EV Battery Capacity: Gross vs Usable for Major U.S. Models

A battery-size number is not fully comparable until you know what the number means.

Some manufacturers publish usable capacity. Some publish gross and net/useable separately. Others publish a kWh figure under labels such as total capacity, Battery capacity, Battery Energy, Battery system capacity, Battery Size, Battery total power, battery pack, or rated energy capacity without necessarily establishing a separate usable value. Tesla's checked current U.S. Model Y and Model 3 subsystem pages publish battery type and nominal voltage but no kWh figure at all.¹

This reference preserves those differences. If a current first-party source does not establish the semantic state, the field stays not established instead of being filled from a secondary estimate.

Quick comparison

Not established does not mean zero. It means the exact checked first-party surface did not establish that field or semantic state.

The labels are not interchangeable

The matrix now shows several different OEM source states across major U.S. EV families:

• explicit usable or net: Mustang Mach-E, MY2025 F-150 Lightning, 2026 VISTIQ, 2026 OPTIQ-V, and the current displayed 2026 LEAF S+/SV+/Platinum+ trims;^2426289
• explicit gross + net/useable: Taycan;¹⁴¹³¹⁵
• explicit total-capacity wording with no separate usable/net value on the checked exact-model source: 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland;⁸
• other named capacity fields whose gross/usable meaning is unresolved on the checked source: 2027 Bolt Battery Rated Energy, Trailseeker Battery total power, LYRIQ rated energy capacity, IONIQ 5 Battery system capacity, Kia Battery Energy / Battery Size, plus generic Battery capacity / battery / battery-pack labels from Audi, Nissan, Volvo, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Cadillac and Chevrolet;^{56182021222324253016171927293171112}
• no kWh on the checked technical/manual surface: current U.S. Model Y and Model 3 subsystem pages.¹

ATC does not silently convert any of those states into another one.

Why Tesla is listed as not established

The current U.S. Model Y and Model 3 subsystem pages rechecked Sept. 18, 2026 publish high-voltage battery type and nominal voltage, but they do not publish a high-voltage battery capacity in kWh on those pages.¹

That is a deliberately bounded source finding. It does not mean Tesla has never published capacity information anywhere, and it does not authorize ATC to fill the row from an estimated pack size found on a secondary site.

Same number, different Cadillac semantics: OPTIQ vs OPTIQ-V

Cadillac's current 2026 OPTIQ page says the regular model has a battery capacity of 85 kWh.²⁷ That checked passage does not call the figure gross or usable.

Cadillac's technical release for the 2026 OPTIQ-V also gives 85 kWh, but its battery-system table explicitly labels that figure 85 kWh Useable Battery Energy.²⁸

The equal number does not authorize ATC to copy the OPTIQ-V semantic label onto the regular OPTIQ. The source wording remains configuration-specific.

Kia EV6 and EV9: exact kWh, unresolved semantic

Kia's current U.S. 2026 EV6 specification table uses the field Battery Energy (kWh) for 63.0- and 84.0-kWh pack states.¹⁶ Kia's separate Features & Options table confirms the GT's 84.0-kWh Battery Size.¹⁷

Kia's current U.S. 2026 EV9 specification table likewise uses Battery Energy (kWh) for the 76.1- and 99.8-kWh states.¹⁹ The EV9 owner manual independently lists the same two capacities under Capacity (kWh).¹⁸

Those are useful manufacturer numbers, but neither wording is silently upgraded here to gross or usable capacity.

Subaru Trailseeker: Battery total power is not a usable-capacity label

Subaru of America's current exact-model 2026 Trailseeker Compare Specs PDF lists Battery total power: 74.7 kWh, alongside Battery type: Lithium Ion and Battery capacity: 191 Ah. The battery fields are marked Standard across Premium, Limited, Touring and Touring Leather.⁷

The checked Subaru source does not call 74.7 kWh gross, total capacity, nominal, usable or net capacity. This reference therefore preserves Subaru's exact Battery total power label and leaves the normalized gross/total and usable/net columns not established.⁷

Owner measurements of energy delivered between displayed state-of-charge points and secondary estimates may explain why people search for a usable number. They do not replace an OEM usable-capacity specification, and this reference does not infer a hidden top or bottom buffer from them.

Toyota bZ Woodland: Toyota says total capacity, not usable capacity

Toyota USA's current exact-model 2026 bZ Woodland product page says the vehicle has a lithium-ion battery with a total capacity of 74.7 kWh.⁸

That wording is materially more specific than a generic battery capacity label: Toyota directly establishes total capacity. The checked exact-model Toyota product and FAQ surfaces do not publish a separate usable/net kWh value, so this reference does not fill that field from a third-party estimate.⁸

Current secondary coverage includes usable-capacity estimates around 67 kWh and some result pages that incorrectly flatten 74.7 kWh into a usable figure. Those values are not substituted for Toyota's own specification. This row therefore preserves 74.7 kWh / total capacity and leaves the separate usable/net field not established.

Nissan LEAF: Nissan's current comparison explicitly labels 75 kWh as net

Nissan USA's current 2026 LEAF Specs & Trims page displays S+, SV+, and Platinum+ and labels the EV battery field Usage/Net Battery Capacity (kWh). It shows 75 for each of those three currently displayed trims.⁹

That source state is stronger than Nissan's broader product wording. Nissan's current Features page and hosted press kit describe a 75-kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery, but do not add a separate gross/total kWh figure.¹⁰ This reference therefore records 75 kWh in the usable/net column for the three displayed trims and leaves gross capacity not established.

