Business
How to tell the health of a battery in a used EV
Chris BaraniukTechnology Reporter
Corbis via Getty ImagesWhen Kerry Dunstan and his partner set out to buy a new electric car this summer, one of the questions they asked was, “How’s the battery?”.
They’d found a 2021 Nissan Leaf with just 29,000 miles on it, and the dealer told them the condition of the battery, or its state of health (SOH), was still around 93%.
The couple were sold. For £12,500, they got an EV with a big boot and plenty of room for passengers.
Though Mr Dunstan, a cabinetmaker who also owns a somewhat snazzier electric Volvo SUV, hasn’t quite fallen in love with the aging Leaf.
“I like sporty, jazzy cars – and it’s just a bit ‘meh’,” he says.
However, he adds the Leaf has performed exactly as expected during the three months they’ve owned it.
It used to be that age and mileage were the two headline details pored over by would-be buyers of second-hand cars. But as more people shift to electric, scrutinising the health of a car’s battery has become arguably even more important.
How has that battery been treated? Did the last owner regularly fast charge it to 100%, for example? That has the potential to shorten an EV battery’s lifespan.
This battery black box problem has put some consumers off buying a second-hand EV. But battery analytics firms say they can reveal the condition of an old EV’s battery with high accuracy. And industry experts say some EVs are lasting longer than many predicted.
Take Mr Dunstan’s Nissan Leaf. This is a model of EV built without the kind of sophisticated, liquid-based battery cooling system common to many other EVs. While Nissan has rectified this in the latest generation of Leafs, earlier models show a considerable shortening of their range year by year, according to data analysed by US insurance and research firm NimbleFins.
Mr Dunstan is unfazed. “I charge both my EVs to 100% and I put them on charge when I need to charge them – I don’t worry about it,” he says.
Kerry DunstanFor people in the market for a second-hand EV who are plagued by battery anxieties, however, Austria-based firm Aviloo says it has a solution. “We really can, completely independently, determine the state of health of a battery,” says chief product officer, Patrick Schabus.
Aviloo is one of several battery analytics businesses in the market. The company, which provides battery health certificates for major UK outlet British Car Auctions, offers two products.
There’s a premium test, where EV owners plug a data logging box roughly the size of a glasses case into their car so that it can monitor battery performance while they use the car over a few days, going from 100% charge down to 10%.
Or, they can opt for a quicker flash test, which uses a different box to suck up data from the car’s battery management software and then analyse it with the help of a computer model. “We can do this at a standstill in under two minutes,” says Mr Schabus.
The premium test observes battery discharge closely, picking up fluctuations in current or voltage, and can reveal extra detailed information about the health of individual cells in the battery, says Aviloo.
Marcus Berger, Aviloo’s chief executive, says his company’s analytics results sometimes diverge “substantially” from the battery SOH percentages produced by some cars’ own built-in analytics systems.
He challenges conventional wisdom that batteries with an SOH below 80% are too far gone: “An EV with a state of health below 80% can still be a great car… It just needs to be priced [appropriately].”
In New Zealand, EV owner Lucy Hawcroft, who works in a sustainability role for an infrastructure firm, bought a Nissan Leaf with her husband roughly three years ago. She recalls getting an SOH result of 95% or so from the dealership. But a year later an independent mechanic checked the SOH again for them.
“It dropped quite a bit,” she recalls. “My husband was a bit surprised, or concerned, about that.”
However, the car still has a range of around 160km (100 miles) when fully charged. The pair mostly use it for short journeys of up to 10km. Mrs Hawcroft says she has friends whose EVs have much bigger ranges, of around 400km: “That would be ideal.”
For David Smith, sales director at Cleevely Electric Vehicles in Cheltenham, being able to analyse used EVs’ batteries in detail is a deal-maker. Most customers ask for this information, he says. His company uses SOH reports from ClearWatt, another battery analytics firm.
“They’re completely independent. We can’t interfere with the reports,” he says. “Once customers have seen the report, that aids the sale nine times out of 10.”
Matt Cleevely, managing director at Cleevely Electric Vehicles, adds that it’s often possible to replace groups of cells or modules within a battery pack – far cheaper than installing a whole new battery.
Lucy CrawfordAs for how you should charge your own EV in order to best take care of its battery, Simona Onori at Stanford University says, “There is likely a sweet spot between frequent fast charging and avoiding it altogether.” However, she adds that, to her knowledge, this is not something that has yet been thoroughly studied.
Despite some consumers’ wariness, battery technology has noticeably improved in recent years, says Max Reid, head of battery costs at market research firm CRU. “The older batteries might last maybe 500 to 1,000 [charging] cycles,” he explains. “Now, it’s 10,000 cycles in some of these new EV cells coming out.”
Batteries that are no longer good enough for the EV they were designed for can still be useful, says Paul Chaundy at Second Life EV Batteries, in Dorset. For instance, some of his customers are businesses that use former EV batteries to store electricity at their premises. They might have, say, six electric forklifts but a grid connection only large enough for charging ports to supply two or three of the forklifts.
