Do electric car batteries need replacing? Is it expensive?

Just like a fuel tank in your regular car, an electric vehicle’s car battery likely won’t need replacing for the life of the vehicle – provided it doesn’t cop any damage. But we’ll come onto that.

Electric car batteries are the most expensive component. If you’re considering a switch to an electric car, or even a plug-in hybrid with some electric components, it’s prudent to want to know how much it’ll set you back to repair and maintain.

Yeah, surprisingly – despite initial concerns that perpetually charging and recharging the battery would have the same effect as recharging a mobile phone i.e. degradation over time — manufacturers have found that batteries last longer than first expected (with the exception of some early Nissan Leaf ones).

Car makers currently reckon that their batteries will last anything from 10 to 20 years. Thus, manufacturers including Nissan and Tesla offer warranties of either eight years or 100,000 miles.