Top all-time · #2556
R
Recurrent
Company blog · recurrentauto.com/researchdatahardware
Recurrent is the company blog at recurrentauto.com, writing about data and hardware. Since 2022, 30 different Hacker News readers have linked it 37 times, most often “How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
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37mentions?
1recommend?
30HN people?
2022–2026first – last linked?
Rarely recommended · 1 of 32 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers cite Recurrent's research pages as data sources on EV winter range loss, battery replacement rates and degradation, and used EV prices. One commenter calls its winter report better than an Axios article.
- Recommended for · 1 comments
- Winter range loss report called 'a better report than the Axios news article'.1
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 32 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Real-world battery and range data from 50,000+ EVs and 1.1 billion miles. Recurrent helps owners, shoppers and dealers buy, drive and sell EVs with confidence.
Most-linked posts?
- How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?9 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2022-05-22
- Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars7 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2022-03-04
- Full Speed Ahead: EV Study Reveals Impacts of Fast Charging2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-08-30
- /research/used-electric-vehicle-buying-report2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-10-03
- /research/costs-ev-battery-replacement2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-04-04
- /research/tesla-battery-replacement-costs2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-12-05
What Hacker News says?
I'm not in line for a Tesla either, and the Mach-E does look nice. Their latent flaw is that they shed range much more than other EVs in cold weather: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-range-loss
Comment linking /research/winter-ev-range-loss
on “Tesla remotely converts battery pack, cutting 1/3 of range”Submitted EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted as a story · 225 points
HN discussionI've searched the internet and I found some articles and people talking about prices around $11-16k, most of the times including labor. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/new-battery-cost-for... https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/183if34/what_i... https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/1blczt1/what_a... https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/tesla-battery-replace... https://www.findmyelectric.…
Comment linking /research/tesla-battery-replacement-costs
on “BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive”Submitted Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars as a story · 52 points
HN discussion"In our 2023 reliability survey, 17 percent of 2013 Tesla Model S owners told us their cars needed battery pack replacements at a cost of $15,000 each." This is 11-12 years in. Granted, perhaps batteries were just crappier back then, but 17% is a scary high number for me. Also: "This is in line with data from Recurrent, a firm that analyzes and measures EV battery performance, which found that 13 percent of EVs olde…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “EVs are depreciating faster than gas-powered cars”Submitted Full Speed Ahead: EV Study Reveals Impacts of Fast Charging as a story · 8 points
HN discussionI believe most new EVs have heat pumps [0], but this wasn't common until a couple years ago. [0] https://www.recurrentauto.com/questions/which-electric-vehic...
Comment linking /questions/which-electric-vehicles-have-heat-pumps
on “EVs are depreciating faster than gas-powered cars”Submitted Real-world ranges for Teslas 50-60% of EPA Range as a story · 6 points
HN discussionJust like for ICE buyers will learn about the important things about EV choice and ownership. An EV maker that sells parts at inflated prices including the battery will get less and less customers. As those customers look at catalog prices for important parts including the battery before buying an EV. Random web page on the topic: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/costs-ev-battery-repl... Another listing price:…
Comment linking /research/costs-ev-battery-replacement
on “EVs are depreciating faster than gas-powered cars”Submitted How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionYou might want to factor latitude into your calculations. https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-range-loss
Comment linking /research/winter-ev-range-loss
on “How big a solar battery do I need to store all my home's electricity?”https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/used-electric-vehicle... says 1/4th of EV sales in Q2 2022 were used vehicles. with an average price of 40k although this is all complicated by a shortage in EV production.
Comment linking /research/used-electric-vehicle-buying-report
on “Toyota CEO talks about why he isn’t all-in on EVs”Source for the data: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-range-loss - which is IMO a better report than the Axios news article.
