Electric Range Peaked in 2019 and Nobody Noticed

I went into the EPA data expecting the obvious story: batteries get better every year, so range goes up every year. The first half is right. The second half stopped being true seven years ago.

From 2013 to 2019, average range grew 74% — 195 miles to 339. From 2019 to 2026 it went to 314. That is a small decline over seven years, during which the number of models rated went from 75 to 357.

The average fell because the market grew

This is not batteries getting worse. It is arithmetic catching up with a maturing industry.

In 2013 an electric car was a statement purchase, and the companies making them were chasing one headline number. Long range justified the price and calmed the sceptics. Every model was aiming at the same target.

By 2025 there are 397 of them, and most are not aimed at that target at all. There are electric commuter hatchbacks with 180 miles, electric vans built for a 90-mile delivery loop, cheap city cars, and three-row family SUVs that trade range for space. Each of those drags the average down while making perfect sense on its own terms. The 600-mile flagship still exists — the maximum barely moved — but it is now one model among hundreds instead of one among eighteen.

There is a second, more interesting reason. Range costs money and weight, and beyond a point buyers stop paying for it. Once the charging network reached the density where 300 miles covers real trips, the engineering budget moved to charging speed, efficiency per kWh, and price. A car that adds 200 miles in twelve minutes needs less battery than one that carries 500 miles because charging is painful. That is a better car with a worse spec sheet.

What it means if you are buying used

Model year tells you less than you think. A 2019 long-range sedan may out-range a 2025 crossover. Do not assume newer means further — check the specific rating.

Range is the wrong number to shop on anyway. What matters used is the battery's remaining health, not its original EPA figure. A 2019 rated at 310 miles that has lost 12% of capacity is a 273-mile car today, and there is no way to read that off the window sticker. Ask for a battery health report, and take a long test drive watching consumption rather than the range estimate.

The used premium is smaller than the sticker suggests. Used EVs average $26,712 in our listings against $22,270 for hybrids — but as we found when we filtered for age and mileage, most of the apparent gap is that electric cars in the used market are simply newer.

Before you buy any of it, run the VIN. Electric cars carry battery and charging-system recall campaigns that are genuinely serious, and they are the kind that get missed when a car changes hands — a free VIN check shows what is still open on that specific car.