Hybrids and electric cars: what changes in the schedule and what does not
What a hybrid's or an electric car's own schedule drops and what it keeps, why brakes still need attention, where the high-voltage line is, and how to read the battery warranty.
- Start here: the essentials
- What the schedule drops and what it keeps
- Brakes: less wear, the same salt
- The high-voltage line
- The high-voltage battery warranty
- In depth: the federal battery rule, the cost estimate, plug-in engines and battery life
- See it: Sam's used electric car and the Bells' hybrid
- Practice: copy the schedule, write down the battery terms
- Your car
- Check your work
- Knowledge check and scenario
Start here Essentials
For a first pass, copy your car's own schedule, write down the high-voltage battery warranty, and add two items that stay on these cars' schedules: brake care on salted roads and the 12-volt battery. Nothing here touches the high-voltage system; orange cables and parts are for trained technicians (the high-voltage line).
- Open your car's own schedule and copy its items. Touchscreen, app or booklet: each item with its miles and months, onto the schedule sheet (what the schedule drops and keeps).
- Write the high-voltage battery warranty on Car facts. Years, miles, the date it counts from and whether it transfers, on Car facts (the battery warranty).
- If your roads are salted, find the maker's brake cleaning item. Add it to the schedule sheet with its interval (brakes).
- Note the 12-volt battery's age. The install date from its sticker or an invoice, or "unknown, test at next visit" (the 12-volt battery).
Minimum time: about 30 minutes. Done when: the schedule sheet lists your car's hybrid or electric items with their intervals, and the car facts sheet has the battery warranty.
What the schedule drops and what it keeps Understand
Three kinds of car get grouped together as "electrified", and their schedules differ more from each other than the word suggests.
- A hybrid (HEV, hybrid electric vehicle) has a gasoline engine and an electric motor with a battery that the car charges itself, from the engine and from braking. It does not plug in.
- A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) has an engine, a motor and a larger battery that is also charged from an outlet, so it can drive some distance on electricity before the engine starts.
- A battery-electric vehicle (BEV; this manual says electric car or EV) has no engine. A motor driven by the battery moves it.
The Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) states the rule of thumb plainly: hybrids and plug-in hybrids need the same general maintenance as conventional cars, because they still have an engine, and electric cars need less, because the battery, motor and electronics need little to no regular maintenance and there are fewer fluids. It adds that some battery systems use a liquid coolant that may need regular checks (AFDC, Maintenance and Safety of Electric Vehicles). Convention
"Less" is not "none". The table puts one electric car maker's published list beside two hybrid schedules, so you can see what drops away and what stays. Every interval in it belongs to the named maker and model; your own schedule is the one that counts.
| Item | Electric example: Tesla's maintenance page | Hybrid example: Toyota 2025 Camry booklet, or Hyundai 2026 Tucson Hybrid schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Engine oil and filter | None: "no traditional oil changes" | Toyota: every 10,000 miles, and after 12 months even if the miles are not reached |
| Spark plugs | None | Toyota: replace at 120,000 miles |
| Emission checks | None | The car has an engine; ask your state's inspection program what it requires |
| Cabin air filter | Model 3 and Model Y every 2 years; Model S and Model X every 3 years; HEPA and carbon filters every 3 years | Toyota: replace every 10,000 miles |
| Tire rotation | Every 6,250 miles, or when two tires differ in tread depth by 2/32 in. or more | Not among the facts we recorded; read your booklet, and see Tires |
| Brake fluid | Test every 4 years and replace as needed | Hyundai: replace every 48,000 miles or 48 months |
| Brakes on salted roads | Clean and lubricate every year or 12,500 miles | Read your booklet's special conditions |
| Transmission fluid | The page's FAQ says no regular fluid changes | Hyundai: "No check, No service required" on the normal schedule |
| Engine and inverter coolant | Not on the page's list | Toyota: inverter coolant first at 150,000 miles or 180 months. Hyundai: engine and inverter coolant first at 120,000 miles or 120 months, then every 24,000 miles or 24 months |
| High-voltage battery | The car shows a message when the battery needs service | Toyota: inspect and clean the battery's cooling air intake filter at 20,000-mile steps |
Sources: Tesla, Vehicle Maintenance (current as of November 2026, with model-by-model notes); Toyota, 2025 Camry Warranty and Maintenance Guide (PDF); Hyundai, 2026 Tucson Hybrid normal maintenance schedule. Product-specific
The inverter is the power electronics unit between the high-voltage battery and the motor. In the two hybrid schedules above it has its own coolant with its own interval, the clearest case of a hybrid item a gasoline schedule does not have. Tesla's page also says its cars do not require annual maintenance, while Toyota's Camry booklet sets a visit every 5,000 miles or six months, whichever comes first. How often you visit is your maker's to set, not the powertrain's.