Comment linking /research/winter-ev-range-loss
on “The cold hard truth about electric vehicles in winter”> No, it's not. That's why some manufacturers offer much longer warranties than others despite having similar reliability numbers. Warranty terms are driven by the business and encompass a lot more than mean time to first failure. What's an example of this controlled for the price of the car? > If warranties were a good approximation of how long things last without repair, why would that only apply in the car world?…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “Millions of electric cars are coming. What happens to all the dead batteries?”Your point is false. Batteries last long enough, there is no massive degradation at 10 years, and you have no data to prove that assertion. Whether you believe it or not, heh, that's up to you, believe what you want. Facts are facts. EV Batteries Are Defying Expectations After Hundreds of Thousands of Miles - https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ev-batteries-are-defying-... | https://archive.today/2RFo3 - July 4th, 20…
Comment linking /research/lessons-in-electric-car-battery-health
on “Diesel prices in U.S. top $6 a gallon for first time”Sure, but I'm not pointing out the longevity of the batteries, but rather the maintenance cost if/when they fault. I understand it will get better over time as technology improves, but it's been a large impediment to me (and probably others) from investing in them. Here's a recent synopsis that suggests 50% of the car value on average back in 2020 [1]. [1]: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/costs-ev-battery-rep…
Comment linking /research/costs-ev-battery-replacement
on “A number of electric vehicle, battery factories are being canceled”Sorry, the 70% generic capacity was information from bad sources. But currently I personally still consider the battery as too high risk for an used EV vehicle that does not have warranty left. 85%-90% seems to be closer to reality among all brands. The issue is that we don't have actually that much data available to say anything for sure for the newest cars. Variance is too high for battery failures: https://www.re…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “Are electric cars that much cheaper to operate?”I have a 5 year old EV with around 95% of its original battery capacity. I think battery degradation of newer EVs will not be the limiting factor in their lifetime or in transitioning from combustion vehicles. Under 1% of EVs from 2016 or newer have had battery replacements. https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batter... Early EVs skewed that a bit by having poor thermal and charging management of t…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “EV Motors Without Rare Earth Permanent Magnets”What a crappy article. One can't complain NYT is too pro-EV. This problem is a combination of growing pains, uneducated EV drivers, old EVs with crappy batteries, some bad infrastructure, and EV manufacturers that don't put enough diagnostics. 1. Ask anyone who has lived in these kinds of cold temperatures. Cold starts in ICEs are always a problem. in upstate NY, you always need a pair of jumper cables ready. you mi…
Comment linking /research/how-temperature-affects-ev-range
on “Electric Car Owners Confront a Harsh Foe: Cold Weather”It's a battery and electric motor(s), it doesn't matter if they were primarily fast DC charged and the users beat them up. I have beat the shit out of a 2018 Model S for 110k miles and I've only had to put tires and wiper fluid into it. I have primarily Supercharged it back and forth across the US more times than I can count, and I've only lost ~7% of the 100kw pack range. https://electrek.co/2023/08/29/tesla-batter…
Comment linking /research/impacts-of-fast-charging
on “Ex-Hertz Tesla Model 3s Cost as Little as $14,000. Would You Buy One?”Here's data on EV battery replacement rates: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batter... Replacements do happen, but a lot of them are under warranty. Batteries are lasting longer than people expected, mainly due to really good management systems. These days the industry expects them to usually last the life of the car, though that allows for a range reduction down to 70% of the original. Further…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “EV battery prices to fall by nearly 50 pct and near ICE parity by 2026”The author is claiming way more (and worse) than they can actually back up. Different EVs actually get different percentages of their nominal mileage, and then respond differently to cold weather. I like this one for range under semi-optimal conditions. https://insideevs.com/reviews/443791/ev-range-test-results/ Here's some "winter effect" info for different models. https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-r…
Comment linking /research/winter-ev-range-loss
on “Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle: 50% of EPA range”I believe the SoC (state of charge) history is recorded for Teslas and other EVs. There is a company called Recurrent [1] which uses this data to estimate battery degradation. I think the idea is to generate something like a Carfax report for used EV battery packs. [1] https://www.recurrentauto.com/
Comment linking /
on “Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle: 50% of EPA range”The evidence does not support this when scoped to Tesla battery packs. https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/impacts-of-fast-charg...
Comment linking /research/impacts-of-fast-charging
on “'Charger hogs' are ruining the electric vehicle experience”In the hypothetical case that an EV's battery needs to be replaced, yes that will be a very expensive repair / maintenance cost. But that's not common, no more common than an engine rebuild / replacement; one source I found [0] says about 13% of EVs from before 2015 have had / needed a battery replacement, and 30% of cars from 2011. I can't find any reliable figures on car engine replacements, other than that on ave…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “Six inane arguments about EVs and how to handle them at the dinner table”In no particular order: - I'm cheap, and they're not. - tablet UX sucks. - dangling an extension cord out of my apartment window also sucks. - FSD is a lie. - baby it's cold outside: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/winter-ev-range-loss - I have a perfectly good ICE car that is fully paid off and I intend to drive it into the ground and it's only got 75k on the odo and it'd better be good for another 200. - I…
Comment linking /research/winter-ev-range-loss
on “Why didn't you buy a Tesla?”battery aging really is not a big issue, especially with Tesla batteries. The LFP chemistry used in standard range models should last even longer. Chart with degradation: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batter... Tesla temselves said they see 12% degradation after 200,000 miles. Plenty of ICE engines would struggle to reach that mileage. https://electrek.co/2023/04/25/tesla-update-battery-degra…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “New Entry-Level Lucid Air Pure RWD Starts at $78,675, Still with 410-Mile Range”Battery health, degradation, and charging performance is solved. Citations below. EV batteries last longer than drivers feared - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49613527 - September 2026 (3 comments) CATL now sells batteries online for $63/kWh [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49438604 - August 2026 (8,000 cycles while retaining 70% of capacity, ~20 years of daily cycling) Does Ultra-Fast Charging…
Comment linking /research/lessons-in-electric-car-battery-health
on “High-mileage electric cars are more reliable than petrol ones, study finds”https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batter... https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/how-long-do-ev-ba...
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “The EPA is again allowing summer sales of higher ethanol gasoline blend”People are actually mostly getting good performance well beyond that. Estimates are now typically that most people can expect 15-20 years or more, unless they use the car in someplace very hot, always use a very fast charger, charge up to full every time they can, and things like that. It seems to be distance that matters more than time. Tesla has found that for their oldest models, most people still have around 90%…
Comment linking /research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
on “2024 Nissan Kicks Is the Kind of Car We Need More Of: Affordable”
