Polestar Makes Old EVs Less Scary To Buy

Although mass-market EVs are still relatively new to the market, they’ve been around for more than a decade now. The first Tesla Model S models launched for the 2012 model year, and the Chevy Bolt EV came out for 2017. That means that EVs with plenty of miles and many charging cycles are out in the used car market, and we’re finally seeing what happens to the most expensive components, the batteries, after living long lives. Because they are so expensive, they can be the scariest part of buying a used EV, since you don’t want to end up buying one with a worn-out battery in need of replacement. Polestar intends to assure its customers with a new addition to its certified pre-owned program.

Demystifying Battery Condition

On Polestar 2s being sold through Polestar’s certified pre-owned program, the dealer will check what the battery’s state-of-health is. This will be shown on the certification documents as a percentage of how much maximum capacity remains, compared to when it was new. This is in addition to the standard 112-point inspection used to get a Polestar 2 certified for the program. Plus, the certified program includes a 24-month warranty on top of whatever is remaining of the standard 8-year or 100,000-mile warranty on the battery and motors. That factory warranty will cover a battery replacement in the event the battery capacity dips below 70%.

For the time being, this battery life certification is only available for the Polestar 2. Likely a major contributing factor is that the Polestar 3 is only just going on sale, and the Polestar 4 is still around the corner. As such, there aren’t really used examples, and if there are any, they’ve barely been used. However, Polestar said it intends on adding these vehicles to its certified programs in the near future.

Old Batteries Aren’t As Scary As You Think

New and potentially expensive technology in vehicles will always be scary for future owners. Batteries are especially so for being both expensive and necessary for using the car as intended. The good news is that they seem to have better longevity than many expected. We recently published a deep dive into battery longevity, and an automotive telemetry company called Geotab found that owners were experiencing reductions in battery capacity by only about 2% a year. So even after a decade, a battery pack should still have around 80% of its charge. This is on average, and depending on how the car was used, the decline could be better or worse. Frequent fast charging is one of the things that can degrade a battery faster than normal.

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EV Battery Degradation Is Not As Bad As We Thought

Good news: your EV’s battery will last much longer than you think. So what’s the bad news?

As such, it’s still good to be able to check an EV’s battery health, and why Polestar’s program is great. It makes it clear to any kind of buyer what car they’re getting, and other automakers should adopt this practice. But if you’re buying something other than a certified pre-owned Polestar, there’s some more good news. Many EVs make this relatively easy to check. For instance, the Nissan Leaf makes it possible to check the battery condition in the instrument cluster. If you’re looking at buying a used EV, check online for owners’ manuals and forums that can help you find the battery health information for the model you’re looking at. This way, you can more confidently get a good EV at a nice price.