What determines the value of a used car? For ICE vehicles, the odometer reading is a major factor, but for EVs, the health of the battery may be more important, as the battery is the most expensive part of the vehicle, and it naturally degrades over time. However, there’s little in the way of data on battery aging to guide buyers and sellers.

Seattle-based startup Recurrent aims to change that, by providing independent reports on the condition of used EV batteries. Now the company is collaborating with the vehicle data and analytics firm Black Book to create an EV-specific valuation system that’s influenced by battery condition.

Black Book now combines its vehicle valuation with Recurrent’s new Range Score value, which uses modeling from 100 million recorded EV miles, to make value adjustments based on the estimated state of battery health. Recurrent can generate a Range Score and vehicle valuation for vehicles in its database, backed by data from Black Book.

Dealerships can use Recurrent’s Range Scores to price their used EV inventory. Eligible models include Chevrolet’s Bolt and Volt, Nissan’s LEAF, and Tesla’s S3XY Models.

“Recurrent’s adoption of Black Book data will provide EV owners further insight into the real-time value of their vehicles,” said Jared Kalfus, President of Black Book. “This integration is the first of its kind for EV battery valuations.”

“We founded Recurrent with the mission to give confidence to used EV buyers, and a lot of that starts with the price tag,” said Scott Case, CEO and co-founder of Recurrent. “The combination of Recurrent’s battery insights and Black Book’s auto market expertise looks a lot like the change that we originally hoped to see.”

Source: Black Book