The row does not import prior-generation 40/60-kWh LEAF data, dealer/database gross-capacity labels, or a battery state for any 2026 grade not currently displayed on Nissan's exact comparison surface.

Chevrolet Bolt (2027): GM reports rated energy, not a defined gross or usable value

GM's U.S. 2027 Chevrolet Bolt final technical specifications report 65 kWh under the exact field Battery Rated Energy. GM says the battery uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells in prismatic cans.¹¹ A separate August 2026 GM product summary identifies both LT and RS with the 65-kWh pack.¹²

What is established: the number 65 kWh and GM's label Battery Rated Energy. What is not established on those checked current GM sources: whether 65 kWh is gross/total or usable/net energy. Both normalized columns deliberately remain Not established. This is a bounded statement about those documents, not a claim that GM has never defined the figure elsewhere.

The specifications also list an EPA-estimated 262 miles of range, but that range cannot determine a precise usable-energy figure without independently established consumption and test-boundary inputs.¹¹¹² Charging-session kWh (which may include losses), dashboard charge percentage, battery-health/OBD readings, a previous-generation Bolt capacity, or an outside estimate do not establish a gross figure or hidden battery buffer. The 2026 LEAF row immediately above demonstrates the source distinction: Nissan explicitly uses Usage/Net Battery Capacity for its value, whereas the checked GM Bolt documents do not.⁹¹¹

For chemistry differences, use the EV battery chemistry reference. For day-to-day charge targets or the included portable cord, use their separate Bolt-specific entries in those existing guides; they do not supply missing gross/usable battery semantics.

Explicit usable-capacity examples

Ford Mustang Mach-E

Ford's current 2026 specification tables identify 73, 88 and 91 kWh battery states as usable capacity for the listed configurations.²³ The checked pages do not establish corresponding gross values.

Ford F-150 Lightning — MY2025 scope

Ford's MY2025 technical specifications identify 98, 123 and 131 kWh battery states as usable energy.⁴ This row is intentionally source-versioned to 2025. It must not be silently reused for another model year.

Cadillac VISTIQ

Cadillac's 2026 VISTIQ technical specifications state 102 kWh Useable Battery Energy.²⁶ That is materially different from the 2026 LYRIQ consumer/spec wording, which calls its 102 kWh figure rated energy capacity.²⁵

Cadillac OPTIQ-V

Cadillac's 2026 OPTIQ-V technical specifications state 85 kWh Useable Battery Energy.²⁸ The regular OPTIQ's current 85-kWh source does not use the same semantic label.²⁷

Porsche: both gross and net are published

Porsche's current technical material describes the current Taycan at 105 kWh gross and 97 kWh net.¹⁴

Exact current 2026 U.S. Porsche Finder configurations also show:

• 89.0 kWh gross / 82.3 kWh net useable;¹³
• 105.0 kWh gross / 97.0 kWh net useable.¹⁵

The Finder URLs are volatile. If they disappear, those rows should be re-sourced rather than assumed current indefinitely.

Gross-minus-usable is arithmetic, not a claimed battery buffer

Where an OEM publishes both values, simple subtraction is possible:

• 105.0 - 97.0 = 8.0 kWh;
• 89.0 - 82.3 = 6.7 kWh.¹⁴¹³¹⁵

Those differences are arithmetic only. This reference does not call them a fixed reserve, hidden capacity, degradation allowance, safety margin, emergency range or owner-inaccessible buffer unless a source directly establishes that interpretation.

Why this matters for charging calculations

Charging-cost and charging-time calculations often need usable capacity rather than a generic pack-size figure.

ATC's /tools/charging-cost-calculator, /tools/charging-time-calculator, and /tools/dc-fast-charging-cost-calculator should eventually reuse the same reviewed source-versioned capacity records behind this matrix. They should not guess usable capacity from a gross, total or otherwise unlabeled OEM number.

ATC's /tools/ev-specs serves a different job using FuelEconomy.gov range/efficiency data and should not be treated as a gross/usable battery-capacity source unless its upstream data explicitly adds those fields.

For battery chemistry, see ATC's EV battery chemistry reference. Chemistry and capacity semantics remain separate fields.

What this reference will not do

• copy a secondary database's estimated capacity into an OEM row;
• assume total capacity, battery capacity, Battery Energy, Battery Size, Battery system capacity, Battery total power, rated energy capacity, gross, net, and usable are synonyms;
• carry a capacity value across model years without an exact-source check;
• transfer a semantic label from one trim/model to a sibling vehicle merely because the kWh number matches;
• convert gross-minus-net arithmetic or total-minus-estimated-usable arithmetic into a claimed reserve/buffer;
• create separate pages for every model, year, brand or largest battery query;
• turn a bounded absence on one checked OEM page into a universal claim about all manufacturer documentation.

Scope and freshness

This is a major-U.S.-model cross-section, not a claim to contain every battery-electric vehicle sold in the country. The cohort deliberately covers high-interest mass-market, premium, truck and three-row models while preserving first-party semantic differences instead of maximizing row count with secondary estimates.

Recheck a row when:

• a new model year changes battery availability;
• a trim or pack changes without a model-name change;
• an OEM changes the displayed capacity or its label;
• a previously ambiguous page begins publishing gross and/or usable values;
• a volatile exact-configuration source disappears;
• ATC implements a reviewed shared vehicle-capacity dataset that becomes the internal source of truth.

Next scheduled review: October 24, 2026.

Sources