--- title: "There’s a Huge Problem With Buying Used Electric Vehicles" description: "The secondhand market for electric vehicles has a sticky issue: it's impossible to figure out the health of any given electric car's battery." date: "2021-06-09" modified: "2021-06-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/huge-problem-electric-vehicles" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Electric Vehicles" tags: - "battery life" - "electric cars" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # There’s a Huge Problem With Buying Used Electric Vehicles ![The secondhand market for electric vehicles has a sticky issue: it's impossible to figure out the health of any given electric car's battery.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Buying Used The secondhand market for electric vehicles has a serious issue, [*Vice* reports](): it's nearly impossible to figure out the health of any given electric car's battery. The shortcoming represents a major challenge for automakers. To truly take over the market, they're going to have to persuade secondhand customers that their vehicles are just as reliable used — and, unfortunately, there's a good chance that they aren't. In fact, some shady used car dealerships are going as far as exploiting software features that will temporarily trick the customer into thinking the car's battery is at full health, according to *Vice*. In other words, the used car market looks like it'll remain as dubious as it's ever been, even when the wares are Teslas and Volts. ## Battery Health The used market has always been a hugely important sector of the industry, as many don't even consider buying new thanks to much higher prices. But without any real way to evaluate the condition of batteries, the most critical part of any electric vehicle, many customers may chose to stay away. The data on which cars' batteries keeps their charge for how long is sparse. Tesla claims its Model S and X batteries can retain 80 percent capacity[ after 200,000 miles](). That's information that is largely kept away from vehicle owners. In fact, the Nissan Leaf is the only car on sale in the US that shows a battery health meter, according to *Vice*. Yet the Leaf also doesn't have an active battery temperature management system, which results in much faster degradation compared to a Tesla, which does have one. To solve the issue, regulators may soon force automakers to make battery health information clear to the consumer. For instance, California's Air Resources Board [suggested rules]() last month to ensure that vehicle batteries must be able to maintain at least 80 percent of health for 15 years or 150,000 miles. **READ MORE:** [For Used Electric Vehicle Buyers, Battery Health Is Everything. And There's No Way To Know It]() \[*Vice*\] **More on electric car batteries:** *[New Battery Tech Could Finally Make Flying Taxis Economically Feasible]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()