Regarding the varying methodologies car manufacturers use to generate SOH reports for their own vehicles, Mr Chaundy says, “We need more standards around that, I think.”
Business
Gold price rally impact: India’s gold reserves cross $100 billion for the first time; share in forex reserves highest since 1996-97 – The Times of India
Gold’s record rally has helped India’s gold reserves value cross the $100 billion mark for the first time ever. The Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) latest foreign exchange reserves data reveals that India’s gold reserves have exceeded $100 billion for the first time, primarily due to rising global prices, despite a significant reduction in the central bank’s acquisitions this year.According to RBI data released on October 10, India’s gold holdings increased by $3.595 billion to reach $102.365 billion, whilst the total foreign exchange reserves decreased by $2.18 billion to $697.784 billion.
India’s Gold Reserves – Top Facts
According to a Reuters report, traders indicate that gold now constitutes 14.7% of India’s total foreign exchange reserves, reaching its highest proportion since 1996-97.The proportion of gold within India’s foreign exchange reserves has seen a significant rise in the last ten years, climbing from under 7% to approximately 15%. This increase reflects both the RBI’s systematic gold acquisition and substantial increases in worldwide gold prices.This development has resulted in the value of India’s gold reserves reaching the $100 billion mark, despite the RBI notably reducing its gold acquisitions this year.According to World Gold Council statistics, the RBI’s gold purchases in 2025 were limited to four months out of the first nine months, which differs from 2024 when the central bank bought gold almost every month.The total gold procurement from January through September amounted to merely 4 tonnes – a substantial decrease from the 50 tonnes acquired during the corresponding period in the previous year.As gold prices experience substantial growth, its proportion within India’s foreign exchange reserves has shown notable expansion, primarily due to valuation benefits, according to Kavita Chacko, who heads research for India at the World Gold Council.The precious metal has witnessed an impressive increase of approximately 65% in 2025, influenced by a combination of economic factors, institutional behaviour and market sentiment.International central banks persist in building their gold holdings to diversify reserves beyond the US dollar, particularly in response to growing geopolitical uncertainties, sanctions-related challenges and efforts to reduce dollar dependency.
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 leads Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari SF-24 and Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL38 Mercedes into turn 1 at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Peter Fox – Formula 1 | Formula 1 | Getty Images
Apple and Formula 1 announced a five-year media rights deal Friday that will bring every F1 race to Apple TV beginning in 2026.
Apple TV will provide coverage of all Formula 1 events, including practice, qualifying and Sprint sessions, as part of the streamer’s existing $12.99 per month subscription, which comes ad-free. Certain F1 races and all practice sessions will also be available for free in the Apple TV app throughout the season, the companies said in a statement.
It’s a different structure from Apple’s partnership with Major League Soccer. Apple TV similarly has exclusive rights to every MLS game, but at an extra cost through the MLS Season Pass.
Apple is paying about $140 million per year for the racing rights, according to people familiar with the matter. Disney’s ESPN is the incumbent media partner for the league and had been paying about $85 million per year on average, according to people familiar with that deal, who asked not to speak publicly because the details are private.
Representatives for ESPN said in a statement that the network is “incredibly proud of what we and Formula 1 accomplished together in the United States and look forward to a strong finish in this final season. We wish F1 well in the future.”
F1 TV Premium, the league’s own content offering that’s popular with racing fans, will continue to be available in the U.S. but will now require an Apple TV subscription. Once a customer subscribes to Apple TV, F1 TV Premium will be included in their Apple subscription rather than as a stand-alone offering.
F1 on Apple TV will feature commentary from F1 TV and Sky broadcast announcers.
Apple is dipping its toe into live sports but only in instances where it can acquire rights such that it can control the user experience, Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue told CNBC this week. Apple plans to announced additional production details and product enhancements for F1 fans in the coming months, the company said in a statement.
“We don’t have to do sports the way that they are,” Cue said at Motorsport Network’s Autosport Business Exchange NYC. “There’s plenty of people doing that, so the world doesn’t need us to do that. And so our view around it is, if we can do something unique, then we’ll do it.”
The deal builds on Apple’s relationship with F1 following “F1: The Movie,” starring Brad Pitt, which became the highest-grossing sports movie of all time at the box office this year, according to Cue.
“This is an incredibly exciting partnership for Apple and the whole of Formula 1 that will ensure we can continue to maximize our growth potential in the U.S.,” said Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1’s president and CEO, in a statement.
Disclosures: CNBC is a sponsor of the McLaren Formula 1 racing team. Comcast owns CNBC’s parent NBCUniversal and Sky. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
The FTSE 100 closed down sharply on Friday, although well above early lows, as investors weighed Thursday’s hefty falls on Wall Street sparked by fears surrounding US regional banks.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 81.52 points, 0.9%, at 9,354.57. It had earlier traded as low as 9,276.91.
