How to check how healthy an EV battery is

Just how healthy is that battery on an electric vehicle? That’s not just a key question for current owners but especially for those looking at the used market.

vsNew, Inc. recently announced the launch of its EV and Hybrid Battery Health Reports which grade the condition of an EV or hybrid battery compared to when it was new. This helps accurately assess the condition of the battery, adding transparency to the sales process of a used EV or hybrid.

The company’s technology reads information directly from the vehicle’s battery management system (BMS) through the CAN bus. This provides hundreds of data points to accurately assess the battery’s overall condition, percentage of degradation and overall replacement risk. Battery health assessment goes down to the cell/module level.

“The team at vsNEW has worked with CAN bus data across OEMs for over 10 years and our expertise has allowed us to develop technology to create accurate vsNew Battery Health Reports for EVs and hybrids that use the car’s internal data to prove unique insights into a battery’s health,” said Sachin Chaudhry, the company’s co-founder. “And because of our expertise in auto data, we can provide reports across most OEMs including Tesla.”

For now, the company is targeting on-line car retailers, chain auto parts retailers, dealership groups and car auctions. This is a market that is expected to “grow significantly” through the next two decades, noted co-founder Dave Berlin. And it’s not predictable compared to the internal combustion engine market that is established.

“Unlike ICE vehicles that have a long and well-documented history of vehicle maintenance, metrics and assessment tools, EVand hybrid owners, buyers and sellers do not have the same benefit. And this has created a blind spot that can be costly,” Berlin added. “Replacing a failed battery in an EV or hybrid can be up to 80 per cent of the vehicle’s value.”