There is no dipstick to pull, no cam belt to squint at, no oily fingerprints on a used paper service record. Buying a second-hand electric car strips away half the checklist that ICE buyers have relied on for decades. That sounds easier. In one sense it is. But a few specific failure points can cost as much as the car itself if you miss them — and the battery sits at the top of that list. The Sunday Times motoring writer Tim Shallcross published a practical eight-point inspection guide this week that gets the basics right. Here is how it maps onto what we know from testing EVs over the past several years.

The Fact: Inspecting a used EV requires a different checklist than a petrol car — fewer mechanical concerns, but battery health is make-or-break.
The Delta: A battery state of health (SOH) report from a main dealer is the single most important document to request, and a five-year-old car sitting below 90% SOH is a red flag.
The Buyer Impact: Missing cables, a low coolant level, or no service history can all be used to negotiate the price down — if you know what to look for before you show up.

Battery State of Health Is the Most Important Number in the Deal

A used EV battery state of health (SOH) report, available from a main dealer, shows what percentage of the original capacity remains. This is a single number that tells you more about a used EV’s long-term value than mileage, age, or condition combined. Shallcross sets a clear benchmark: expect 1–2% capacity loss per year under normal use. A five-year-old car at 95% or above is healthy. The same car below 90% is worth walking away from or discounting significantly.

This tracks with data we covered in September 2024 when Geotab’s study found EV batteries were degrading at an average of 1.8% per year, down from 2.3% in 2019. However, our January 2026 coverage of an updated Geotab analysis found that figure had risen back to 2.3% per year, driven by increased DC fast charging habits among owners. The technology improved, then usage patterns partially offset those gains. The direction of individual degradation still depends heavily on how the car was charged.

The how matters as much as the how much. A battery that has lived most of its life on 7kW home charging with a state of charge kept between 20–80% is fundamentally different from one that has spent years at motorway service area DC fast chargers being hammered from near-empty to 80% every other day. You cannot always tell from the odometer — which is exactly why the SOH report exists. If a seller cannot or will not provide one, price that into your offer.

The January 2026 study confirmed that charging behavior, not calendar age, is the primary driver of battery wear. And what Tesla’s own owner manual recommends about keeping charge levels in a mid-range band applies across almost every EV brand.

Motorway History Leaves Physical Clues

Motorway-heavy use means more DC fast charging sessions, which adds stress to the battery over time. Shallcross offers two useful tells that most buyers overlook: stone chips concentrated on the bonnet but absent from the sides and rear suggest frequent long-distance runs rather than short urban trips, and over 10,000 miles a year combined with pristine rear seats points to solo business travel rather than family use.

Neither is conclusive, but both shift the probability. Combine them with a low SOH reading and you have a clear picture of what kind of life the car has had.

Charging Cables: Missing Leads Are a Direct Cost to Negotiate

Every used EV should come with a Type 2 cable — the seven-pin connector that is standard across European public chargers and home charge points. Older cars, including early Nissan Leaf models, used a Type 1 connector instead. A “granny lead” — the three-pin household adapter for slow charging from a standard socket — is also useful, though Shallcross notes some types can overheat the household socket if used incorrectly.

If either cable is missing, Shallcross puts the replacement cost at roughly £80–£120 each. That is not trivial. Factor it into your opening offer rather than expecting the seller to care after the fact.

The Coolant Level Check Most Buyers Skip

EVs still use liquid coolant to regulate battery temperature. The system should be sealed — it never needs topping up under normal operation. A low coolant level is not a minor finding. It means there is a leak somewhere in the thermal management system, and tracing and fixing that leak can be expensive. Lift the lid, check the level, and if it is down even slightly, ask why before agreeing to anything.

Suspension Wear Deserves More Attention Than It Gets

EVs are heavier than their ICE equivalents. A typical mid-size electric SUV weighs around 20% more than a comparable petrol car — roughly 200–400kg of extra mass, almost all of it in the floor-mounted battery pack. Manufacturers design the suspension accordingly, but joints and bearings still wear, and that extra weight accelerates the process on rough roads.

