(March 30, 2015) In the first study of its kind, scientists at the Department
of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) quantitatively
show that electric vehicles (EVs) will meet the daily travel needs of drivers
longer than commonly assumed. Many drivers and much prior literature on the
retirement of EV batteries have assumed that EV batteries will be retired after
the battery has lost 20 percent of its energy storage or power delivery
capability. This study shows that the daily travel needs of drivers continue to
be met well beyond these levels of battery degradation.