Electric car battery warranties explained

Can you hear what’s coming over the horizon? Probably not, because it’s a swathe of near-silent Electric Vehicles (EVs), set to supersede the bog-standard gas-guzzling Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) car within the next decade or two. 

There’s a raft of new topics to get up to speed on in regard to EVs, including learning if there’s such a thing as an electric car battery warranty (there is) and if the number of EVs on Australian roads are still increasing (they are). 

The good news is EVs have far fewer moving parts than ICE cars, meaning you’re less likely to face problems which will mean you need to exercise your rights to use your warranty. 

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Having said that, EV battery packs do succumb to wear and tear and won’t last forever, so car manufacturers are providing warranties - warranties that are separate from the car warranty and usually covering a longer period of time. 

Electric car battery warranties typically cover the battery pack for a period of time or number of kilometres, but they’ll also cover reduced capacity of the battery if it drops to less than 70 per cent (30 per cent is expected over time, and anything beyond that will be covered during the warranty period).

Batteries are the most expensive thing in an EV, and a lot of research and development goes into ensuring they’ll be as efficient and long-lasting as possible. 

It's worth noting that if you've had an EV before or you've heard of one model or variant's battery warranty, it's still important to be aware of the current warranty terms as it can change depending on the model year or battery chemistry. Just check Tesla's battery warranty in Australia as an example.

While there’s no way to predict exactly how long the battery will last - how much you use the EV, how you charge it and the power you use will all effect the battery pack’s lifespan - they are built to outlast the usability of the car itself, and a life cycle of 10 to 20 years isn’t an unreasonable assessment.

Electric car battery warranty for each brand

Audi battery warranty

Audi’s two current electric models, the Q8 e-tron and the e-tron GT have their high-voltage batteries covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty. 

BMW battery warranty

BMW covers its current expansive range of electric options which includes the iX1, iX2, iX3, and iX SUVs as well as the i4, i5, and i7 range of sedans and wagons with an eight year and 160,000km warranty for the high-voltage battery.

BYD battery warranty

BYD’s range of electric vehicles, including the Dolphin hatchback, Atto 3 SUV, and Seal sedan have eight-year and 160,000km warranties for their high-voltage battery components.

Cupra battery warranty

Cupra’s current EV offering, the Born hatch, has an eight-year and 160,000km warranty for its high-voltage components.

Fiat battery warranty

Fiat’s latest EVs, the 500e hatch and its performance-spiced Abarth 500e spin-off both have eight-year and 160,000km warranties for their high-voltage batteries.

Ford battery warranty

Expect the usual eight-year and 160,000km battery warranty for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E SUV.

Genesis battery warranty

Hyundai’s luxury arm, Genesis, covers its electric range, including the GV60 and GV70 SUVs, as well as the G80 sedan with an eight-year and 160,000km warranty for high-voltage battery components.

GWM battery warranty

GWM’s sole current electric offering, the Ora hatchback is offered with an eight-year and unlimited kilometre warranty for its high-voltage battery.

Hyundai battery warranty

Hyundai’s EV range, which includes the electric version of its popular Kona small SUV as well as its Ioniq 5 mid-size SUV and Ioniq 6 sedan, is covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty for high voltage components.

 Jaguar battery warranty

Jaguar’s soon-to-be discontinued i-Pace SUV is offered with an eight-year and 160,000km high-voltage battery warranty.

Jeep battery warranty

Jeep’s incoming Avenger small SUV is expected to be offered with an eight-year and 160,000km battery warranty

Kia battery warranty

Kia opts for a different high-voltage battery warranty for its range, to more closely match its whole car warranty in terms of length. The Niro, EV6, and EV9 SUVs are all covered by a seven-year and 160,000km battery warranty.

LDV battery warranty

LDV has a confusing array of warranties across its range. In the case of its EVs there are two different warranties which depend on where the battery is sourced from. In the case of the eDeliver 7 which uses a SAIC/CATL joint-venture LFP battery, the warranty is seven-years and 250,000km. Meanwhile for the rest of the range, including the eDeliver 9 van, eT60 ute, and Mifa 9 people mover, the high-voltage battery warranty is eight-years and 160,000km.

Lexus battery warranty

Lexus offers an exceedingly long high-voltage battery warranty for its UX300e and RZ SUVs of up to 10 years and 160,000km so long as the owner sticks to logbook servicing.

MG battery warranty

MG offers a high-voltage battery warranty to match its whole car warranty, seven-years and unlimited kilometres for its ZS EV SUV and MG4 hatchback.

Mercedes-Benz battery warranty

Mercedes-Benz covers its EVs, including the EQE and EQS, with an eight-year, 160,000km high-voltage battery warranty.

Mini battery warranty

Mini offers an eight-year and unlimited km warranty to cover the high-voltage batteries of the Cooper SE hatch, Countryman small SUV, and incoming Aceman hatch.

Nissan battery warranty

The sole Nissan pure-EV offering, its Leaf hatchback, is offered with an eight-year and 160,000km warranty for the high voltage battery pack.

Peugeot battery warranty

Peugeot’s range of passenger electric cars, which includes the e-2008 and upcoming e-208 hatch and e-3008 SUV, as well as its range of electric commercial vehicles, the e-Expert, and e-Partner, have their high-voltage batteries covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Polestar battery warranty

The Polestar range, including the 2, 3, and 4, all have their high-voltage batteries covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Porsche battery warranty

Porsche’s EVs, the Taycan GT and the Macan SUV have their high-voltage batteries covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Renault battery warranty

The high-voltage batteries in the Renault EV range, which includes the Megane e-Tech crossover and the Kangoo e-Tech van are covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Subaru battery warranty

The Subaru Solterra’s high voltage battery is covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Tesla battery warranty

Tesla offers its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV with two different warranties depending on the battery pack. The LFP batteries fitted to the RWD models are covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty, while the NMC batteries fitted to the all-wheel drive and Performance models are covered by an eight-year and 192,000km warranty.

Toyota battery warranty

Like the Subaru Solterra, the Toyota bZ4X has its high-voltage battery pack covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Volvo battery warranty

Volvo’s two current EVs, the EX30 and XC40 (soon to be EX40) have their high-voltage batteries covered by an eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Note: If you’re wanting to know the Tata Nexon EV battery warranty or Chevy Bolt battery warranty, you may want to look elsewhere as these particular models aren’t available in Australia.