Buying a used EV or hybrid may be dangerous since there isn’t a technique to really know the well being and potential remaining longevity of those automobiles’ integral batteries. Or, not less than that was the case till not too long ago. A brand new product known as vsNEW is at present geared toward sellers, however the group is contemplating making it publicly out there, too. It’s a dongle that plugs into most OBD scanner ports, reads the automotive’s battery well being, and sends its findings in a report back to your e-mail inside a matter of minutes. Sounds sensible, however does it work? To discover out, I headed out to scenic Malibu to host a check day for native Jalopnik readers who drive EVs, hybrids or PHEVs to have their battery well being examined.
In quick, the product labored nice. It collected battery well being reviews from every automotive that visited, and each single proprietor was totally thinking about realizing extra about how their electrified automotive’s battery is holding up. Thankfully, I didn’t have to inform anybody that their automotive’s battery was ineffective and they need to contemplate both changing it or submitting for chapter now.
The batteries in electrified automobiles are normally just like the batteries in a telephone or laptop computer. As many people readers over the age of 25 have realized by years of proudly owning varied evolutions of rechargeable expertise, a tool’s battery degrades over time, resulting in more and more shorter battery life. The similar goes for electrified automobiles, however electrified automotive battery expertise varies enormously and a few batteries maintain up higher than others. The Nissan Leaf, for instance, has a battery well being indicator on the automotive’s gauge cluster. Since the Leaf doesn’t have liquid cooling to maintain the battery underneath optimum situations extra constantly, Leaf batteries are inclined to degrade relatively noticeably. Cars with liquid cooling normally retain battery well being for longer durations of time, however vsNEW eliminates guesswork and threat taking when shopping for a used electrified automotive.
The product supplies helpful metrics on most automobile’s batteries, together with typical battery substitute price, producer guarantee information, battery state of well being, real-world most vary, complete battery capability, untimely failure threat, quick charging historical past, cell temperature imbalance, and a standard vary expectation in several areas in several seasons. These all come collectively to supply a client a real-world understanding of a automotive’s potential longevity that might assist them keep away from shopping for a dud.
I had a vsNEW product engineer with me, who really owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf that he purchased new and has put practically 140,000 miles on. He stated that his automotive’s vary has gone down from about 70 miles on a full cost when new, to now nearly 20 miles on an indicated full cost. His automotive’s battery well being gauge signifies 5 out of 12 bars of well being, and his vsNEW report corroborates that by displaying his battery’s state of well being at 35 p.c. Very few EVs have built-in battery well being indicators, in order that cements the significance of a software like vsNEW which might measure the battery well being on most used EVs and hybrids.
We examined a number of newer EVs, and so they all had commendable battery well being. The oldest and highest mileage automobile that we examined was a 2014 Tesla Model S with the 60 kWh battery pack that had over 97,000 miles on the odometer. vsNEW estimated that this Tesla’s battery is 88% wholesome, and has solely misplaced about 25 miles of potential vary versus when it was new. vsNEW can even share metrics on how effectively a automotive’s cell voltage is balanced, and a real-world vary estimate to your specific automobile in several areas throughout the United States accounting for each summer time and through winter situations, all very helpful info for somebody who’s seeking to buy a used electrified automotive to have a greater concept of what they’re getting themselves into.
We aren’t sponsored by this firm, and we aren’t gaining something from sharing this story. We selected to place this product to the check because it has the potential to assist shoppers in all places as we learn to navigate the altering automotive panorama. Buying a automotive is normally a tricky course of for folk, and shopping for a used EV is even tougher. The information that this product gives shoppers might save 1000’s from the nightmare of shopping for an electrified automotive with a nasty battery.
Source: jalopnik.com