The FTSE 250 ended 208.40 points lower, 1.0%, at 21,782.96 while the AIM All-Share shed 17.24 points, 2.2%, to 772.65.
For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 0.8%, the FTSE 250 was 0.1% lower, and the AIM-All Share declined 1.7%.
Wall Street took a tumble on Thursday and shares of regional banks took a hit after Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance said they had been victims of fraud on loans to funds that invest in distressed commercial mortgages.
Zions Bancorp said it would take a 50 million-dollar (£37 million) charge related to a loan issued by its California Bank & Trust division, while Western Alliance said it had begun legal proceedings over a bad loan.
“While everyone has been watching the tech sector for signs of a bubble, it’s the banking sector that’s the root cause of a minor market sell-off today,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Mr Mould noted “pockets” of the US banking sector including regional banks have given the market cause for concern.
“This includes Zions flagging an unexpected loss on two loans and Western Alliance alleging a borrower had committed fraud,” he added.
But he said the pullback in UK-listed banks will be “sentiment-driven”.
“Investors have been spooked and moved to trim positions in the sector, possibly opting to have lower exposure in case a crisis is brewing. There is no evidence of any issues with the London-listed core banking names, but investors often have a knee-jerk reaction when problems appear anywhere in the sector,” he added.
Barclays shed 5.7%, while Standard Chartered fell 3.5% and HSBC 2.5%. Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest ended down 2.4% and 2.9% respectively.
ICG, which has exposure private credit and asset backed finance fell 5.5%.
Stocks in New York were lower at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.3% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6%.
Shares in Zions rallied 2.5% while Western Alliance firmed 0.9% at the time of the London equity market close, although both were well below opening highs.
Gold miners were also prominent fallers in London as the price of the yellow metal retreated from record highs.
Gold traded at 4,242.28 dollars an ounce on Friday, down from 4,270.73 dollars on Thursday.
The latest volatility saw Fresnillo fall 11% and Endeavour Mining drop 5.5%.
The pound was quoted lower at 1.3398 dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Friday, compared with 1.3429 dollars on Thursday.
The euro stood at 1.1664 dollars, lower compared with 1.1671 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 150.31 yen, lower compared with 150.83 yen.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.00%, trimmed from 4.03% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.60%, narrowed from 4.62% on Thursday.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed ended 0.2% lower, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt slid 1.7%.
Bucking the weaker trend in London, Pearson rose 2.3% as it said it remains on track to meet 2025 market expectations after reporting a pick-up in sales growth during the third quarter, driven by growth of its Virtual Learning segment.
The London-based educational materials publisher said underlying group sales rose 4% year-on-year in the third quarter, taking growth for the first nine months of 2025 to 2%. Pearson said it expects stronger sales growth in the fourth quarter due to “known business unit dynamics”.
Chief executive Omar Abbosh said Pearson is “well positioned for the opportunities that lie ahead”.
Smiths Group climbed 1.7% after announcing the sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex Electronic Technologies Holdings, part of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries, at an enterprise value of £1.3 billion.
The London-based engineering group said the sale price for its electronic connectors business represents 15.1 times headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £86.1 million for financial year 2025, which ended July 31.
Analysts at Jefferies said it is a “good price” and “marks a significant milestone in the group’s strategy of unlocking value across its portfolio of businesses”.
Despite Friday’s falls, Morgan Stanley said it is positive on UK equities from a European equity strategy perspective.
“Our call is less about UK macro, and more UK equities’ rising level of attractive, bottom-up drivers, growing interest from investors from relatively low levels this year, and the added benefit of the market’s low beta,” the bank said.
Morgan Stanley said investor interest in the UK is on the rise from relatively low levels, while even some of the “more challenged” portions of the UK equities market (discretionary, rate sensitive) are beginning to face relief as expectations start to pick-up that the November 26 budget will be “less bad than feared” for equities and rates markets.
“UK equities are low beta, underowned, and awash with idiosyncratic drivers,” the broker added.
Brent oil traded at 60.03 dollars a barrel, down from 61.70 dollars late on Thursday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Pearson, up 25.5 pence at 1,119.5p, Haleon, up 6.7p at 351.8p, Reckitt Benckiser, up 106.0p at 5,910.0p, Coca-Cola HBC, up 62.0p at 3,556.0p and Smiths Group, up 40.0p at 2,406.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, down 276.0p at 2,352.0p, Barclays, down 21.45p at 357.8p, ICG, down 113.0p at 1,929.0p, Endeavour Mining, down 194.0p at 3,356.0p, and Antofagasta, down 124.0p at 2,663.0p.
Monday’s global economic diary sees retail sales and industrial production in China.
Later in the week inflation reports are due in the US, UK, Japan and Canada.
Next week’s UK corporate calendar sees third quarter results from lenders Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest plus consumer goods groups Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser.
Contributed by Alliance News.
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