What Devices Can a Consumer Use to Test EV Battery Health
We are not aware of accurate DIY aftermarket apps and OBD scanners that effectively measure the State of Health, (SoH), of a used EV. SoH calculates the remaining capacity of the high-voltage battery compared to its original, brand-new condition (expressed as a percentage and in kWh). A licensed EV diagnostic shop with the correct tool for your make and model of EV should deliver an accurate SoH percentage.
Which Commercial-Grade Diagnostic Tools Work Best
Knowing the SoH of the high-voltage battery for a used EV in advance of purchase is critical to the buyer as the cost of a replacement battery for an electric vehicle averages $15,000. We trust Autel, AVILOO, R1DE, Tesla Toolbox and other third-party and OEM dongle and/or cloud-based software programs which measure battery health at the cellular level. Conversely, many over-the-counter, consumer-grade options estimate SoH based solely on diagnostic data pulled from the BMS which may represent OEM biases.
What EV Battery Health Tests Measure
Advanced tests for the most common battery chemistries including NMC, NMCA, NCA, and LFP record performance at the individual cell level in real-time, including cell voltages, currents, and temperatures. Internal resistance, resting voltage curves and usable energy under defined conditions are critical measurements as are measuring the metrics OEMs apply from their own algorithms. Knowing how the battery responds to temperature, and during discharge can ensure a more accurate reading regardless of driving style which otherwise might impact SoH readings from BMS estimates.
The EV VERIFIED,Inc. Commitment
We’re constantly in pursuit of accurate SoH diagnostic tools for all EV battery health diagnostic data that accurately measures remaining battery capacity, cell voltages, thermal, current, and projected remaining range specific to the battery chemistry of your EV including NMC, NMCA, NCA, LFP, and future battery chemistries including solid state variants. Good luck!