A customer comes to a dealer with a problem in their EV battery.
The warranty card says the battery should still be covered.
The dealer agrees and sends the claim to the company.
But when the company checks the records, some details are missing.
The sales date is unclear.
The battery serial number has been sold more than once.
No one is trying to cheat.
Still, the customer feels upset because of the delay.
The dealer feels stuck.
The brand looks unreliable.
This situation is becoming common in the EV and battery world. As electric vehicles become more popular, batteries move through many hands before reaching customers. Because of this, warranty decisions are no longer simple back-office work. Today, they affect trust, profits, and long-term business growth.
That is why warranty management solutions are now very important for EV and battery companies, not just for handling claims but for running the business smoothly.
EV batteries are not simple products.
Their condition changes over time.
How often are they charged?
How are they used?
Where are they stored?
How are they handled during transport?
But many warranty systems still treat batteries like fixed products with only a start date and an end date.
When warranty data is spread across inward records, warehouse logs, dealer systems, and service reports, teams never see the full picture. A claim may look correct in one system and wrong in another. This creates confusion and delays.
Without connected product lifecycle management, companies only react after problems happen. They do not see early warning signs or understand why failures occur.
Research shows that warranty problems can be expensive. McKinsey highlights that warranty and quality issues are a major challenge for EV profitability. In advanced industries, warranty costs often reach 2–5% of total product revenue.
For EV manufacturers, batteries are the most expensive part of the vehicle. They also carry the highest risk. This makes battery reliability and clear warranty handling extremely important.
Warranty clarity is no longer just an operations task. It is a business decision.
Leading EV and battery companies now treat every battery as a traceable asset, not just a product in a box.
Each battery gets a unique serial number.
That serial number is tracked from inward entry to warehouse storage, dealer dispatch, customer activation, service checks, and warranty claims.
With this setup, warranty management solutions stop guessing.
They use real data to check claims.
Decisions become faster.
They are easier to explain.
And they feel fair to everyone involved.
A clear battery history helps stop disputes before they grow and protects trust across dealers and customers.
As EV sales grow, batteries move across cities, states, and countries. With more movement comes more chances for mistakes.
Claims may be raised after grace periods.
Old serial numbers may be reused.
Batteries may be sold unofficially after the allowed dates.
Most of these issues are not intentional. They happen because tracking is manual or unclear. But without proper fraud detection, companies cannot easily separate genuine claims from avoidable losses.
Manual checking takes time and often leads to uneven decisions. Dealers then feel that rules change from case to case.
Deloitte explains that many manufacturers lose money due to warranty leakage caused by weak processes and poor visibility. Their studies show that better data controls and analytics can reduce total warranty spending by about 3–6%.
This means a large part of the warranty cost can be avoided with better systems.
The goal is not to reject more claims.
The goal is to make clearer decisions.
Modern warranty management solutions include fraud detection inside the system.
They quietly flag risky patterns like:
• Claims raised just outside the allowed period
• Repeated claims from the same dealer
• Serial numbers already replaced or blocked
This does not slow down approvals.
It makes them safer.
When a claim is approved, everyone knows why.
When a claim is rejected, there is clear data behind it.
Dealers trust the process because outcomes feel consistent, not random.
In this way, fraud detection protects relationships instead of harming them.
EV and battery companies deal with many types of warranty claims.
Standard warranty claims during the warranty period.
Pro rata claims after warranty expiry with partial value.
Unsold or transit damage claims raised by dealers.
Manual systems struggle to manage all these cases. Rules overlap. Exceptions increase. Decisions depend on who is checking the claim.
This leads to inconsistency.
When claim types are clearly defined in a digital system, each one follows its own rules.
Standard claims move quickly.
Pro rata claims apply fixed adjustment rules.
Unsold claims are checked against inward and dispatch data.
This structure keeps things smooth while still allowing flexibility. Special goodwill cases can still be approved, but in a controlled way.
Battery companies using structured warranty management solutions see fewer disputes. Dealers understand the rules better. Claims move faster because the required data is already available.
Managers get a clear view of claim ratios across products, regions, and dealers without manual work.
The system handles complexity, so people do not have to.
When rules are clear, trust improves.
Many companies treat warranty as the final step.
Battery fails.
Claim approved.
Replacement given.
But warranty data contains valuable clues.
Without connected product lifecycle management, these clues are lost.
Gartner research shows that connecting product data across the full lifecycle improves decision speed and quality. While exact numbers differ, many companies report double-digit improvements in productivity or forecasting accuracy when advanced analytics are used.
For EV companies, this means warranty data can guide better decisions earlier in the process.
When warranty data connects with inward records, service inspections, and batch data, patterns appear.
Some suppliers show higher early failures.
Some regions show storage issues.
Some handling methods lead to more claims.
With this insight, product lifecycle management helps teams act earlier. Quality improves. Costs reduce. Learning happens faster.
Warranty becomes a feedback engine, not just a cost.
In many battery markets, claim ratios above 5% are a warning sign. High ratios affect pricing, dealer confidence, and brand reputation.
Without proper tracking, companies notice the problem only when profits start shrinking.
With connected warranty management solutions, leaders can see claim trends early and fix issues before they grow.
This keeps operations stable and growth predictable.
• Track every battery as a unique asset
• Use warranty management solutions that connect the full lifecycle
• Build fraud detection into the system, not manual checks
• Clearly define claim types and rules
• Use product lifecycle management data to improve quality, not just replace batteries
Warranty management is no longer about rules and paperwork.
It is about clarity in complex EV systems.
As battery volumes grow and customers expect better service, companies with strong warranty management solutions move faster, argue less, and learn more from every claim.
The real question for 2026 is not whether you can process warranty claims.
It is whether your warranty system helps you make smarter decisions with every battery in the field.