Where to find your own schedule: Tesla puts it on the touchscreen under Controls, Service, Maintenance, with a summary of what is due; Toyota prints a booklet per model; Hyundai publishes each model's manual online. Your maintenance schedule covers finding the manual, and its schedule sheet section covers copying it. Copy only what your schedule lists. A gasoline item that is not on an electric car's schedule is not a missing item, and a shop that offers one is making a recommendation that goes through Discussing recommendations.
A plug-in hybrid carries both lists: the engine's items and the electric items. When the engine runs rarely, the time limits on its items matter more than the miles. The in-depth section says what we found and did not find on that.
The 12-volt battery is still there
Hybrids and electric cars also carry a low-voltage battery, the 12-volt battery most cars have, for the car's ordinary electrics. AFDC says lead-acid batteries are used in electric cars only for these ancillary loads (AFDC, Batteries for Electric Vehicles). Tesla's page says the car displays a message when its low-voltage battery needs replacing. Your manual says which kind your car has and where it is.
Write its install date on Car facts from the date sticker on the battery or the invoice that installed it. On a used car the date is often unknown; write "unknown, test at next visit". How long these batteries tend to last and when to have one tested are in Brakes, battery, wipers and lights; that chapter's guidance is about the 12-volt battery, not the high-voltage one.
What the schedule costs: one federal estimate
The Department of Energy published an estimate in 2021 from a national laboratory study of ownership costs: scheduled maintenance for a light-duty electric car at 6.1 cents a mile, and for a conventional gasoline car at 10.1 cents a mile. It says the electric car lacks the engine oil, timing belt, oxygen sensor, spark plugs and other parts that drive the gasoline car's costs, and that hybrids and plug-in hybrids share costs with both while saving on brake maintenance (DOE, Fact of the Week #1190). It is an estimate under the study's assumptions, for scheduled maintenance only. It is not a figure for your car, and it says nothing about unscheduled repairs. The yearly upkeep calculator totals your own schedule's items at your own prices instead; the in-depth section lists the estimate's conditions.
Brakes: less wear, the same salt
Hybrids and electric cars slow down two ways. Regenerative braking uses the electric motor as a generator: it slows the car and returns some of the energy to the battery. The friction brakes (pads pressed against rotors by calipers, the same parts a gasoline car has) do the rest, including hard stops. Because the motor does part of the slowing, the friction brakes do less work. Physical principle
The sources agree on what that changes. AFDC says brake wear is significantly reduced by regenerative braking. Tesla says brake pad replacements are rare for the same reason. DOE's cost estimate says hybrids and plug-in hybrids save on brake maintenance. None of them says the brakes need no care.
Two brake items stay on the electric schedule we read:
- Brake cleaning on salted roads. Tesla's page says road salt can corrode brakes and potentially affect braking performance, and recommends cleaning and lubricating the brakes (the calipers) every year or 12,500 miles where roads are salted in winter, with exceptions it notes by model. Less wear does not mean less exposure: the calipers still sit in the spray from salted roads. Product-specific
- Brake fluid. Brake fluid is the liquid that carries the pedal's force to the calipers. Tesla says test it for contamination every 4 years and replace it as needed, and sooner with heavy braking from towing, mountain descents or performance driving. The hybrid schedules above list brake fluid too, in their own way.
If your car's schedule has a brake cleaning item and your roads are salted, it goes on the schedule sheet with its interval and the season you plan to do it. If your schedule has no such item, write "not in schedule" rather than adding one: whether a brake cleaning a shop offers is due is a question for Discussing recommendations. Product-specific
The feel of the brakes is a separate matter from the schedule. A pedal that feels different, a pull, grinding or a brake warning light goes to a technician, the same as on any car; Brakes, battery, wipers and lights lists the signs and the measurements to ask for, and the symptom log is where you write them down.
