Richard Simmons recently took his five-year-old Tesla Model 3 on a 260-mile road trip across England, without having to stop to recharge. A new electric car can make this journey stress-free. But Simmons' car - which he affectionately calls "Miles" - has 247,000 miles on it and is still capable of frequent long-distance driving.

Simons is the owner of a UK-based used car sales company that specializes in selling electric vehicles. He found that the batteries in these electric cars performed well even after driving hundreds of thousands of miles. That came as a surprise to him and other electric car enthusiasts.

"They're proving themselves to be very reliable," Simmons said.

On average, EVs retain 95% of their original range after five years on the road — better than many in the auto industry expected, according to Recurrent, a data science company that provides battery monitoring tools for electric vehicles.

According to Jessica Caldwell, director of insights at car shopping resource website Edmunds, mass-market consumers have yet to develop trust in electric vehicle batteries. "Buyers still have a lot of concerns," she said.

Potential new car buyers worry about paying for battery replacements as the top reason they choose to avoid electric vehicles, according to a 2025 survey from industry research firm AutoPacific.

When electric vehicles hit the market in the early days, consumers were rightly concerned. About one in 12 electric cars produced between 2011 and 2016 will need a battery replacement. But the latest data shows that, for now, newer electric vehicles are performing better. According to a 2025 study by Recurrent, only 0.3% of electric vehicles produced in 2022 and beyond will need battery replacement.

As battery technology advances, electric vehicles avoid problems like those encountered when the original Nissan Leaf hit the market in 2010. At that time, the Leaf lacked the battery cooling technology used in today's electric vehicles, so it frequently made headlines for its rapid battery loss.

According to Scott Case, co-founder and CEO of Recurrent, buyer awareness hasn’t quite caught up yet.

"I think people should be more confident than they are right now," Case said.

Viet Nguyen Tien, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science who focuses on electric vehicles, said the latest battery-powered electric vehicles have a service life comparable to that of internal combustion engine vehicles, even if the driving range is longer.

Ruan Jin said that improvements in car battery chemistry, battery management systems and thermal regulation technology are the keys to extending battery life and reducing battery costs. A report released late last year showed that battery prices have dropped by more than 90% since 2010.

Industry analysts say battery replacement costs are falling as more electric vehicles are designed with long-term serviceability in mind.

Recurrent reports that out-of-warranty battery replacements can cost between $5,000 and $16,000, depending on the manufacturer. But Case said many electric car manufacturers have moved toward allowing repairs of smaller components in the battery pack, allowing owners to avoid paying the full cost of replacing a battery.

However, electric vehicle batteries are not without challenges. According to telematics company Geotab, batteries that are frequently used for high-power fast charging lose range on average twice as fast as batteries with low-power charging.

Frequently charging the battery to 100%, or leaving the battery at 0% for extended periods of time, will reduce the long-term range of an electric vehicle. In addition, the range of electric vehicles is often reduced in extremely cold or hot environments.

In the United States, consumers have yet to fully embrace electric vehicles. U.S. consumers' enthusiasm for electric vehicles has waned as the Trump administration eliminated subsidies and regulations intended to boost the new market for electric vehicles. So far in 2026, electric vehicle sales are down 25% from last year, according to data from automotive intelligence company Motor Intelligence.

But industry analysts don’t expect the slowdown in U.S. electric vehicle sales to last forever. According to industry consulting firm AlixPartners, the share of new electric vehicles sold in the United States is expected to almost double to 11% of new car sales by 2030.

According to data from AlixPartners, electric vehicles currently account for 15% of global new car sales and are expected to account for nearly a quarter of the global market by 2030.

EV advocates like Ken Yannacci hope a clearer understanding of car battery life will help spread EVs in the United States. Yannacci is a market analyst and the founder of an electric vehicle owner and gear website.

"It will definitely help as EV batteries gain recognition for their improved battery life," he said.