What are the leading causes of EV battery damage?

Your electric vehicle's battery is pretty resilient, but that doesn't mean it's impervious to damage. A study from Geotab, a company that offers fleet tracking and management services, shows that while even the average high-use EV battery hangs on to nearly 82 percent of its original storage capacity after eight years, a handful of factors affect the rate at which it degrades.

As it stands, Geotab says the average annual degradation rate for EVs is about 2.3%. That decline can impact not only the driving range of your car, but also how it performs, as well as its resale value down the line. As such, the study outlines a few areas to be mindful of if you want to go a little easier on your battery. From how you charge your EV to how hot it is where you live, here's what could be causing damage to your EV battery.

Geotab has been publishing studies dealing with EV battery degradation since 2020. For this iteration from April of 2026, it analyzed more than 22,700 EVs, encompassing 21 different models. The data comes from "real-world telematics," which Geotab describes as data actually pulled from the vehicles. The study also notes that because the data is aggregated and averaged, an individual car might degrade faster or slower than the average depending on the specific battery and how it's used.

These findings come at a time when more consumers are considering EVs. Data from Kelley Blue Book shows a rise in EV ownership in the last five years, with a few dips along the way. A little more than a year ago, EVs made up about 10 percent of new car sales in the US. When the federal tax credit to incentivize the purchase of these vehicles expired last year, sales fell to roughly 6 percent or lower. However, recent data from Kelley Blue Book reports a rebound, signaling that EVs are still on drivers' minds.

Geotab identifies a handful of factors that could be hurting your EV's battery. One of the main culprits could be DC fast charging, or DCFC. Fast charging can be convenient for EV owners. Ford explains it's a good option for circumstances where you need to get back behind the wheel quickly, like while on a road trip. DCFC can typically get your battery up to about 80 percent in anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

However, the study found that EVs that used DCFC more often lost battery capacity faster. Those who used fast charging for 12 percent or more of their charging sessions saw an annual degradation rate of 2.5%, compared to 1.5% for those who used it for less than 12 percent of their sessions.

In addition to the frequency of fast charging, Geotab says charging power also plays a role, describing it as "the 'punch' the battery receives during those sessions." Cars charged more frequently (more than 12 percent of total charging sessions) at a higher power (more than 40 percent of sessions at more than 100 kW) saw an annual degradation rate of about 3 percent, as compared to high-frequency, low power (2.2%) or just low frequency (1.5%). The study notes that any of this matters in part because more people are relying on fast charging.

Aside from fast charging, there are other factors that could affect your EV's battery life, like temperature. Heat boosts chemical activity, which translates into more stress inside the cell. This isn't to say EV batteries are purely at the mercy of the climate. They have internal battery management systems that help regulate temperature.

The study also found that EVs in hotter climates (more than 35 percent of days in 77 degrees Fahrenheit or above) saw .4% faster degradation than those in milder conditions. Geotab calls this a moderate effect and also acknowledges that its dataset doesn't account for climates on the colder end of the spectrum. Though the study says battery degradation is "inevitable," it also underlines that watching out for the circumstances making it worse can help EV owners get more out of their batteries.