Where the brake fluid lines differ. Tesla tests every 4 years and replaces as needed. Hyundai's 2026 Tucson Hybrid schedule inspects the fluid every 8,000 miles or 12 months and replaces it every 48,000 miles or 48 months. Toyota's 2025 Camry booklet inspects level and condition and lists no replacement interval. Three makers, three approaches: a test, a fixed change and an inspection. None of them is the rule for your car; your schedule's line is.
The high-voltage line
The high-voltage battery (also called the traction battery) is the large battery that drives the motor. It and the cables and parts connected to it work at voltages far above a household outlet: AFDC says high-voltage systems in these cars typically range from 400 to 1,000 volts, and that orange cables mark high voltage. Toyota's 2025 Camry booklet says high voltage can cause severe burns, electric shock and fatal injury, and tells owners not to touch the orange wiring. Tesla says the high-voltage battery must be serviced only by a trained technician, that owners should not open or tamper with it, and not disassemble, remove or replace high-voltage components, cables or connectors. Physical principle
Do not touch orange high-voltage cables or parts on a hybrid or electric car, and do not open any cover over them. Toyota's booklet and Tesla's maintenance page both say so, and both say only trained technicians service the high-voltage system. The checks an owner makes are the ones your owner's manual gives the owner.
The line is easy to state. Tires, wipers, lights, washer fluid and the other checks in your owner's manual's own section for owners are on your side of it. Everything orange, everything under a high-voltage cover, the battery pack and the parts that charge it and carry its power are on the technician's side. This manual teaches nothing on that side, and no step in it asks you to go there.
Tesla's page says the car displays a message on the touchscreen when the high-voltage battery requires maintenance; other makers' manuals list their own warning lights and messages for the high-voltage system. Warning lights and codes covers sorting those by what your manual says to do. Write the message, the date and the odometer on the symptom log and call the maker's service department.
The high-voltage battery warranty
The high-voltage battery usually has its own warranty, separate from the basic and powertrain coverage and often longer. The terms are the maker's, and they are in the warranty booklet. Two examples, both from the makers' own pages:
- Toyota lists basic coverage of 36 months or 36,000 miles, powertrain of 60 months or 60,000 miles, and, for hybrid batteries from model year 2020, 10 years from the date of first use or 150,000 miles (Toyota, Warranty and Owner's Manuals). The 2025 Camry booklet adds a hybrid system warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles.
- Hyundai lists a 10-year or 100,000-mile hybrid and EV battery warranty, and limits its 10-year powertrain coverage to the original owner; later owners get powertrain coverage under its 5-year or 60,000-mile warranty instead (Hyundai, America's Best Warranty).
AFDC adds that many makers offer 8-year or 100,000-mile warranties on their electric car batteries. Those are offers, not a federal rule. Product-specific
What to write down
Copy these from the booklet onto Car facts, in its warranty box:
- The years and the miles. Both, because the coverage ends at whichever comes first.
- The date it counts from. That is the in-service date: the day the car was first delivered to its first buyer, or first put into use as a demonstrator or company car. The federal emissions rule counts warranties from that date (40 CFR 85.2103, eCFR), and Toyota counts its hybrid battery coverage from first use. On a used car it is not the day you bought it. Ask a dealer of that make for it, by VIN, or read it from the original bill of sale if you have one. Ask the authority
- Whether it transfers. Some coverage stays with the car and some ends with the first owner, as Hyundai's powertrain terms show. The booklet says which applies to the battery.
- What the booklet says counts as a covered failure, and what it asks of you: maintenance, records, where claims go.
- The two end dates. The date the years run out, and the date you will reach the miles at your own pace. The earlier one is the end.
Is there a federal battery warranty?
For most cars on the road today, no: the battery warranty you have is the maker's own. The current federal regulation, 40 CFR 85.2103, as published on eCFR and read on November 1, 2026, lists batteries for electric cars and plug-in hybrids, with the parts that charge the battery, store energy and carry power to move the car, among the specified major emission control components that carry an 8-year or 80,000-mile emissions warranty, whichever comes first. The same text makes that battery item optional before model year 2027 for cars and light trucks at or below 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR, the most the vehicle may weigh fully loaded, as the maker rates it), and optional for heavier vehicles until they are first certified to EPA's Tier 4 standards, no later than model year 2031. It covers electric cars and plug-in hybrids, not conventional hybrids.
