Battery health remains a key uncertainty holding back the used EV market according to a leading industry analyst.
Fifth Quadrant, which offers automotive industry research and insights, has looked at the impact of battery healthy specifically in relation to fleet management resale but this could also have implications for repairers as EVs grow more common.
It is advocating for an independent third-party battery certification to give buyers an understanding of technical battery data and overcome the lack of confidence.
“These independent assessments provide a standardised view of battery condition, reporting on usable capacity, energy throughput and potential anomalies. In practice, certification supports accurate pricing, improves buyer confidence, and helps with warranty or residual value discussions,” Fifth Quadrant insight report Trust, transparency and the road ahead for used EVs notes.
It reveals that the resale of EVs is improving but there are still uncertainties on making an assessment of the most valuable parts of the vehicle particularly when it hits the three-year mark.
“Unlike combustion vehicles, where odometers and service logs offer clear signals of value, EVs are harder to assess. Their resale value depends heavily on battery health, which is variable and often hidden from buyers. Additionally, while the right tools can track this from day one, that data is often not understood or captured.”
Battery health can be influenced by a range of variables, including temperature, charging behaviour, environmental exposure, and even the driving styles of individual users, it notes .
“This complexity means that two vehicles from the same fleet, both showing similar mileage, may have very different battery health profiles. As shown in the chart below, while both vehicle types start at or near 100% SoH, one maintains strong performance even beyond 100,000 km, while the other declines much faster. In some cases, we can even see vehicles falling below 70% SoH before they have travelled 50,000 km.”
For the used market this means mileage alone isn’t enough to gauge battery condition or justify pricing, posing the future risk in the case of weaker ones or under-pricing strong battery vehicles.