Electric cars with batteries that last longest have been revealed.EV owners do not just want range or fast charging times; they want to know whether their EV's battery will continue to perform well over time.Now, a global study of more than half a million cars has ranked 20 of the most popular EV models by how well their batteries have held up, providing an indication of what owners can expect from these vehicles.The 20 models were selected because they are among the most popular and best-selling EVs on the market, with many now in their second or third generations. The tests, conducted by Austrian EV battery diagnostic firm AVILOO, compiled data from more than 500,000 battery State of Health (SoH) tests carried out over a four-year period between 2022 and 2026. The tests took place across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia.The percentage of battery health recorded represents how much of the battery's original capacity remains. So, if a battery has a 90 per cent SoH rating, it retains 90 per cent of its original maximum range.And there is some overall peace of mind for EV owners: none of the 20 models tested showed a median drop of more than 10 per cent in the first 50,000km (0 miles) (31,000 miles). The EVs with the longest lasting batteries have been revealed: Here are the top 20 - and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 kicks off the winnersThe Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover SUV has the longest-lasting battery, with a median SoH of 97.13 per cent.It is followed closely in second place by the Mercedes EQA. The luxury German SUV, which has a range of up to 346 miles on a single charge, recorded a median battery SoH of 96.56 per cent.Taking bronze is the Hyundai Kona, a popular electric SUV now in its second generation. The Kona, which starts from £31,250, recorded a median battery SoH of 96.27 per cent.Join the discussionWould you trust a car brand with your hard-earned money if its battery doesn't last as long as rivals?What's your view?Occupying the mid-field are the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW i4 and Volkswagen ID.4.Audi's large Q8 e-tron SUV came fourth, with a median battery SoH score of 95.71 per cent. The BMW i4 Gran Coupé, which has a maximum range of 319 miles, recorded a median battery SoH of 95.6 per cent to take fifth place. The Volkswagen ID.4 SUV was sixth, with a median SoH of 95.24 per cent.Rounding out the top ten are the Volvo XC40 Recharge, Skoda Enyaq, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Audi Q4 e-tron.The Volvo XC40 Recharge has the seventh-longest-lasting battery, with a SoH score of 95.15 per cent.The Skoda Enyaq follows closely with a score of 95.14 per cent, placing it eighth. The Ford Mustang Mach-E and Audi Q4 e-tron are even closer behind, with scores of 95.09 per cent and 95.04 per cent respectively, putting them ninth and tenth. Rounding out the top 10 are the Volvo XC40 Recharge, Skoda Enyaq, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Audi Q4 e-tron. The Mustang Mach-E comes in 9th with a score of 95.09% The Swedish Polestar 2 fastback teakes 11th place with a battery score of 94.96%, starting off the lower section of the top 20 EVs with the longest-lasting batteries ranked Rank EV Lower Bound Median SoH Upper Bound 1 Hyundai Ioniq 5 91.67% 97.13% 99.15% 2 Mercedes EQA 91.30% 96.56% 98.67% 3 Hyundai Kona 90.71% 96.27% 99.12% 4 Audi Q8 e-tron 90.04% 95.71% 98.16% 5 BMW i4 90.61% 95.60% 98.04% 6 Volkswagen ID.4 88.88% 95.24% 97.87% 7 Volvo XC40 Recharge 90.06% 95.15% 98.22% 8 Skoda Enyaq 89.19% 95.14% 97.84% 9 Ford Mustang Mach-E 89.46% 95.09% 97.81% 10 Audi Q4 e-tron 88.41% 95.04% 97.85% 11 Polestar 2 89.85% 94.96% 98.10% 12 Cupra Born 89.59% 94.76% 98.57% 13 Volkswagen ID.3 89.29% 94.57% 97.69% 14 Tesla Model Y 89.04% 94.42% 97.19% 15 Peugeot E-208 88.18% 94.15% 97.10% 16 Vauxhall Corsa Electric 88.16% 94.14% 97.09% 17 MINI Cooper SE 87.03% 94.11% 97.41% 18 Tesla Model 3 87.51% 93.77% 96.91% 19 Renault Zoe 86.28% 91.64% 94.96% 20 Nissan Leaf (ZE1) 85.41% 91.23% 95.39% Source - AVILOO EV Study Sweden starts off the second half of the rankings, with the Polestar 2 fastback taking 11th place with a battery score of 94.96 per cent.The Cupra Born places 12th with a score of 94.76 per cent, while the Volkswagen ID.3 scores 94.57 per cent to take 13th. The Tesla Model Y records a SoH score of 94.42 per cent, placing it 14th.Three more EVs recorded SoH scores above 94 per cent: the Peugeot e-208 at 94.15 per cent (15th), the Vauxhall Corsa Electric at 94.14 per cent (16th) and the Mini Cooper SE at 94.11 per cent (17th).The Tesla Model 3 takes 18th place with a score of 93.77 per cent, while the Renault Zoe records 91.64 per cent to finish 19th. The Nissan Leaf (ZE1) rounds out the top 20 with a score of 91.23 per cent. None of the 20 EVs tested showed a median SoH decline of more than 10 per cent during the first 50,000km (31,000 miles)EV batteries last longer than expectedIt is good news for anyone worried about their EV's battery health because it turns out electric car batteries last longer than many sceptics expected.None of the 20 EVs tested showed a median SoH decline of more than 10 per cent during the first 50,000km (0 miles) (31,000 miles).However, EVs with smaller battery packs tend to show greater levels of degradation because they need to be charged more frequently.For instance, the Nissan Leaf (ZE1) and Renault Zoe both have relatively small battery packs and recorded the highest levels of degradation, with SoH scores of 91.23 per cent and 91.64 per cent respectively.The more often an EV is charged, the greater the wear over time, as each charging cycle gradually reduces overall battery capacity.On the flip side, EVs with batteries larger than 80kWh, such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, achieved the highest median scores. The Ioniq 5 recorded a median SoH of 97.13 per cent at 50,000km (0 miles) (31,000 miles).While this is not a major concern, and there are some exceptions to the rule, such as the Tesla Model Y, which performed relatively poorly compared with other large-battery EVs, it is still worth bearing in mind that more charging cycles generally lead to greater degradation over time. EVs with smaller battery packs tend to show greater levels of degradation because they need to be charged more frequently: The Renault Zoe recorded one of the highest levels of degradation - 91.64%The study also highlighted significant variations in battery performance between different examples of the same model.Marcus Berger, CEO of AVILOO, said: 'The truth in this data is that averages hide a lot. Yes, EV batteries are ageing better than the 'they wear out fast' myth suggests, but that's not the most useful thing this report tells you.'What matters is that battery health varies significantly between models, and even more between individual cars of the same model. 'A gap of 10 or 15 per cent in state of health is a real difference in range, in what a car is worth, and in what you can rely on it for. 'You simply can't know where your car sits in that range without testing it independently.'