Its future is not settled. EPA's February 2026 rule that repealed the vehicle greenhouse-gas standards amended this section but left the battery item in place, and EPA said it may consider revisions in a future rule; a proposal published in May 2026 would reword it again. AFDC's summary of the 2024 rule that created the requirement now carries the notice "Information provided here may be outdated" (AFDC, Battery Durability and Warranty Requirements). For a model year 2027 or later electric car or plug-in hybrid, read the warranty booklet: it is the maker's written commitment, and it is the document a claim goes through. The in-depth section has the history. Ask the authority
The battery is not the only part with a federal emissions warranty. The catalytic converter on a hybrid's or plug-in hybrid's engine, the emission control module and other parts have one too; Recalls, warranties and service contracts covers the list and how a claim works, and its factory warranty section covers the rest of the booklet.
This chapter tells you where the battery terms are and what to write down. It does not judge a battery's health, its range or whether it qualifies for a claim. Those come from the car's own display, the maker's service report and the maker's warranty process. Questions about range loss or battery replacement go to the maker's warranty process first; a denied claim is a question for the routes in Recalls, warranties and service contracts, and this manual gives no legal advice on it. No step here involves an orange cable or a high-voltage part. The DOE cost figure is an estimate under stated assumptions, not a promise of savings. Ask the authority
In depth: the federal battery rule, the cost estimate, plug-in engines and battery life Go deeper
The federal battery warranty, 2024 to 2026
We re-read the regulation and EPA's 2026 rule on November 1, 2026, the day this chapter was written. This is what they say.
- April 2024. EPA's multi-pollutant rule for model years 2027 and later classed high-voltage batteries and the electric powertrain parts connected to them as specified major emission control components, with a warranty of 8 years or 80,000 miles, whichever occurs first, for light- and medium-duty electric cars and plug-in hybrids. AFDC's summary describes it. The 2024 text also tied battery warranty claims to a battery monitor that would show the share of usable battery energy left.
- February 2026. EPA's final rule rescinding the 2009 greenhouse-gas endangerment finding and repealing the vehicle greenhouse-gas standards, published February 18, 2026 and in force from April 20, 2026 (91 FR 7686, Federal Register (PDF)), amended 85.2103. EPA had proposed removing the battery item. It did not finalize that, saying the item is connected to its criteria-pollutant standards, which were outside that rule, and that it may consider revisions in a future criteria-pollutant rule (91 FR 7741). It did remove the paragraph that made the battery monitor the basis for claims, along with the monitor requirement. In the same document EPA said the battery warranty requirements were not set to begin until model year 2027, so battery warranties on earlier cars were voluntary. A law firm's alert on JD Supra reports the repeal of the greenhouse-gas standards but does not discuss the battery warranty (JD Supra, EPA Rescinds Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding).
- May 2026. EPA proposed delaying its Tier 4 criteria-pollutant standards (91 FR 28463, Federal Register (PDF), published May 18, 2026, comments closed July 6, 2026). The proposal would reword the battery item: still optional before model year 2027 for cars and the lightest trucks, and optional for heavier light trucks and medium-duty vehicles until Tier 4 certification, no later than model year 2031. We found no final rule on it in the Federal Register as of November 1, 2026.
So the current text says model year 2027 for most cars, and EPA has said in writing that it may revisit it. If you are shopping for a 2027 or later electric car, compare the booklets' battery terms; the booklet is the document a claim goes through.
Battery warranty terms side by side
| Who | Battery coverage | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota (its warranty page) | 10 years from first use or 150,000 miles | Hybrid batteries, model year 2020 and later |
| Hyundai (its warranty page) | 10 years or 100,000 miles | Hybrid and EV batteries |
| Many makers (AFDC) | 8 years or 100,000 miles | Electric car batteries, offered voluntarily |
| Federal regulation, current text | 8 years or 80,000 miles | Electric car and plug-in hybrid batteries; optional before model year 2027 at or below 6,000 lb GVWR |
The rows answer different questions: what one maker offers, what many offer, and what the regulation requires. They are not interchangeable, and none of them is your car's term until you have read your booklet.
