Tesla posts the lifespan of its electric vehicle batteries as both time and mileage matter

Tesla has released some of the interesting new statistics it has amassed on how long can its car batteries last, detailing the lifecycle of its vehicles regardless of the battery chemistry.

Over the decade or so of mass electric vehicle sales that Tesla has under its belt, it has charted 200,000 as the average mileage threshold before the battery capacity degrades to 80% of the original.

Tesla has had this statistic cited before, and it now seems to be a good estimate of how long its electric cars would last. In Europe, where people drive less than in the US, the same Tesla car battery shows a 20% degradation much sooner, at 150,000 miles on average.

While this is still a rather respectable number, it comes to show that age is also a big factor in battery degradation, even bigger than the mileage that electric vehicles accrue. Whether an American owner drives 20,000 miles a year and their Tesla lasts ten years before its battery falls to 80% capacity, or someone drives 15,000 miles over in Europe, the end result is still a 20% degradation in the same period, regardless of the mileage.

Tesla's point, however, is that the battery can easily outlast the useful lifespan of its vehicles as, after more than a decade and 200,000 miles of service, one would likely want to upgrade anyway. The thing is that the used EV market won't really take off if 200,000 miles to 80% battery is the threshold and, after the 8-year battery warranty expires, many will hesitate buying a second-hand Tesla.

The age of the average American vehicle on public roads is fast approaching 13 years, a new record, so Tesla would need to do better in terms of battery longevity and warranty. The latter solution is what Chinese companies are working towards.

The world's largest battery maker CATL is working with EV maker NIO to standardize a 15-year battery warranty with lower, 15% capacity degradation. Some of CATL's newest chemistries are already coming with 12-, 15-, and even 20-year warranties when it comes to energy storage products, so it will probably manage to pull off the 15-year battery warranty mark for electric vehicles.

It remains to be seen if and when Tesla will follow suit. It is nearing completion of its own LFP battery factory in the US, and those cells will be made with equipment by CATL. Besides lower Model Y RWD pricing, this could lead to Tesla lengthening the battery warranty of its future vehicles made with LFP cells for the US market.