How many years and how many kilometers can a car last?

One of the main concerns when changing a car is how many kilometers it has and how many years of service it can handle without serious breakdowns. A study by the University of Birmingham and of the London School of Economicscarried out on 30 million vehicles and with more than 300 million records of breakdowns and incidents, it has allowed us to approximate the real useful life of current cars.

The study is based on units that have been well cared for, meaning they have undergone the appropriate maintenance changes and inspections, and have been subjected to normal use, without exceeding the limits of the vehicles analyzed. The English study indicates that the useful life of a gasoline-powered car is approximately 18.7 years of service, with an average of 187,000 kilometers traveled. However, the study concludes that the useful life and final mileage may be influenced by the type of maintenance, fuel quality, and driving style to which these cars are subjected.

In the case of diesel cars, the study points to a curious fact: it estimates a useful life of 16.3 years (two and a half years less than gasoline cars), but, on the other hand, raises their mileage to 410,000 kilometers. This fact is explained by the type of commercial and industrial use to which diesel-powered cars are typically subjected. In the case of diesel trucks, the study indicates that the vast majority travel more than one million kilometers without problems.

Regarding hybrid cars, the study by the University of Birmingham and the London School of Economics concludes that there are no significant differences between the gasoline engine they use and internal combustion vehicles. It does point to the degradation of lithium batteries, estimating their useful life at around 10 years and a mileage of over 200,000 kilometers.

And what about the electric ones?

The study does not provide conclusive data on the lifespan of electric vehicles, as it does not have a sufficiently large sample size to generate research data. However, the study does indicate that the average lifespan of electric vehicle batteries is approximately 10 years or 200,000 kilometers, and that the average number of charging cycles will depend on the frequency and use of fast charging stations. Generally, electric car batteries must withstand approximately 3,000 full charging cycles before showing a degradation that can reach 65% of the nominal charging capacity. Despite this decrease in charging capacity and range, however, electric vehicles can continue to operate, although their performance will be lower.