A new analysis of nearly 10,000 real-world EV battery tests found that the Tesla Model 3 with a CATL LFP pack retained more capacity than nickel-based versions after high mileage.
The study by Swedish used-EV retailer Carla examined 9,954 battery tests conducted in Sweden between 2022 and 2026 with AVILOO diagnostics. It focused on vehicles that had driven more than 100,000 km, or about 62,000 miles.
The Model 3 with the LFP pack averaged 93.3 percent battery health, outperforming the nickel-cobalt-aluminum versions from Panasonic. Those nickel packs showed the lowest retention in the dataset, creating a five-point gap between the best and worst chemistries in the same car model.
Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona led the broader ranking of 20 models at over 97 percent average health. The results align with other fleet data from Geotab and Tesla's own reports on capacity loss over 200,000 miles.
The findings highlight how LFP batteries tolerate daily charging to 100 percent better than nickel cells, which Tesla advises limiting to 80-90 percent for longevity.