Electric Vehicle Battery Tips: How to Keep Your EV Top Shape All Year-round
These three quick tips will help your electric car batteries perform best all year round.
Prices for new EVs continue to rise on average, but so are the costs of typical new cars. As of March, the average new car deal price in the US was nearly $48,000, according to KBB sales data. Things are only predicted to rise from there, thanks to the current state of the global tariff situation and other economic uncertainties.
It pushes more and more people to shop for second-hand cars, making sure that the number of those buyers is increasing and no emissions are included. Used EV sales are climbing faster than new EV sales. “In May 2025, used EV sales rose 32.1% year-on-year, far surpassing the new EV market,” said Stephanie Valdez Streety, Director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive.
Used EVs are popular, but is it really a good idea to buy one? Is there a more inherent risk to buying a car built around a large battery? Just like buying a used car, there are benefits and risks to purchasing a second-hand EV. Let’s start with the positives.
Beat depreciation
One of the complaints I’ve heard frequently from buyers of new EVs is about how quickly they can depreciate. The EV market moves very quickly every year with bigger batteries and better technology, and cars lose value.
“EVs tend to depreciate faster than gas-powered vehicles in the early days, but they actually benefit the EV buyers they use,” says Valdez Streety. “In many cases, we get relatively new vehicles (often off leases) with the latest technology and significantly reduced low mileage.”
That’s not great news if you buy new ones, and that’s one of the reasons Most EV buyers choose a lease I’m totally buying it. However, if you are using it, high depreciation must be music to your ears.
New vehicle
that A sudden depreciation curve There is another advantage: you can enter a newer used car than you may not.
“Currently, used EVs cost less than $2,000 on average than comparable ice vehicles,” Valdez Streety said. “And in May 2025, 43% of used EVs are priced below $25,000, making it a particularly attractive option for budget-conscious shoppers.”
This means that new used EVs are more affordable than comparable vehicles with internal combustion engines. According to Liz Najman, Market Insights Director at Recurrent Motors, they are easier to find than new second hand ice cars. “The great thing about used EVs is that you can get a much newer model EV than a gas car,” she says. “The used EV market is skewed towards the new model year. In fact, 45% of used EV listings are cars from 2023 to 2025.”
Reduced maintenance
When listing the benefits of buying an EV and cars on ice, one of the biggest cars is Reducing running costs and overall maintenance.
“(EVS) typically have low operational and maintenance costs,” Valdez Streety said. “EVs don’t require oil changes, have fewer moving parts and benefit from recycled brakes, reducing wear on the brake system.”
After buying an EV, it’s definitely a good thing to enjoy, but when you’re thinking about buying someone else’s EV, there are actually a huge advantage. Simply put, if a particular car has very little need for service and maintenance points, then the previous owner has fewer experiences of forgetting.
In other words, it’s easier to get a comprehensive service history, as there are far fewer services needed. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about buying a used EV. Focus on the big ones.
The battery is afraid
The biggest concern that most people quote when saying why they don’t want to use a reason why they don’t want to buy an EV is the health of the battery and the cost of potential replacement. There are many reasons to replace the battery Not as worrying as some people Make it – at least an eight-year mandatory 100,000 miles warranty for EVs sold in the US. You will check with the dealer, but in most circumstances the remaining warranty will be transferred to the new owner.
Anyway, it’s important to check the battery health when you’re considering bringing a second-hand EV home, as you don’t want to worry about dealing with such a large exchange, even if it doesn’t take anything. Thankfully there are several ways to do that.
Recurrent Auto offers battery health services called Recurrence Report and Range Score. Think of it as a battery carfax, and you are not that far. It can be used directly through many dealers, including Carmax. “Battery health is one of the most important factors in assessing used EVs,” a Carmax representative said. “That’s why Carmax offers independent third-party battery health assessment tools due to recurrence. Carmax’s stock EVs include battery range scores.
Manheim from Cox Automotive, a VIN-specific battery report. These are automatically included in your AutoTrader list, making it easy to check your battery health.
If that’s not enough, some dealers use hardware battery scanners like Voltest. This allows you to provide a comprehensive report on the batteries of a particular car. This is similar to how you can get an OBDII scan of error codes on a regular used car.
If these options fail, there is a way to check the battery yourself during a normal test drive. Najman recommends taking photos of the gauge cluster on your mobile phone and starting all test drives. Next, take another one. Compare the rated range and odometer before and after driving to feel the function of the car’s battery. “Make sure you’re happy with the number you get,” she says.
She also recommends swinging on a DC fast charger and asking the dealer not to charge the drive with more than 80% battery so that you can ensure that the car can charge properly at both level 3 and level 2 rates.
This is something you need to check on the test drive. Below is a handy checklist that you can use when you’re at a dealer.
Used EV Shopping Checklist
1. High voltage battery
As mentioned above, its health is essential as this is probably the only component that is most expensive inside the car. Use battery health services if possible. Or at least get in the car and drive to make sure the estimated range matches what you expect.
However, please note that the estimated range numbers may vary based on many factors, such as current temperatures and how aggressively you drive your car. If you’re trying to sample the maximum performance during a test drive, if the efficiency doesn’t match the EPA rating, you’ll sag a little.
2. 12 volt battery
Yes, believe it or not, most EVs on the market also have the kind of old-fashioned 12-volt batteries (power aid) that have probably failed at times in inconvenient times on frigid nights when they want to go home.
The best way to test these is to access the battery itself with a multimeter and make sure it’s output. Appropriate voltagehowever, Najman says there is a way to feel that the battery isn’t.
“Test all your HVACs and accessories to make sure they work,” she says. “If it’s advertised, check out Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Do this before you turn on your car. If you do this and your 12V becomes more interesting, ask if they’re going to offer you something new before you get in the car.”
3. corrosion
Many modern EVs utilize corrosion-resistant materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber under construction to save weight. Still, there is usually a considerable amount of steel. So checking for rust remains important, especially for cars living in colder areas.
4. connection
Modern EVs are often as good as their connectivity. If the EV cannot be retrieved online, it cannot lower airborne updates and can’t use the car app to pre-process the cabin or monitor charging.
Assuming your car has an app (such as the FordPass or My BMW app), make sure your dealer has the right credentials and you can sign in so that you can make sure everything works. Send a few requests, such as locking or unlocking the door, and make sure everything here is copaceptic.
5. tire
Most EVs do a better job of protecting the environment than most internal combustion machines, but if there’s one thing they’ve hurt, it’s the tires. EVs are famous for their high wear, which, after all, High torque Their motors can be produced.
So check the treads on all four tires, check the remaining amount and make sure the overall wear is great and even. Tire rotation is one of the service items that EVs need and chew the rubber even faster if not done regularly.
6. accessories
Finally, run through all the accessories that come with your car to make sure it’s all there. This includes basic items such as key FOBs that have been struggling with recent replacements and other EV-specific items such as 120 volt chargers and vehicle-to-road adapters. Not all cars had these when they were new, but if that’s the case, you should get them.
Checking all these boxes will hopefully bring home a new machine that offers not only no emissions, but stress-free long-standing motoring.
Photos by manufacturer and Motrend staff. Illustrations by Ryan Lugo
