Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The evidence points to a strong CATL result, but not to a single electric vehicle completing 1.25 million miles. According to a January 6, 2026 report from Electrek’s account of Morgan Stanley Research, an analysis of 100 battery samples from 12 EV models in four major Chinese cities found CATL-equipped vehicles on the slowest degradation curve. The analysis reportedly projected about 400 km (250 miles) of remaining range at 2 million km, versus about 350 km (218 miles) or less for rival battery groups.
That makes the result potentially significant—but the 2-million-kilometer figure appears to be a modeled durability endpoint derived from real-world data, not a documented single-car endurance test.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
What was actually tested?
The publicly available description does not show 100 cars each driving 2 million km. It describes a real-world degradation analysis covering:
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →- 12 electric-vehicle models
- 100 battery samples
- Vehicles operating in four major Chinese cities
- CATL-equipped examples identified in the published summary as Models 11 and 12
- A comparison with other, largely unidentified battery suppliers
The analysis was attributed to Morgan Stanley, but the underlying research report, full dataset and methodology are not publicly linked in the accessible coverage. That leaves important questions unanswered: how many samples came from each supplier, which chemistries were represented, whether vehicle models were matched, and how the researchers handled battery replacements, outliers and different pack sizes.
#1 Best Overall
- WORKS WITH EVERY NON-TESLA EV: Standard J1772 connector plugs straight into Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Rivian, Lucid and every other EV or plug-in hybrid sold with a J1772 port - no adapter needed. Tesla drivers can charge too, using the J1772 adapter that comes with the car.
- PLUG IN, NO HARDWIRING: Level 2 charger delivers up to 40A to fully charge most EVs overnight. Plugs into a 240V, 4-prong NEMA 14-50 outlet (the RV/range type - NOT a dryer outlet) on a dedicated 50A circuit. The extra-long 25 ft cable easily reaches across a garage or driveway. Before ordering, check your car's port type and that you have the right outlet.
- CONTROL & SAVE FROM YOUR PHONE: A stronger built-in antenna keeps the charger online even in a garage or basement. Use the free app to start/stop charging, set speed (6-40A), get reminders, and track energy use and cost. Schedule off-peak overnight charging to cut your electric bill. Requires 2.4 GHz WiFi.
- SAFETY-CERTIFIED & WEATHERPROOF: Independently tested and certified (UL, ETL, FCC, Energy Star). A fully sealed IP66 / NEMA 4 housing stands up to rain, snow, heat and dust indoors or out, and internal steel shielding protects the electronics for years of reliable use.
- GLOW-IN-THE-DARK HOLSTER: The included high-visibility holster glows in the dark so you can find and dock the plug easily at night. Holds the connector securely when not in use.
The most accurate description is therefore “a real-world fleet-data degradation analysis.” Calling it a completed 1.25-million-mile road test overstates what the available evidence establishes.
Is the 1.25-million-mile figure observed or projected?
It appears to be projected. The reported sample provided observations of battery wear at the mileage accumulated by the vehicles. Researchers could then use degradation curves to estimate how the batteries might perform at a much higher mileage, including 2 million km, or roughly 1.25 million miles.
That is materially different from observing one battery pack travel that distance. Battery degradation is not guaranteed to follow a straight line. The curve can be affected by temperature, charging power, depth of discharge, state-of-charge limits, cell balancing, cooling performance and calendar aging.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Use the claim as a reported extrapolated durability benchmark, not as proof that CATL has physically completed a 1.25-million-mile EV test.
The careful version of the headline
Morgan Stanley’s reported analysis found CATL-equipped vehicles degrading more slowly than the rival battery groups represented in its sample. The 1.25-million-mile figure appears to be the endpoint of that analysis—not an undisputed odometer record from one EV.
How large is CATL’s reported advantage?
| Battery group | Reported remaining range at 2 million km |
|---|---|
| CATL-equipped vehicles | About 400 km (250 miles) |
| Rival battery groups | About 350 km (218 miles) or less |
On the reported figures, the difference is approximately 50 km of range at the projected endpoint. But that is not automatically a 50-km difference in battery capacity. Range also depends on vehicle efficiency, tires, weather, driving conditions, software range estimates, usable-pack capacity and manufacturer buffers.
The figures are also range estimates rather than directly reported state-of-health percentages. A cleaner comparison would disclose each pack’s original usable capacity, measured remaining capacity and the precise state-of-health calculation. The accessible summary does not provide those details.
“Rivals” should likewise be treated cautiously. The available material does not identify enough suppliers, chemistries or vehicle configurations to support a universal ranking of CATL against BYD, LG Energy Solution, Panasonic or every other battery maker.
Why might CATL-equipped vehicles have performed better?
Several factors could plausibly contribute, but the public summary does not prove which one caused the reported result.
Rank #2
- This is an AJC Brand Replacement for a EV Rider Transport 12V 12Ah Mobility Scooter Battery
- Voltage: 12V (12 Volts)
- Capacity: 12Ah
- Terminals: F2
- Number of Batteries Required for a Full Replacement: 2
Chemistry
Many CATL batteries used in Chinese EVs are based on lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, chemistry. LFP packs are generally associated with strong cycle durability and thermal stability. They can, however, have lower energy density than nickel-rich alternatives, which may mean more weight or less range for a similarly sized pack.
CATL also supplies multiple chemistries and battery families. “A CATL battery” is not one uniform technical product, so a result involving particular LFP-equipped vehicles should not automatically be applied to CATL’s nickel-manganese-cobalt packs, sodium-ion products or future solid-state designs.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThermal management and software
Battery cooling, charging controls, cell balancing and the size of the usable state-of-charge window can all influence aging. Two packs with similar cells may degrade differently because their vehicle software and thermal systems operate differently.
