Busting Second Hand EV Battery Myths – Pickles introduces State of Health certificate for used Electric Cars

The more your Electric Car has driven the worse it’s battery health. Myth. And that one is being busted by robust data from Pickles after testing the Batteries of over 650 EVs.

As part of the progression of the second hand EV car market, Pickles is introducing Detailed Battery certificates for all tested EVs sold at Pickles Auctions.

“Battery health is very important in an EV,” says Brendon Green, General Manager – Automotive Solutions at Pickles, noting “Until now, buyers have been bidding in the dark. This move replaces uncertainty with confidence – and positions Pickles as the national leader in EV transparency.” 

The certificate shows a prospective buyer the State of Health (SoH) from the manufacturer, and from an independent source as well as detailed battery data.

The average SoH among the more than 650 EVs already tested was an impressive 96% and it wasn’t just cars with low K’s that were tested.

In fact Pickles latest Quarterly Automotive Report shows some interesting comparisons. Two Model Y Teslas were checked, one with 4,200km driven over 8 months, another with 82,000kms over 13 months. You’d assume the higher Odemeter car would have a lesser battery health, but in fact both were identical – at 97% SoH. The one with the higher distance had doe 329 Charge cycles, while the lesser had done just 28, averaging a charge ever 151km instead of the 250km on the 82,000km car.

What this broadly shows is that following manufacturer recommendations to not charge to 100% often and not dip too low too often can make a vast difference to your battery health.

In fact, there was a clear indication across the testing that rapid charging, frequent deep discharges and consistent 100% charging can accelerate battery wear. Your home trickle charger is the best way to look after your car, not the local super-fast charger.

“Battery health isn’t about how far you drive – it’s about how you charge. We’re seeing EVs with tens of thousands of kilometres still scoring over 95% SoH because their owners follow good charging practices,” Green explained

“EV batteries are proving to be far more durable than expected,” Green adds. “We’re only just starting to see EVs cross the 100,000 km mark, but early indicators show that battery life won’t be a barrier to the used EV market.”

Of the EVs sold by Pickles, most have under 50,000 km on the clock. EVs with between 50 and 100,000km though still score over 93% SoH for the battery. Confirming the theory that how you charge and drive matters more than how far you drive, some EVs with just 10,000km have similar battery health scores to those with 60,000-80,000km. There are even examples as you can see on the above graph of vehicles maintaining 100% battery health after 20,000km.

The entire second-hand industry needs a unified form of battery testing, so that buyers can compare cars from different dealers, private sales and Auctions. Pickles move to having certificates available for EVs on sale is a big win for the industry.

You can read Pickles full Quarterly report here.