The Used EV Price Crash Revealed

Used EV prices have taken quite a knock over the last 12 months.

CAP HPI, the industry trade pricing expert shared some data with Car Dealer UK which makes for hard reading.

The biggest loser was The Seat Mii electric which has lost 50.3 per cent of its value since October 2022. In the same period the Renault Zoe is down 44.2 per cent and the Nissan Leaf has lost 42.7 per cent.

The Audi e-tron GT is the biggest loser in cash terms dropping an average of £27,629, then the Mercedes Benz EQC which has lost £20,275 followed the Audi e-tron Sportback is down £18,929.

For comparison, over the last 12 months, petrol cars have actually risen 0.6 per cent, diesels are up 0.5 per cent, but hybrids are down 6.5 per cent and PHEVs have dropped 7.4 per cent.

While the fall in used EV prices has been well documented this year, this latest data shows the true extent of the crashes over the last 11 months – and the worst offending models.

Used electric cars statred to fall off a cliff in October last year amid the cost of living crisis, shortly after Liz Truss’s disastrous mini Budget caused turbulence in the financial markets.

Prices continued to tumble as energy prices soared and negative national press coverage began to appear around queues at charging points.

In January, Tesla made the dramatic move to cut the price of its new Model 3 and Y and this accelerated the falls across the EV market as other electric car prices realigned. 

Fortunately, the huge falls have now begun to tail off, though. In August only one electric car was on the list of used car prices that dropped the most with diesels dominating the top 10.

Derren Martin, Cap HPI director of valuations, said ‘There are some real EV bargains at the moment – some are cheaper than the ICE equivalents.’

Cap HPI’s research shows that while Teslas dropped hard and fast at the start of the year after the manufacturer slashed new prices, their fall in value has not been the worst.

The Model 3 has lost 33.3 per cent of its value in the last 11 months and the Y has lost 30 per cent – both outside of the top 10 falls in terms of percentage and cash loss terms.