An industry group is calling for greater transparency around battery condition, arguing that current measurements do not provide a complete picture of battery health.

The concern centres on EV battery State of Health (SoH), a commonly used metric that measures an EV battery’s remaining capacity compared with when it was new. While SoH is widely referenced by consumers, dealers and fleet operators, organizations Electrify Europe and ZEVA Global say it can overlook other issues that may affect EV battery performance and longevity.

According to the companies, a battery can maintain an acceptable SoH rating while experiencing problems such as cell imbalance, moisture intrusion, battery management system faults or abnormal degradation.

Given that EV battery replacement costs can range from several thousand dollars to well into five figures, they argue that a more comprehensive assessment of battery condition is needed.

The issue is gaining importance as increasing numbers of off-lease EVs enter the used vehicle market. For independent repair shops, battery condition assessments could become a growing area of customer concern as second- and third-owner vehicles age.

To address what they describe as a battery transparency gap, Electrify Europe and ZEVA Global have launched an over-the-air battery intelligence reporting system.

The platform is designed to analyze battery condition remotely without requiring workshop visits, OBD devices, hardware installations or battery discharge testing.

The companies believe battery health reporting will eventually become as important to used EV transactions as vehicle history reports are today.

The reporting service is currently available for Tesla vehicles, with support for additional manufacturers planned.

More information is available at batteryhealth.zevaglobal.com