DOE's cost estimate and its conditions
The 6.1 and 10.1 cents a mile come from DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office Fact of the Week for June 14, 2021, drawn from a 2021 total cost of ownership study by Argonne National Laboratory and other national laboratories. What the page states about it: the figures are estimated scheduled maintenance costs; they are for light-duty vehicles; service intervals vary by powertrain; and the difference comes from parts the electric car lacks. It does not cover unscheduled repairs, and it is not a measurement of any one car's costs. A five-year-old national estimate tells you the direction of the difference, not its size for you.
A plug-in hybrid's engine, when it runs rarely
AFDC says plug-in hybrids need the same general maintenance as conventional cars. We found no maker's plug-in hybrid schedule among the sources we read for this chapter, so we cannot show one. What to look for in yours: whether the engine's items have time limits as well as miles, and what the schedule says to do when the engine has run very little. Toyota's 2025 Camry booklet, for a conventional hybrid, shows why the time limit matters: it replaces the oil after 12 months even when the car has not reached 10,000 miles. Your plug-in hybrid's own schedule says how it treats its engine. Ask the authority
What studies say about battery life
AFDC reports that studies show an electric car battery could have at least 70 percent of its initial capacity left at the end of the vehicle's life (AFDC, Batteries for Electric Vehicles). Fueleconomy.gov cites a DOE study suggesting batteries may last 12 to 15 years in moderate climates and 8 to 12 years in severe climates (fueleconomy.gov, All-Electric Vehicles). These describe batteries in general. They say nothing about yours, which only the car's display and the maker's service report can speak to.
See it: Sam's used electric car and the Bells' hybrid See it
Sam Okafor is a fictional person; every fact about them here is invented for this manual, including their car's schedule. Sam is 27 and uses they/them. In May 2026 they bought a 2021 electric hatchback with 38,000 miles from a private seller, who handed over three invoices. They drive about 9,000 miles a year on roads that are salted every winter.
Known: the maker's schedule (fictional) lists tire rotation every 7,500 miles, the cabin filter every 2 years, a brake fluid test every 4 years and brake cleaning every year in salted areas. The booklet gives the high-voltage battery 8 years or 100,000 miles from the in-service date, and says the coverage transfers to later owners. The car is a model year 2021, so the federal battery item, optional before model year 2027, is not what covers it; the maker's own warranty is. Sam copies the four items onto the schedule sheet with their intervals and the source, and writes the battery terms and "transfers: yes, per booklet" on Car facts. There is no oil, spark plug or fuel item to copy, and Sam adds none.
Assumed: Sam's working guess that the car was first sold in 2021. A model year 2021 car may have gone into service in 2020, in 2021 or later. Under that assumption the 8 years run out sometime in 2029. The miles would not: at 9,000 a year, the remaining 62,000 miles take about 7 years from May 2026, into 2033. So the coverage potentially ends in 2029, by time rather than by miles, and the exact date depends on the in-service date.
Open: the in-service date (a dealer of the maker settles it from the maker's records by VIN; Sam writes it on Car facts beside the battery terms); when the brake fluid was last tested and the brakes last cleaned (Sam reads the three invoices for both and writes "not on record" for anything they do not show; the shop settles it at the next visit); and the 12-volt battery's age (unknown, so Car facts says "test at next visit", and the shop's test settles it). A dealer's offer of a maintenance package is a separate question, handled item by item in Discussing recommendations.
Marcus Bell (he/him), 41, and Dana Bell (she/her), 39, are fictional; every fact about them is invented for this manual. They bought a 2023 hybrid compact SUV new in March 2023. It has 31,200 miles, and they drive about 12,000 miles a year. The dealer has done every service.
Known: their booklet (fictional) gives the hybrid battery 10 years or 150,000 miles. They bought the car new, so the in-service date is in March 2023, and the day is on their bill of sale. Their schedule is a hybrid's: the engine's oil, filters and plugs, plus the hybrid items it lists, which they copy onto the schedule sheet. The car is a conventional hybrid, so the federal battery item for electric cars and plug-in hybrids does not apply to it in any model year.
Assumed: that they keep driving about 12,000 miles a year (their estimate). Under that assumption the 10 years end in March 2033, while 150,000 miles would come around 2036. Car facts reads: "Hybrid battery: 10 years or 150,000 miles from March 2023 (day: bill of sale); ends March 2033 at our pace."
