The biggest fear about buying a used EV just got debunked by 2,500 real batteries
Everyone knows a used electric car is a battery timebomb, except the data says otherwise
The single biggest fear that stops people buying a second-hand electric or plug-in hybrid car is simple: that the battery will be worn out and cripplingly expensive to replace. It is a powerful worry, and it turns out to be mostly wrong. Belgian used-car retailer My Way has tested the batteries of 2,500 used electrified cars, and the result is remarkably reassuring.
2,500 batteries, one reassuring number
Working with battery-diagnostics specialist MOBA, My Way measured the State of Health of 2,500 used electric and plug-in hybrid cars. State of Health, or SoH, is simply how much of a battery's original capacity remains. The average across all 2,500 cars came out at 95.9 percent. In plain terms, the typical used electrified car on sale has lost only around four percent of its battery capacity, no matter what the internet fears might suggest.
Degradation is front-loaded, then it flattens out
The more interesting finding is the shape of the wear. Batteries lose most of their small amount of capacity early on, typically four to five percent in the first years, and then settle. After that initial dip, health stays remarkably stable rather than sliding steadily towards zero. Even cars that have covered more than 100,000 kilometres generally keep their SoH above 90 percent. A battery, in other words, does not slowly die on you; it takes an early, minor hit and then holds firm.
Why it matters for buyers, and prices
This is the reassurance the used market has been waiting for. Battery anxiety is the number-one reason people hesitate over a used EV, and hard data on 2,500 real cars undercuts it directly. It should also help support resale values, and it lands just as demand takes off, with Europe's EV sales surging and Belgian used electrified sales up more than 70 percent this year. None of it removes the need for due diligence, though: it is still worth asking for a State of Health test before you buy, just as you would check that a used car's mileage is genuine.
AutoNext Take
This is exactly the kind of unglamorous, evidence-based story the electric transition needs. For years the used EV has been haunted by a single scary idea, that you are buying someone else's dying battery, and it has kept sensible buyers away and depressed prices. A study of 2,500 real cars showing an average of 95.9 percent health does more to counter that fear than any glossy advert ever could.
It does not mean you should buy blind. A battery is still the most expensive part of an electric car, and its condition depends on how the car was charged and treated, so a quick health check before you sign remains money well spent. But the scaremongering that has shadowed used EVs since day one simply is not borne out by the cars themselves. An average of 95.9 percent is not a timebomb. It is a reason to shop with confidence.
