The Brief

Fifteen years ago, when modern electric vehicles were just hitting the road, no one knew exactly what to expect from their giant, expensive lithium-ion batteries.

As batteries age, they hold less and less energy. Anyone who's ever had a dying smartphone, or had to replace a vehicle's 12-volt starter battery, knows this painfully well.

EV batteries were intended to last longer than those smaller, cheaper batteries. But how much longer?

The predictions were not soothing. In 2010, the New York Times wrote that "estimates of [EV] battery packs' lifespan — no one knows for sure — range upward from seven years." The average car on the road is more than 12 years old. And that discrepancy made some would-be EV buyers nervous.

Batteries come with warranties, but they don't last as long as the car. If a high-voltage battery chokes out midway through a car's life, it needs replacing — at a price tag that can run in the ballpark of $5,000 to $20,000.

But there's good news.

As the fleet of EVs on the road ages, new data pooled from tens of thousands of vehicles is showing those batteries are lasting longer than expected.

How a battery ages 

Lithium-ion batteries undergo two kinds of aging. First, there's calendar aging: They degrade as time goes on, holding less juice, even if they just sit in storage.

Then there's cyclical aging, which is how much a battery degrades based on its use — being charged and discharged, over and over again.

That means there's no way to dodge degradation. Whether you use a vehicle a lot or a little, eventually, the battery will hold less energy.

But the trajectory of aging isn't a straight line. Recurrent, a research firm that pulls in data from over 30,000 EV drivers, describes it as an "S curve." There's a rapid decline at the beginning, a long leveling off, and then a more rapid decline at the end.

"It's very much like breaking in a pair of shoes," says Liz Najman, the director of market insights at Recurrent. The shoes start out stiff, but quickly get a little more give. "And then your shoes just last you," she says, until at some point, "It's all over, it's a rapid decline."

And when it comes to EV batteries, two things are becoming clear. The initial drop-off is not as severe as some people had worried. And the sharp end-of-life decline is taking a long, long time to materialize.

At auto auctions, a lot of healthy batteries

Adam George is a vehicle services director at Cox Automotive, which runs used car auctions around the country. In recent years, the number of used EVs for sale has increased enormously — reflecting the sharp rise in production a few years ago.

That's given Cox Automotive a growing pool of used EVs to evaluate before they're re-sold.

"We were expecting battery health to be experiencing mass degradation over the first one to three years of owning a vehicle," George says. "What we have seen, though, is that these 2, 3, 4-year-old off-lease cars that are coming back have battery health scores well upwards of 95%."

Recurrent's data also shows that cars from most major brands retain 95% or more of their expected range after 3 years, thanks in part to software and battery management systems that are designed to correct for the battery's early degradation, and give drivers consistent range.

So the initial drop-off in that S curve is in the range of 5% or so, give or take. After that? Well, Cox Automotive has tested nearly 80,000 EVs, and found an average battery health of 92%.

Decade-old EVs are overwhelmingly on their original batteries 

That data set is naturally skewed toward younger vehicles, because the vast majority of EVs on the road today are fairly new. There were only a million EVs sold between 2010 and 2018, and now there are more than a million sold each year.

So what about the oldest EVs, specifically?

Recurrent's data can help answer this question. Najman, a data scientist, notes a few caveats: It's a fairly small dataset, just because there weren't many EVs built more than a decade ago. And some of the oldest EVs use technology that can't connect to Recurrent's opt-in network.

But based on their community, among EVs that are 10 years old or older, only 8.5% have ever had a battery replacement. More than 90% of them are still on their original battery.

"EV batteries are holding up phenomenally well," Najman says.  

Recurrent has also looked at EVs of any age that have more than 150,000 miles on them, which provides a closer look at the effects of that cyclical aging. There, too, the batteries outperformed expectations.

"Cars with 150,000 miles or more, and that have not had battery replacements, are getting at least 83% of their original range," Najman says.