Open: whether their short trips and summer towing count as severe use, which their maker's own list settles in Your maintenance schedule; and their other warranties' end dates, worked in Recalls, warranties and service contracts.
- AFDC, Maintenance and Safety of Electric Vehicles: what hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars need, and the high-voltage safety basics.
- Tesla, Vehicle Maintenance: one electric car maker's full published list, including brake cleaning on salted roads.
- Toyota, 2025 Camry Warranty and Maintenance Guide (PDF): a complete hybrid schedule with its warranty terms, as one maker prints them.
- 40 CFR 85.2103 on eCFR: the current text of the federal emissions warranty, battery item included.
Practice: copy the schedule, write down the battery terms Practice
Minimum: your car's hybrid or electric items on the schedule sheet with their intervals, the battery warranty on Car facts, the brake cleaning item if your roads are salted, and the 12-volt battery's date or "unknown". Time: about 45 minutes, plus a call to a dealer if you need the in-service date. Materials: your car's schedule (touchscreen, app, booklet or online manual), the warranty booklet, any invoices, the odometer reading, and the schedule sheet and Car facts (or paper).
- Open the schedule. Note where it is: the touchscreen path, the app screen or the booklet page. That goes in the schedule sheet's source column.
- Copy every item. One row each, with miles and months as the schedule gives them. Mark time-only items (cabin filter every 2 years, brake fluid test every 4 years in Sam's schedule) by leaving the miles blank.
- Add nothing the schedule leaves out. No oil change on an electric car, and no extra service because a gasoline car would have it.
- Check for brake cleaning. If your roads are salted, find the item and its interval. If your schedule has none, write "not in schedule".
- Write the battery warranty. Years, miles, the in-service date (or "ask dealer"), whether it transfers, and the booklet page.
- Write the 12-volt battery's date. From the sticker or an invoice; or "unknown, test at next visit".
Work out the battery warranty's end both ways. The next service calculator can do it: enter the warranty as the interval (Sam's: 100,000 miles and 96 months), 0 as the odometer at the last service, the months since the in-service date, today's odometer and your miles a year. It reports which limit comes first and when. Write both dates on Car facts. Plug-in hybrid owners: list the engine's time limits separately, so a year of mostly electric driving does not hide an item that is due by the calendar.
Your car Your car
Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Does every row on the schedule sheet come from your car's own schedule, with its source, and with no gasoline items the schedule does not list?
- If your roads are salted, is there a brake cleaning row, or a note that your schedule has none?
- Does Car facts have the battery warranty's years, miles, start date (or who will tell you), transfer and end date?
- Is the 12-volt battery's date written down, or written as unknown with a test planned?
- Could you say, without looking, which side of the high-voltage line each task on your list is on?
Worked example
Sam's schedule sheet has four rows: tire rotation at 7,500 miles, cabin filter at 24 months, brake fluid test at 48 months and brake cleaning at 12 months, each with the booklet as its source. Car facts reads: "High-voltage battery: 8 years or 100,000 miles from in-service date (ask dealer); transfers; potentially ends 2029 by time, if first sold in 2021. 12-volt: unknown, test at next visit." It passes. It does not claim a battery end date it cannot know yet, it names who settles the in-service date, and it adds nothing the schedule does not list.
Common mistakes
- Copying a gasoline schedule onto an electric car. The items come from your car's schedule, not from habit.
- Reading "regenerative braking" as "no brake service". Wear drops; fluid and, on salted roads, cleaning remain on the schedule we read.
- Treating 8 years or 100,000 miles, or 8 years or 80,000, as a federal promise for your car. For model years before 2027, the battery coverage is the maker's own; read the booklet.
- Counting a used car's warranty from the day you bought it. It counts from the in-service date.
- Assuming coverage transfers. Some does and some does not; the booklet says.
- Confusing the 12-volt battery with the high-voltage one. Battery age and testing advice for ordinary car batteries is about the 12-volt battery.
What is still unresolved
The in-service date is settled by the maker's records, through a dealer. Whether your driving counts as severe is your maker's definition, in Your maintenance schedule. Tire pressure, tread and age work the same on these cars, in Tires. Recalls and the rest of the warranty booklet are in Recalls, warranties and service contracts. A battery's health, range and any claim are for the car's display, the maker's service report and the maker's warranty process. What the federal battery rule will say for future model years is for EPA to settle.