A ride-hailing car with over 508,000 km still has 92% of its battery

A Ford Mustang Mach-E passes 508,000 km with only 8% battery loss

A ride-hailing vehicle has covered more than half a million kilometers with a Ford Mustang Mach-E, and its battery still holds 92% of its original capacity. The news, shared by the driver himself, has sparked a heated debate: is it proof of reliability or a statistical outlier?

The numbers: 508,000 km in three years

The car, used as a ride-hailing vehicle, has racked up around 140,000 km a year, more than double the average for a taxi in Madrid (60,000 km). In just over three years of intensive use, the battery is said to have lost only 8% of its range. These figures invite skepticism, and plenty of people call them hard to believe.

Chemistry matters: LFP vs NCM batteries

The model in question most likely has an LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery, which tolerates far more charge cycles than NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) ones. While an NCM battery can degrade to 80% after about 800 cycles, an LFP can exceed 2,000 before reaching that threshold. At 500,000 km, the car would have completed roughly 1,100 full cycles, a figure consistent with that level of degradation. However, calendar aging is inevitable: even with little use, a battery loses capacity over the years. The vehicle is about three years old, so time-related wear is still limited.

Skepticism: reality or propaganda?

There is no shortage of counterarguments. Daily charging, extreme temperatures or deep discharges can accelerate degradation. What's more, the onboard system that measures remaining capacity may not be reliable. Fans of internal combustion point out that a diesel Mercedes can reach 1.5 million kilometers without losing an ounce of range and refuel in a minute. The comparison is devastating for the EV.

An isolated case or a sign of things to come?

Those who defend the viability of EVs for intensive use argue that, with overnight home charging and an urban driving profile, wear is lower than antiestéticared. But most of the debate leans toward treating this case as an exception, if not outright manipulation. The reality is that the used EV market still shows steep price corrections, a symptom of distrust.

The question left hanging: will we see more cases like this, or will it remain the exception that proves the rule?

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