New battery health test to ease buyers’ biggest EV concern

RedBook Inspect has rolled out a new electric vehicle (EV) battery health testing service designed to improve confidence in Australia’s growing used EV market. The new diagnostic service promises transparency and confidence for used EV buyers and dealers by a clear insight into a vehicle’s battery condition.

The battery is the most valuable and closely scrutinised component of an electric vehicle (EV), and carsales’ latest research shows it’s the biggest concern among prospective buyers – with 59 per cent citing battery condition as their top hesitation.

RedBook Inspect’s new service introduces independent high-voltage diagnostics that connect directly to a vehicle’s onboard systems to assess its State of Health (SoH), charging behaviour and real-world performance.

The process generates a certified battery health report estimating how much usable capacity remains compared to the manufacturers claim and benchmarked against data from comparable vehicles.

Unlike manufacturer systems that often estimate battery condition through simplified pack-level data, RedBook Inspect’s test calculates SoH independently using advanced data models and testing.

This approach assesses the performance of individual cells within the battery, factoring in real-world use and charge patterns to provide a more accurate picture of long-term health.

The result is a stable and comparable measure of battery condition across most EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) currently on Australian roads.

Battery degradation is influenced by a range of everyday factors – including driving style, charging frequency, state of charge during storage, and exposure to high or low temperatures.

Vehicles regularly parked or charged at high levels (such as 80-100 per cent) tend to experience faster degradation than those maintained around 40-60 per cent, highlighting why transparent testing is vital for second-hand buyers.

A reliable SoH rating gives confidence not only in range and performance but also in resale value. Independent certification has been shown to increase used EV marketability, with verified vehicles achieving faster sales and higher prices.

For dealers, offering battery health reports helps remove uncertainty, often described as the “black box” of EV ownership. While for consumers, it represents clear, data-backed assurance about what they’re buying.

As EV adoption accelerates, independent battery certification is expected to become a key factor in used car valuations. Verified health data helps bridge the trust gap between buyers and sellers – and, ultimately, supports a smoother transition to electric mobility across Australia.

Head over the Redbook Inspect website for detailed pricing.