Duty cycle and vehicle design
Fleet vehicles may accumulate miles quickly and provide unusually valuable high-mileage data, but they do not necessarily represent private ownership. Their charging patterns, daily mileage, climate exposure and depth of discharge may differ from those of household cars. Pack size also matters: a larger battery may use a smaller percentage of its capacity on each trip, reducing cycle stress.
These are explanatory possibilities, not findings that the publicly described Morgan Stanley analysis has definitively attributed to CATL.
A million-mile battery is not a million-mile car
At 15,000 miles per year, 1.25 million miles would represent roughly 83 years of driving. Even at 25,000 miles annually, it would take about 50 years. For an ordinary owner, the practical implication is not that the original vehicle will remain in service for that entire period.
Recommended Free Tools
The battery could outlast the vehicle’s body, interior, suspension, inverter, electric motor, onboard charger, electronics or corrosion protection. A car could also be retired after a collision, flood or electronics failure while its pack remained capable of storing substantial energy.
Battery longevity does not automatically mean low ownership costs. A durable pack may still have expensive failures involving contactors, cooling systems, busbars, modules, sensors or high-voltage isolation. A healthy battery also cannot compensate for obsolete software, unavailable parts or a vehicle that is uneconomical to repair.
Battery degradation is more than lost range
Several different forms of aging can affect an EV:
- Capacity degradation: the pack stores less energy, reducing potential driving range.
- Power degradation: the battery may deliver or accept high power less effectively, affecting acceleration or fast charging.
- Calendar aging: wear caused by time, even when the vehicle is not being driven.
- Cycle aging: wear associated with charging and discharging.
- Usable capacity: the portion of the pack available to the driver after software reserves and buffers.
- State of health: an estimate whose method can vary by manufacturer, diagnostic tool and test conditions.
A pack can retain much of its capacity while developing a separate problem with cell balance, charging speed or thermal management. Conversely, software buffers can preserve normal operation while masking some underlying capacity loss. Dashboard range alone is therefore an imperfect battery-health test.
Rank #3
- Up to 60W charging power, suitable for 2-6S batteries for RC car,FPV,drone,aircraft models
- Compact,small,and easy to carry,5A charging current,better for outdoor using.
- Compatible with common PD with fast charging protocols: BC1.2, Divider 3,QC2.0, PD3.0, SDP, CDP.
- Multi protection: overvoltage, undervoltage,overcurrent,short circuit.
- Compare to the same type, it supports 6S while others can supports 4S only.
CATL’s other longevity evidence
The Electrek report also cites stationary-storage examples associated with CATL. At China’s Zhangbei National Wind-Solar-Storage Demonstration Project, CATL was reportedly the only one of four LFP suppliers whose batteries had not been replaced after 14 years. Recovered cells were reported to retain more than 90% residual capacity.
The report also references a CATL LFP energy-storage system deployed at Jinjiang in 2020, with more than 12,000 cycles and a projected operating life of over 20 years at 1.5 to 2 cycles per day.
Those examples may support CATL’s record in long-life stationary storage, but they are not direct passenger-EV evidence. Stationary systems can have different temperatures, maintenance schedules, charging patterns, power demands and operating controls.
CATL has made separate product claims as well. In 2025, Electrek reported that CATL’s Shenxing battery was claimed to offer a 1,000,000-km, 12-year life. That is a distinct company claim and should not be merged with the Morgan Stanley-attributed fleet analysis. Similarly, reported plans for sodium-ion passenger-vehicle deployment beginning in the second quarter of 2026 concern a different technology and do not validate the lithium-ion degradation result.
What the report does not prove
- It does not prove that every CATL pack will last 1.25 million miles.
- It does not prove that CATL is superior in every chemistry, pack architecture or vehicle.
- It does not show that rival batteries fail at 350 km of remaining range.
- It does not establish that one vehicle completed 2 million km.
- It does not establish lower total ownership costs.
- It does not guarantee safety, fast-charging performance or economical repair over that distance.
- It does not replace an independent battery-health inspection when buying a used EV.
What the result means for used-EV buyers
A battery supplier name is not enough to determine the condition of a used EV. Buyers should instead seek:
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11- A documented battery-health report from the manufacturer or a qualified diagnostic provider.
- The test method and conditions, rather than relying only on a dashboard range estimate.
- Charging and fault history, including evidence of repeated high-power fast charging if available.
- Accident, flood and thermal-event records.
- Warranty transfer terms and the remaining time or mileage coverage.
- Repair information, including whether modules can be serviced individually and whether replacement parts are available locally.
- Operating context, such as extreme heat, severe cold, taxi use or high-mileage fleet operation.
A CATL-equipped EV may be a reassuring choice, particularly if its specific pack has a strong service record. But the individual vehicle’s measured health and repairability matter more than the supplier label alone.
What remains unverified
The public reporting does not provide the original Morgan Stanley report or enough information to reproduce the analysis independently. Still unavailable in the accessible material are the complete sample composition, supplier identities, chemistry and model details, sample counts by supplier, confidence intervals, regression method, treatment of replacements and outliers, and the meaning of the reported range figures—whether rated, estimated or measured.
Until that information is available, the defensible conclusion is narrower than the viral headline. The reported evidence suggests unusually strong CATL degradation performance in the sampled Chinese fleet, but the spectacular mileage figure should be treated as a modeled projection rather than a completed 1.25-million-mile demonstration.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
