Sponsored by
Thanks for reading EV Cents by Recurrent. Each edition brings you clear, data-driven insights from 1 billion miles of EV driving to help you better understand your car and the market.
Buyers want a battery report
Chris Taylor's team asks for your battery report before you ever drive to the lot.
Chris is the dealer principal at Certified Autobrokers outside Buffalo. Most of his used EV inventory now comes directly from owners instead of auctions, and the battery check happens before the appraisal.
"Usually we'll request they get a battery test, send us a screenshot of their battery report, and a lot of times we'll just have them bring that with them."
Almost every car passes. Chris puts it at 99% of the time, and his team isn't grading against perfection. They work off thresholds by model year and mileage. An eight-year-old EV with 100,000 miles isn't expected to have 95% state of health.
Our data reinforces what he’s seeing. Only about 4% of EV batteries have failed. So, if your battery is almost certainly fine, why bother documenting it for the buyer?
Because the dealer doesn't know that yet. Neither does a private buyer. Chris said that it is only upside when a seller arrives with a battery health report.
"Huge positive. They walk in with that information and all you're doing is making the buyer that much more comfortable with that purchase, no matter who it is. Even if you are selling that vehicle private party."
The obvious caveat: a screenshot pulled the morning of the appraisal shows one reading, on one day, produced by the person who wants the offer to go up. But several months of history, tracked against how similar cars are holding up, is harder to wave off.
That’s why we recommend building the record before you need it. If you might sell in the next year, the data should already exist by the time a dealer asks for it.
That's what the new Recurrent Connect does for EV owners.
No cheap seats left
The New York Times ran a piece last week on why affordable used cars have vanished. Recurrent contributed its market data for the article.
Start with the comparison: In 2019, a budget of $10,000 to $15,000 bought a five-year-old car with 58,000 miles. This spring the same money bought a nine-year-old car with more than 98,000 miles.
Gas prices are part of the equation. AAA had regular gas at $4.29 a gallon on average, up from $3.19 a year ago. The Times cited Recurrent data showing used EV prices have climbed partly because drivers are looking for relief at the pump.
The rest of it is what the buyer is choosing between: the gas alternative at the same price keeps getting older and higher mileage.
Chris (from the story above) is trying to buy more and cannot find enough cars. "I wish I could raise my EV inventory by 20% tomorrow. I'd do it in a heartbeat."
He expects values to hold. "I truly do believe we're in a period of stabilization [for electric cars]. I don't foresee any drastic changes in the next six months."
Ask Recurrent
Question: "I fast charge weekly. Is that going to cost me when I sell?"
Probably not, and we were a little surprised, too.
We looked at 13,000 Teslas and more than 160,000 data points, expecting to find that heavy fast chargers had measurably worse range. It wasn’t super noticeable. Cars that fast charged more than 70% of the time showed no statistically significant difference in range degradation compared to cars that fast charged less than 30% of the time.
But the cars we studied were still relatively young. Ninety percent of the cars are 2018 or newer. It could just mean that it hasn’t shown up yet, but that’s pretty good news, too.
For resale specifically, the appraisal is based on your battery, not your full charging history. Your habits matter less than where that number lands.
Still worth avoiding: fast charging when the battery is very hot, very cold, or sitting at an extreme state of charge.
Start the record before you need it.
Recurrent Connect tracks your battery over time: state of health, how your real range compares to similar vehicles, and a flag when something looks off.
Sponsored by:
How 2M+ Professionals Stay Ahead on AI
AI is moving fast and most people are falling behind.
The Rundown AI keeps you ahead of the curve.
It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.
Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses — tailored to your needs.