Updated: 19.07.2026
Battery topics are full of abbreviations. Here are the most important terms, each explained in one paragraph — honestly, without sales language, with links where we cover a topic in depth. Every entry is directly linkable; if a term is missing, let us know.
A battery's health status: how much usable capacity remains compared to new, given in percent. 90 percent SoH on an originally 75 kWh pack means roughly 67.5 kWh today. Important: SoH is not a standardised metric — results differ by several percentage points depending on method, reference value and measurement conditions. Trustworthy figures therefore state the method and give a range instead of pseudo-precise decimals.
The charge level: how full the battery currently is, in percent — the number shown in the car and the app. Not to be confused with SoH: a car can be charged to 100 percent and still have an aged battery. For capacity estimates the SoC delta matters: charging from 20 to 80 percent is a 60-point delta — together with the energy added in kWh, this yields the usable capacity of the pack.
The battery's control centre: it monitors cell voltages and temperatures, balances the cells and continuously estimates SoC and capacity. Key to understanding many displays: the BMS does not measure capacity directly, it estimates it — and this estimate drifts when it has not been calibrated for a long time. Many apparent degradation jumps are in truth BMS drift, not real ageing of the cells.
A cell chemistry without nickel and cobalt, used for example in most Standard Range Teslas from Shanghai and Berlin. Its traits: very cycle-resistant, happily tolerates regular charging to full (Tesla even recommends it, because it calibrates the BMS), but somewhat lower energy density and noticeably less range in winter. For SoH estimation LFP is harder: its flat voltage curve makes the BMS capacity estimate less precise.
The two common nickel-based chemistries: NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt, e.g. LG cells in Long Range Teslas from Shanghai and Berlin) and NCA (nickel-cobalt-aluminium, classically Panasonic in Fremont-built cars). Both offer high energy density and thus range; in daily use a charge limit around 80 percent is advisable, since sitting at a high state of charge accelerates ageing. SoH figures of nickel-based and LFP packs are not directly comparable.
The gradual capacity loss of a battery through age (calendar) and use (cycles). The typical curve is not linear: capacity drops noticeably in the first one or two years, then flattens considerably. A three-year-old car at 93 percent is therefore normal, not a warning sign. What matters is not a single low value but a trajectory that deviates from the typical pattern — which is why a history tells you more than any snapshot.
One complete charge from 0 to 100 percent — in practice usually counted as the sum of many partial charges: twice from 40 to 90 percent equals one full-cycle equivalent. Modern EV batteries are designed for many hundreds to over a thousand full cycles; at 60 kWh usable and 15 kWh/100 km, one cycle equals roughly 400 km. The cycle count alone says little — charging habits, temperature and time spent at high charge weigh more.
Gross is the total installed capacity, usable (net) the share you can actually access — the difference is a buffer the manufacturer reserves for cell protection. A 60 kWh pack may offer 57 kWh usable. For SoH figures the reference value is crucial: the same battery yields different percentages depending on whether it is computed against catalogue gross, catalogue net or the car's actual capacity when new. Without a stated reference, an SoH value is hard to interpret.
The BMS estimates capacity from voltages and currents — and this estimate drifts when the battery is only ever moved within a middle charge window. The result: the display shows less (or more) range than is really there. Calibration happens through occasionally charging to a high level with a resting period, for LFP explicitly to full. Before selling or assessing a battery, calibrate first — otherwise BMS drift gets mistaken for real degradation.
A single charging process from start to finish. It is valuable for battery assessment because it yields a capacity estimate: energy added divided by the SoC delta gives the usable capacity. A single session is noisy (temperature, charging losses, measurement resolution); many sessions across weeks and months, robustly combined, produce a reliable trajectory instead. This is exactly the principle our methodology is built on.
A digital product passport that the EU battery regulation mandates for EV, LMT and industrial batteries above 2 kWh newly placed on the market from 18 February 2027 — accessible via QR code, with data on origin, carbon footprint and battery characteristics. Crucial for the used market: it is not retroactive. The millions of EVs already on the road will never get a battery passport — for them, independent certificates remain the only source of transparency for years.
The official sibling of SoH: with the Euro 7 regulation, energy retention versus the certified new value is defined as SOCE and must be readable in the vehicle. For new passenger-car types, minimum values apply from late November 2026: 80 percent up to 5 years or 100,000 km, and 72 percent up to 8 years or 160,000 km. Battery health thus gets a regulated yardstick for the first time — though it does not apply to vehicles already on the road.
The manufacturer warranty on the traction battery — at Tesla, as with most brands, 8 years with a minimum capacity of 70 percent; the mileage cap varies by variant (at Tesla 160,000 to 240,000 km, whichever comes first). It is tied to the vehicle and carries over to used buyers, counted from first registration. Remaining warranty is a tangible price argument — and a good reason to have battery health checked before it expires.
The 17-digit vehicle identification number. On a used Tesla, its beginning reveals the factory — 5YJ stands for Fremont/USA, LRW for Shanghai, XP7 for Berlin — and thus often the installed battery pack. For battery certificates, VIN binding is the authenticity feature: a certificate cryptographically tied to the VIN cannot be reused for another car. For privacy, the VIN should appear only masked or as a hash inside the document.