Now, there is one common reason why EV batteries will be replaced very early on: a defect. There have been multiple large-scale battery recalls, and any individual battery might have a flaw that requires replacement. But because all new EVs come with warranties, that kind of replacement isn't a financial blow to owners.

"That would be something that would be synonymous with, like, your engine or a transmission going bad," says Adam George, of Cox Automotive. "That's what warranties are for."

EV battery warranties typically cover at least 8 years and 100,000 miles, and automakers will replace the battery in the case of catastrophic failure, or a reduction in capacity (usually to 70% of the original or less).

A robotic arm displays the dual engine chassis of a Model S electric sedan at the Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles on October 9, 2014.

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The tale of one Model S 

What do all these stats look like in real life? Consider Norman Hajjar's Model S.

Hajjar was an early adopter of electric vehicles. He kind of had to be: In 2013 he became an executive at the electric vehicle drivers' app Plugshare.

His 2012 Model S is one of the first that Tesla ever built. When he got it, he was well aware of the question mark about battery lifespan. "There was really no way of knowing what the future held for it because there was zero track record," Hajjar says.

In his case, the future held a battery defect: a loud noise followed by his car coming to an abrupt stop. He recalls Tesla replacing the battery — free of charge and under warranty — in 2014.

Since then, he's spent 12 years on that second battery. He's put around 200,000 miles on the car overall. And it's driving great, thank you very much.

"This vehicle still is a monster," Hajjar says, affectionately. "It is extremely fast, quick off the line."

The vehicle was originally rated to have 265 miles of range. Now it has about 220. Do the math, and it's at 83% of its original capacity. "The amount of degradation is pretty minor," Hajjar says.

Hajjar has moved on to a newer vehicle for his daily driver, mostly to enjoy higher-tech features. (His newer Model Y has Tesla's advanced driver-assistance software.) His son uses the Model S these days for his commute to college. "It's just sort of a backup vehicle now," Hajjar says. But he plans to hang on to it. He's sentimental about it, he says.

Why are batteries outlasting expectations? 

The engineers who developed modern EVs knew that prolonging battery life would be crucial. They designed systems to actively manage temperatures to improve battery lifespan, and software to constantly check battery health. Years have shown those efforts paid off.

But there's another reason EV batteries have out-performed expectations. It turns out that testing batteries is harder on them than the real world. Their lifespan was underestimated.

Simona Onori's lab at Stanford University has done research into the longevity of lithium-ion batteries, including a 2024 paper in Nature Energy showing that traditional methods for testing battery life are very stressful, and don't match the way batteries are actually used.

In most lab tests, researchers repeatedly cycle them from a very high state of charge to a very low one.

Real-world driving is gentler, with stops and starts — each start draws a bit of the battery's energy down, while each stop gives it a little time to recharge. A driver would never slam the accelerator to the floor and keep it there until the battery is dead.

"We accelerate, we decelerate," Onori says. "The battery will be charged, and discharged, some rest if you're at a traffic light."

Her lab's findings suggest that the traditional tests for battery life were unrealistically challenging, and Onori says ongoing work with real-world data is now confirming that. When they're actually driven, she says, EV batteries "age gracefully. Very gracefully."

Just like humans, she notes: "When we live a life with less stress, we live longer."

A decade plus … and counting 

So how long do EV batteries last? It's still too soon to put a precise number on it, because — as a group — the cars already on the road haven't yet reached the end of the S-curve, the point when they will start to show massive performance declines. In other words, they're not dead yet.

Meanwhile, battery technology keeps improving. The oldest EVs, like Hajjar's Model S, may not be the best indicator of how long newer EVs will last. Software systems to manage batteries have gotten more sophisticated. A lot of new EVs use a different battery chemistry — lithium iron phosphate or LFP — which lasts even longer than other lithium-ion batteries.

As Stephanie Valdez-Streaty, who follows EV trends for Cox Automotive, puts it: "These batteries are built to outlast the cars."

And there's one more wrinkle when it comes to figuring out the end of life for a normally-aging EV battery. They don't die abruptly, like an old engine cutting out. It's more that their range shrinks; they can only hold enough energy for shorter and shorter trips. Instead of shelling out for an expensive battery replacement, some EV owners might just put up with that limitation.

