Is Nissan the only EV manufacturer who's batteries show significant degradation?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark W
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Mark W

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All batteries degrade over time. Based on current technology, there is no way around that. My understanding though is that Nissan batteries have been showing much higher degredation percentages than other manufacturers. Are there any studies that compare this? As far as I know, we have two other manufacturers with long enough data available, GM (Spark and Volt), and Tesla. For both of those manufacturers, I have heard that batteries have degraded very little. I have not heard about the Mitsubishi or VW evs.

I am asking because I usually buy cars that are a few years old to save money. That is fine for most cars. My experience with an older Prius needing battery replacement kind of tempers my enthusiasm for cars with batteries. I bought a 2014 Leaf last year, and I'm worried about my bargain purchase not being so much of a bargain if I have to replace the battery in 4 years.
 
Mark W said:
Thanks, what was it when new? When did BMW start making the i3?
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I bought our 2014 BMW i3-REx in May 2016 after it came off lease. Other members of the BMW forum I follow have reported similar numbers.

The BMW i3 came out in 2014 and most went out the door under lease. So when they came off lease, they were heavily depreciated. I picked mine up for $29k but today I could replace it for $20-23k. The only problem is the first model year has 'infantile' problems like a weak motor mount bolt and a weak fuel sensor. But the 5 year, 50k mile warranty has worked great.

Bob Wilson
 
I don't think I would worry much about capacity loss for cars that have over 200 miles of EV range when new. When the Chevy Bolts come off lease in a couple more years, there may be an opportunity to snag one for a very good price if the depreciation continues to be bad for EVs.
 
marshall said:
I don't think I would worry much about capacity loss for cars that have over 200 miles of EV range when new. When the Chevy Bolts come off lease in a couple more years, there may be an opportunity to snag one for a very good price if the depreciation continues to be bad for EVs.
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Thanks, that's really part of what my question is about. I think if Bolts are a reasonable price off lease, that would be a great option for me. If the degredation rate is only slight, then I would be interested. The way I usually buy cars is buying that when they are 3 years old, and then driving them for at least 10 years from there. I want to make sure that I won't have to replace the battery in those 10 years.
 
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