Volkswagen has kept itself in the news cycle with a steady drip of information about its upcoming electric vehicles. The massive company push, including a reflective commercial that features the VW ID. Buzz van concept, has been part hype, part education, and part assurance. VW has to not only rebuild the public’s confidence in the brand, it also has to improve the public’s perception of EVs. The announcement of an eight-year battery warranty might help.
One of the biggest worries surrounding electric vehicles has nothing to do with how long they can drive and everything to do with how long they will last. EVs haven’t been around long enough to properly research what happens to the batteries over time, but Volkswagen’s latest release hopes to quell that fear. All batteries in ID. electric vehicles will be backed by an eight-year, or 99,418-mile (that is, 160,000 km) warranty. The company says the batteries will maintain at least 70 percent of their “usable capacity” for that duration.
Volkswagen did not go into detail about how this would exactly affect range and charging. It also did not specify exactly what would happen after this point, as the cars will outlast the batteries, which will need to be replaced. VW has already specified it will repurpose or recycle used EV batteries, but it did not detail the exact consumer process.
VW ID. vehicles will be sold at different tiers with different maximum energy capacities. VW says its EVs will have a maximum range of between approximately 205 to 342 miles (by WLTP standards). Seventy percent of 205 is 144 miles, and 70 percent of 342 is 240 miles.
Whether eight years is long enough depends on the buyer. Many have never kept a car for eight years. Others keep their cars for 20. Either way, it seems to be the industry standard. Tesla covers its Model 3 battery for eight years/100,000 miles (120,000 miles for the extended-range version), Chevrolet covers its Bolt battery for eight years/100,000 miles, and Nissan covers the Leaf for eight years/100,000 miles, lest its battery fall below nine out of 12 bars on the battery gauge.
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