes in, as an essential partner for corporate fleet managers. Tracking the condition and use of every lithium-ion battery across a diverse fleet is complex, which makes a smart fleet management solution indispensable. Battery degradation is a fact, but it can be managed.

• Real-time state of charge: for connected vehicles, Dadycar shows the state of charge of each electric vehicle (charging, complete, low charge, not charging).

• Charging history: charging sessions are logged alongside fuel, and the Chargemap Pass connector brings in the sessions carried out on the public network.

• Charging locations: your charging points, on your own sites or at a provider, are listed in the Sustainability module.

• Threshold alerts: state-of-charge and range signals trigger an alert at the threshold you set, sent to the fleet manager or the driver.

• Dedicated maintenance: a maintenance plan specific to electric vehicles, and reminder templates such as the battery diagnostic.

• Transition analysis: the energy transition analysis identifies combustion vehicles suited to going electric, and the dashboard tracks the energy mix of the fleet.

With Dadycar, you move from reactive to proactive management of your electric vehicle batteries, turning a potential cost into a lasting competitive advantage.

Conclusion: investing in battery life means investing in the future of your fleet

The switch to electric is a tremendous opportunity for businesses. However, getting the best return on that transition requires informed management of electric vehicle battery life.

By adopting good charging and driving practices, and relying on powerful fleet management tools such as Dadycar, you ensure not only the longevity of your electric vehicles, but also optimized operating costs and better overall performance for your business.

Don't let battery uncertainty hold back your electric ambitions. With good charging practices and regular monitoring, the battery becomes a controlled, predictable cost item.

Actual battery life depends on many factors, but proactive management can improve it significantly.