Just as petrol and diesel engines were once new technology and were scorned by the horse-drawn public, modern battery electric vehicles (EV) face similar criticism. Will electric vehicles stay on the road as long as petrol and diesel cars? Absolutely, and automakers are already delivering.
The TRUTH About How Long EV Batteries Actually Last
Since the first automobile went from production to daily driver to a scrapyard cube, the lifespan of cars and trucks has increased. Aside from a few outliers, like Irv Gordon’s 3.2 million-mile 1966 Volvo P1800S and Matt Farah’s million-mile 1996 Lexus LS400, the increasing lifespan of the typical automobile is encouraging. In 1977, the average American car was just 5.5 years old. By 1995, it was 8.4 years, and in 2020, the average hit 11.9 years.
That says a lot about the typical expectations of today’s drivers and the technological advances that have been made to meet them: People want cars that will last. Whether they drive electric or gas, they expect any car they buy today to be safe, efficient and reliable for years to come.
Still, how and where a vehicle is driven and maintained has a significant impact on its lifespan, no matter how well built a car is. Rough driving, overloading, corrosion, and neglect will destroy any vehicle before it reaches its peak, but well-maintained vehicles are no longer considered worn out until they reach at least 150,000 miles.
