Brand New Dacia Spring

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81923480#Comment_81923480

Almost every vehicle lithium battery, and a very large proportion of smaller ones, IS LiFePo4 - Lithium Ferro-phosphate, Lithium Iron Phosphate. You may notice a remarkable similarity in those initials with both LFP and LiPo…

https://www.batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-205-types-of-lithium-ion/

Early small-capacity Spring batteries were NMC - Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide - same as a lot of powertools and eBikes. Nobody sweats about charging those…

born_again

That said.. my son recently tested the state of health of an ex demo car - he was horrified it was just 95%!

From many of the online testing. EV's can lose upto 10% in 1st year, then will drop 1% a year at worst.

Given most manufacture offer if battery is under 70% over 7 years it's a warranty replacement, some even longer periods.

Ever known a manufacture a engine replacement over 7 years?

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My eC4 is on a smidgeon over 90% at 30,000 miles, but it did most of those in the first 18 months, no doubt fast DC charging, judging by the history in the SatNav it was going all over the country.

I won't do many miles* and only slow charge, so I'm hoping it will stay healthy.

*I know, moneysaving would have been to pay sub £5000 for some gas guzzler and probably never put anywhere near £1000 worth of fuel in or spend a penny on tyres, servicing or brakes over the next 5 years……..

UncleTomCobley

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81929778#Comment_81929778

From many of the online testing. EV's can lose upto 10% in 1st year, then will drop 1% a year at worst.

There is this recent, 2025 Battery Performance Index study, which seems to have some robust methods behind it. It says :

"This is the UK’s largest analysis of EV battery condition conducted to date, based on 8,000+ battery health assessments conducted in 2025 across BEVs and PHEVs, passenger cars and LCVs, spanning 0–12 years and 0–160,000+ miles. 

Example findings from the 2025 data:

• Average battery health: 95.15% across all vehicles tested. 
• Even 8–9-year-old vehicles show ~85% median capacity, comfortably above common OEM warranty thresholds (typically 70% SoH). 
• Mileage alone isn’t a reliable predictor: vehicles with 100,000+ miles often return 88–95% battery health."

Here's the source https://www.generational.ac/2025-battery-performance-index/

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81929778#Comment_81929778

They never pay out though. As Leaf owners found, the failure mode is one or two duff cells, which doesn't drop the capacity of the battery below 70%, it just makes the battery unusable.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81930124#Comment_81930124

Cells are replaceable & cheap.

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81930451#Comment_81930451

Indeed.

Battery packs can be dismantled and individual cells replaced. That's precisely the sort of repair that will be more common as BEVs become more common and start to age.

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81930451#Comment_81930451

Depends on your definition of cheap 😉

If you have access to a two poster and do it yourself it is pretty easy and affordable. I wouldn't fancy working on the drive with the car on axle stands though, but people do it

Paying a specialist to do it (they also have to charge/discharge the "new" cells to match them to the rest of the pack) is less pricy than a new car, but over £1000.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81930689#Comment_81930689

Does that have to be considered in the context of the total cost of ownership and maintenance costs generally?

Not every EV will need replacement cells. In the same way, not every ICE needs replacement engine. Pricey when it is required.

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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81930787#Comment_81930787

It is a Nissan Leaf thing, some of the cells on the inside of the pack get really hot when you thrash down the motorway and then rapid charge straight after on a warm day, which causes premature failure.

Most cars have cooling (and sometimes heating) of the battery pack to avoid this problem.

Leaf batteries last a lot longer if it has only ever been Granny charged at 10A from a 3 pin socket.

Like most "problematic" modern cars that those "in the know" avoid second hand, (Think puretec, ecoboom etc.) these things only show up when they are well out of warranty and the PCP is over (which is why there are so many second hand ones about).

A Leaf is quite a good car, but the newer ones are quite large, and older ones are going to have more general faults in line with wear & tear.

The Spring that I have just bought doesn't have battery cooling either, but I shan't ever rapid charge unless it is an absolute class A emergency situation (it would have to be to consider putting electricity in at 80p a kWh……. 😮)