The fix for the test drive is simple: find a section of road with real potholes and drive it deliberately. Listen for knocks under compression. A worn ball joint or top mount makes a very specific sound on a sharp bump — a dull thud rather than the sharper creak of a loose trim panel. This is something you should do on any used car test drive, but it is worth extra attention on an EV given the mass involved.

On the brakes: a 2025 study confirmed that EVs produce significantly less brake dust than ICE cars, with brake wear emissions down more than 80% thanks to regenerative braking. The physical brake discs and pads on a well-used EV are often in better condition than those on a petrol car of the same age. That is a genuine positive for used buyers — but it does not mean you should skip checking them. Discs that have sat unused can corrode, especially in wetter climates.

Service History and Warranty Cover: Both Still Matter

EV servicing is simpler than ICE servicing — no oil changes, no timing chain intervals — but it is not zero. Fluid checks, brake inspections, tyre rotations, and software diagnostics all need to happen on schedule. More practically, some battery warranties require documented annual checks to remain valid. Skip one service and you may void coverage that could be worth tens of thousands of pounds.

The battery warranty standard across most manufacturers is eight years or 80,000 miles, with some brands extending to ten years. But that warranty only covers the battery. Suspension joints, wheel bearings, and infotainment systems have shorter coverage windows. Shallcross’s advice here is direct: find the warranty booklet or look it up online before you buy, not after.

Test Every Button and Every Touchscreen Menu

Software bugs, dead touchscreen zones, and glitching climate controls are not rare on used EVs — particularly on older models that have not received recent over-the-air updates, or ones whose owners never connected to Wi-Fi to receive them. During the test drive, go through every menu path you can find. Set the air conditioning to cold and wait for it to blow cold. Turn the heat on and confirm the cabin actually warms up. Try voice control. Pair your phone and test calls and audio. A screen that works at startup but freezes after ten minutes of driving is something you want to discover before, not after, signing the paperwork.

A range check during the test drive is also straightforward: charge the car to 80%, note the predicted range, drive 20 miles, and see what the car shows as remaining. On a car with roughly 250 miles of total range, Shallcross puts the expected remainder at around 72% after that run. A car showing 60% or less is telling you something the SOH report should confirm.

EVXL’s Take

The used EV market is still young enough that most buyers are purchasing cars that have had just one or two previous owners. That is actually a better situation than the used ICE market, where a cheap diesel might have four or five owners and a patchy service history going back a decade. But it also means that individual ownership habits vary wildly, and those habits matter far more for a battery pack than they ever did for a petrol engine.

The one thing I keep coming back to is the SOH report. It is the single most useful document in any used EV transaction and it is still not standard practice to request one. That needs to change. Every time I’ve test-driven a used EV for research, the battery data told a story the asking price didn’t reflect. Most recently, a three-year-old Model Y with 34,000 miles that had been almost exclusively fast-charged at work showed 87% SOH. The seller had no idea. Neither did the listing.

Worth noting on the SOH report itself: the process isn’t always straightforward. Some manufacturers charge for it. Some require a formal service booking. Some dealers won’t run it for a prospective buyer who hasn’t committed to purchasing yet. Third-party OBD-II tools can pull similar data for many models without a dealer visit. Know your options before you show up.

My prediction: by Q4 2026, at least two major used-car platforms in the UK will make SOH data a mandatory listing field for EVs, the same way they list MOT history or finance checks now. The data infrastructure is already there through manufacturer portals. It just needs to become the default expectation for buyers, not an optional extra. When that happens, a lot of overpriced used EVs with quietly degraded batteries will get repriced fast.

For now, treat the SOH report the way a solicitor treats a property survey: non-negotiable before committing. And if the seller won’t pay the dealer for one, walk away or drop your offer by enough to cover the risk. The continued improvement in new EV range also means older-generation models with degraded batteries are worth significantly less than their original range figures suggest. Don’t overpay for yesterday’s technology at today’s prices.

Source: The Sunday Times (paywalled)

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.