cap hpi has shared findings from proprietary data that reveals drivers are benefitting from technology improvements in electric vehicles.

A study of some of the most popular battery electric vehicles shows that although costs of base models have risen 18% since 2013, drivers are now enjoying significantly more technology and performance to compensate for the higher investment.

The analysis from cap hpi, shows that selected electric vehicles have 48% more battery life, almost two thirds (60%) extended range and a quarter (23%) improvement in higher engine performance. cap hpi’s research reviewed base versions of the BMW i3, Kia Soul Electric, Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe for purposes of this study. All of the automobiles reviewed fell into a relatively affordable price range of £18000 to £35000.

The number of models in this category has jumped 360% since 2012 to now account for 23 models and 132 derivatives. To accommodate this growing sector and meet market demand, cap hpi has made significant increases in the data volumes available for battery electric vehicles over the last 12 months.

cap hpi, also added new data fields including battery capacity and fast charging information during a recent major upgrade of electric vehicle data. The increase in data volume and accessibility will empower the automotive industry to provide more accurate vehicle identification and drive accurate valuations, total cost of ownership figures and a host of other data services.

Commenting on the data, Jon Clay, head of vehicle identification at cap hpi said: “We continue to invest and innovate to ensure the industry has the depth and accuracy of data required to work efficiently. Advancements in technology mean the process of harnessing new vehicle data is speeding up and can be used in new ways to drive a digital customer journey.

“The pace of changes continues to accelerate with the number of EV derivatives doubling in the last year. As technology advances, cap hpi will continue to look at new ways to use the data for the benefit of customers across the supply chain.”

The EV data offers a detailed list of fields to cater for several variables within the category. As an example, there are four stages of battery charge speed relating to all the different manufacturer information along with more standard fields.

The new set of fields is available in three formats in total, NVD SQL, NVD CSV (Car Enhanced Technical CSV) and NVD JSON (Car Enhanced Technical) JSON and will receive updates alongside the standard engine types currently available. The EV content is also available through cap hpi web services, Valuation Anywhere and cap Connect.