Thomas McVeigh, of Ontario, Canada, drives a 2014 BMW i3. That vehicle didn't have an impressive range even when it was new, and now it can only manage about 55 miles on a single charge in the winter. But it still looks great. It's pleasant to drive. It saves him on gas. Maintenance is wildly cheap for a 12-year-old vehicle, and especially for a BMW; his only real cost is new tires.

He's fine with its diminished range. And he's not inclined to put what he estimates would be a $6,000 battery into an aging car. Instead, maybe he'll pass it on to his kid. "Teenagers generally aren't going for long drives," he says.

Or maybe he'll keep it for himself, after all. "I mean," he says, "I love that car."

Copyright 2026 NPR

A federal court struck down the Trump administration's latest attempt to shift federal homelessness funding away from permanent housing. The decision could change the pace of a separate legal battle between the L.A. region's lead homelessness agency and the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island found Friday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development violated federal law by issuing new requirements for federal homelessness grants without first seeking public comment.

As a result, the judge threw out the department’s 2026 funding notice for its main federal grant application as a result. That notice officially set the terms and conditions for how communities like L.A. can apply for federal grants.

It's the second time McElroy has struck down HUD's grant regulations on the same grounds. Friday's decision means HUD will have to issue new guidelines for its annual homelessness grant funding competition.

"The court ruled that HUD violated the law when it attempted to shift Congress's priorities away from housing first and towards its own priorities of interim shelter and services," said Shayla Myers, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

The L.A. region was already in the process of preparing its application for federal grants based on regulations that were thrown out Friday. The deadline to submit was just weeks away.

The regulations would have directed a significant portion of funding away from permanent housing and toward transitional housing and treatment programs, prompting California and nearly two dozen other states to sue.

The Rhode Island decision could also change the pace of a separate legal battle between LAHSA and the federal government. The federal government suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity in June, putting $240 million in funding for the region in limbo.

Judge David O. Carter presided over a federal hearing this week, where LAHSA is looking to overturn the suspension. Carter is expected to decide early next week whether to temporarily block the suspension while the case proceeds to trial next year.

Chef Johnny Lee stepped away from the food business for a short time after feeling burned out. With additional support from Last World Hospitality, Lee regained the energy to help build Rasarumah, a fusion restaurant influenced by Malaysian cuisine.

About the chef

Lee grew up watching Japan's version of Iron Chef, but didn't see it as an option.

That changed after he graduated from college during the 2008 as he found work at restaurants, falling in love with the fast pace and hands-on work.

He sat down with Austin Cross, who hosts AirTalk every Friday, to explain what makes his Southeast Asian fusion cuisine stand out.

What inspired his menu?

Lee grew up in a Cantonese-Chinese family, having grown his knowledge of Southeast Asian cuisine through his work at Pearl River Deli, his Cantonese restaurant that's now closed.

One of the reasons he was interested in veering into Malaysian food?

"It's an extremely diverse group," Lee said.

The ideal Rasarumah experience

Lee recommends starting with a tiki drink and their pu pu platter, which gives you a little bit of everything.

Next, try one of their cold salads to lighten things up. And for the finale, the Rendang.

Restaurant details

• Chef-owner Johnny Lee was born in China, but grew up in Lincoln Heights.
• His collaborators at Last World Hospitality have helped build other L.A. restaurants like Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill and Hermon’s.
• Rasarumah recently introduced a whole menu of tiki drinks.
  

Menu items we tried

• Beef rendang (slow-braised wagyu, pickles, raita, lime and roti)
• Rojak (salad with pineapple, cucumber, green apple, watermelon radish, herbs, tamarind and crispy shallots)
• Pork Skewers (char siu pork jowl, sesame, chive and hot mustard)
  

What should we try next?

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Sara Mijares moved to Los Angeles from Yucatan, Mexico when she was 15 years old. She had left her home behind but not her culture.

