Black Book Enhances EV Values with Recurrent Battery Insights

The industry's first EV-specific valuation algorithm includes proprietary analytics from 100 million real-world EV battery data points.

Black Book today introduced the industry's first electric vehicle (EV) valuations, dubbed Battery Adjusted Values™, which incorporate battery condition adjustments based on data from Recurrent, the foremost authority in EV analytics.

Using battery condition that is derived from vehicle-specific information and battery data from thousands of similar vehicles from Recurrent’s database, Battery Adjusted Values™ will apply an additional increase or decrease to Black Book’s industry-leading, VIN-specific valuations. 

This is an important milestone because used EV values to date are shaped by criteria from the combustion engine era, prioritizing metrics like odometer readings that are easily accessible, but do not directly reflect battery aging. 

The battery is the most expensive part of an EV and its condition impacts maximum vehicle range. Over time, all EV batteries degrade naturally in their capacity, though the rate varies widely based on battery chemistry, manufacturing processes and how each vehicle was charged and cared for after its initial purchase. Until now, critical information about battery condition has not been accounted for in used EV values.

“While electric vehicles are still vehicles, a single component – the battery – has never played such a significant role in a used vehicle’s value,” said Jared Kalfus, president of Black Book. “Recurrent has the most comprehensive and actionable EV data available and we’re excited to be able to translate their battery ratings into value adjustments for our customers. It is the next, logical step in our ongoing mission of VIN-specific precision.”

Battery Adjusted Values™ will first be available in Cherry, one of the industry’s leading mobile and desktop applications, in late January, and they will soon be rolled out across the entire Black Book portfolio, providing access to all Black Book customers, 

• Dealership groups can use battery adjustments when appraising during used car acquisition, helping buying teams make the right offers on used EVs and helping retailers set fair prices.
• Auctions and remarketers can set reserve prices and increase transparency by combining battery adjustments with Recurrent's battery condition reports. 
• Lenders, insurance companies and extended warranty providers can use battery adjustments to accurately model the underlying asset value, and likely resale value, of their portfolio EVs.
• OEMs and leasing companies can use this information for setting residual values of leases, by analyzing the change in battery condition and value over time.
• Commercial fleets can determine the optimal resale time and accurately set prices on remarketed EVs.

“EV batteries are holding up much better than many people expected, but the industry is realizing that the battery condition and resulting expected range are critical variables,” said Scott Case, CEO at Recurrent. “Buying, selling, leasing, owning or covering an EV without considering the battery is like valuing a combustion engine vehicle without knowing the odometer.” 

Early analysis shows that battery transparency increases the average value of used cars. This may not be surprising since 94% of EVs evaluated by Recurrent have a Range Score of 90 or above.

For more details about Battery Adjusted Values™, please visit www.blackbook.com/EV or call 800.554.1026.