Recurrent, a Seattle-based startup that provides independent reports on the condition of used EV batteries, has raised $3.5 million to power its business.

The startup officially launched in September to offer third-party reports on the battery life and range of used EVs to help car buyers make purchase decisions. Recurrent says it has more than 2,500 EV owners connected and providing data in exchange for receiving monthly battery reports for their cars. The company has also attracted 10 early-adopter dealerships so far.

CEO Scott Case said the funding will be used to invest in the data science powering the reports. A big thing to watch for in 2021 will be the 3-year anniversary of the release of the Tesla Model 3. “On average, the first time a car sells in the used market is three to four years after it was originally sold new,” Case said. “The Model 3 was such a high-volume vehicle when it first came out that sales of all used EVs in 2021 are projected to be almost double what they were in 2020.”

Case said a big increase in used-vehicle supply is coming at a time when the majority of car owners in regions like the Puget Sound area say that they will consider an EV for their next car. He also said that the used-car market, in general, has been on fire for most of this year as the pandemic and public health concerns associated with mass transit have driven people to shift to used cars.

Recurrent has collected over 1 million data points from the volunteer EV drivers who receive monthly reports. That proprietary data set is used to train Recurrent’s machine learning algorithms and help the startup predict future battery life and range at the individual vehicle level.

Source: Recurrent via GeekWire