Thousands of miles away from her hometown of Muna, she’s preserving the Maya culture she grew up with for the indigenous community in Los Angeles. 

Sunday will mark the 8th annual Mundo Maya Day at MacArthur Park. The celebration returns for the first time since the summer of 2024 after planners postponed the event for a year due to immigration enforcement concerns. Mundo Maya Day is being held in partnership with MAC·LA, formerly Levitt Pavilion, who are currently curating the summer concert series at MacArthur Park.

The event will celebrate Maya culture and indigeneity through a Maya ceremony, a game of Maya ball, food, and marimba. The event will also feature dances from Chiapas, Yucatan, and Guatemala. The event will go from 5 – 8 p.m. and will include a backpack giveaway. 

“MacArthur Park is the heart of the Maya immigrant community,” said Mijares. “When we come here, we don’t leave our culture behind. It comes with us.” 

The area has seen more activity this summer with World Cup watch parties and the summer concert series hosted by MAC LA, formerly known as Levitt Pavilion.

She remembers going to MacArthur Park as a child with her father and seeing groups of Maya Yucatecos from Yucatan. She remembers how beautiful and safe the park felt, the community environment that reminded her of home.

Mundo Maya Day organizers gather at the “Grieving Sun Mural” in MacArthur Park in an undated photo.

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It was this feeling she wanted to bring back to the community when she had the idea for the Mundo Maya Day. Around 900 guests attended the first official celebration at MacArthur Park in 2018.

A census study conducted by the local indigenous woman-led nonprofit organization CIELO (Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo) showed roughly 24,000 residents of Mayan descent lived in Los Angeles. 

The CIELO Organization says, “The ‘Maya’ category aggregates all Mayan groups. However, this is an umbrella term that includes communities from Guatemala and Mexico that often have different and distinct languages, cultures, and traditions.” 

The regions of Pico Union, Koreatown, and Westlake consist of a highly diverse indigenous population ranging from Zapotec, K’iche’, Chinanteco, Mixe and many more groups according to CIELO. 

The celebration will also add a final-hour dedication to Yucatan and honor Armando Manzanero, a Mayan Grammy winner who died in 2020. 

Mijares admits there is always a concern with the risks of immigration enforcement, but is confident families will feel safe at this year’s event. The celebration will have security guards present throughout the event. 

During this time last summer, federal agents arrested over 4,000 people, according to a report by the Department of Economic Opportunity. By the end of 2025, that grew to over 14,000 people, who were mostly residents without a criminal record, according to researchers from UCLA and UC Berkeley.

In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded 43,138 arrests across the nation, the highest monthly total of the current administration. Immigration enforcement in Los Angeles has been much more subtle in its execution in comparison to last year but enforcement numbers continue to increase in the city.

Still, Mundo Maya organizers felt like they could not deprive their community of the event.

“At some point in life we need to decide if we let fear control us or not. So we have to take that step and say we’re here,” said Mijares. 

She hopes that for at least the three hours they can bring life, music, and healing to the community. She welcomes anyone interested in learning about Maya and indigenous cultures to show up.

“We want people to feel proud of who you are and where you come from. Feel proud of who we are here, the backbone of the country.”

Organizers recommend several ways to get to the event:

Via the train: The Metro B Line to the MacArthur Park / Westlake Station

Via the bus: Metro bus lines 18, 20, 51, 351, 603, 720

Parking: Athena Parking at 611 S. Carondelet St.

Attendees are welcome to bring their own picnics, blankets and lawn chairs.

What happened: Architectural Digest recently published their list of the prettiest towns in each state. Their pick for California?  Carmel-by-the-Sea.

But: Of course Carmel-by-the-Sea is gorgeous, but Hailey Branson-Potts of the L.A. Times thinks the publication got it wrong. She’s traveled all over California to report from small, quirky (and pretty) towns.

So: She joined us during an episode of AirTalk, LAist 89.3’s daily news show, and we asked listeners what California town they think is the prettiest.

Listen: To the AirTalk episode above, and maybe have a notepad handy to jot down your next California destination.