Electric cars have endured the worst year in their short history in terms of falling prices with some ‘nearly new’ year-old battery vehicles losing more than half of their value, data shared exclusively with This is Money reveals.
The last 12 months has seen second-hand electric vehicle (EV) values plunge as a result of falling demand and an oversupply of used examples entering the market.
We reveal the 30 electric cars that have nosedived most, all of them shedding in excess of 30 per cent of their value a year ago, with the worst affected plummeting by more than half its average 2022 price.
But have we seen the worst of it for crashing EV prices? A market expert explains his prediction for what will happen to electric car values in the coming months – will they continue to drop like a stone or begin to level out?
Worst year for electric car values: Owners of EVs have seen the price of their ‘nearly new’ year-old motors crash by as much as half in the last 12 months as demand for second-hand battery vehicles has gone into reverse. We reveal the 30 electric car models that have been hit hardest by the decline
In contrast to the new car registrations where EV sales are booming and account for one in five models entering Britain’s roads, the used sector has seen values of electric models hurtle into a decent that is set to cost owners thousands of pounds if they sold today.
This is due to a perfect storm triggered last October that has pummelled the used EV market for 12 months.
Taking a combined toll includes the spending impact of the cost-of-living crisis, sky-high energy prices, fresh scrutiny of electric cars in mainstream media, an oversupply of EVs entering the used market and Tesla’s decision to slash new model prices at the beginning of the year.
Derren Martin, head of valuations at cap hpi, says used EVs started to reduce in value 12 months ago, describing the impact on second-hand electric car prices since October 2022 as ‘seismic’.
Below, we reveal the biggest fallers in value over the last 12 months for ‘nearly new’ EVs using data supplied by cap hpi.
The figures are based on the most substantial declines in value by comparing the sale price of a one-year-old example with 10,000 miles on the clock in October 2022 and the sale price of a year-old example of that same model with the same mileage at the beginning of this month (September 2023).
This is therefore a measure of deflation and not ‘depreciation’ (which is when a car becomes less valuable when it gets older), showcasing just how much the price of EVs has nosedived in the last 12 months.
And to put the sizable drops into perspective, cap hpi says average values of year-old petrol cars have risen 0.6 per cent in the same period – and even diesels went up by 0.5 per cent on average over the 12 months.
10 BIGGEST USED EV PRICE FALLERS IN THE LAST YEAR
10. Peugeot e-208 (2019-present) – down 37.1%/loss of £9,485
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £25,580
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £16,095
Peugeot’s e-208 is arguably one of the most accomplished – and best looking – supermini EVs on the market today. But the price of a nearly-new example has crashed by 37.1% in the last 12 months, which translates to a loss in value of almost £9,500
The e-208 is a small and – relatively – affordable new supermini that has proved pretty popular since arriving in 2019, mostly thanks to its practical range of 224 miles between charges.
Yet owners of this impressive compact Peugeot have seen the value of their cars deflate substantially in the last 12 months.
A one-year-old example with 10,000 miles on the clock would have cost £25,580 in October 2022 but the average sale price of one this month is down to just £16,095 – that’s a loss of 37.1 per cent, which translates to almost £9,500.
9. Hyundai Kona Electric (2018-2022) – down 37.6%/loss of £11,388
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £30,300
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £18,913
Hyundai’s Kona Electric has cemented itself as one of Britain’s favourite compact electric SUVs. But year-old used examples haven’t escaped enormous losses with the price of a nearly-new version falling by 37.6% – or £11,388 – in the last 12 months
Hyundai has recently launched its second-generation electric Kona, but the original remains a solid second-hand purchase.
Owners could – with a few hypermiling techniques – achieve the 300-mile quoted single-charge range, which is an impressive distance for a model at the lower end of the compact EV SUV market that’s dominated by premium examples.
However, it seems demand for second-hand variants isn’t what it was a year ago. In October 2023, you would have needed to pay £30,300 for a 12-month-old Kona Electric with 10,000 miles on the clock. But today, the same-age car can be hand for less than £19,000, which is a difference of £11,388.
8. Vauxhall Corsa-E (2019-present) – down 37.7%/loss of £8,731
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £23,138
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £14,406
Despite being the sister car and almost mechanically – and electrically – the same as the Peugeot e-208, Vauxhall Corsa-e superminis have shed more value. Nearly new prices have fallen in the last 12 months by 37.7%, cap hpi says
Vauxhall’s Corsa-e is the sister car to the Peugeot e-208 in tenth spot in this list, so it’s not surprising to see a similar level of used price deflation in the last 12 months.
Despite the recent success of the Corsa model line – which sees it second overall in 2023 for new car registrations – the electric version of the popular supermini wasn’t among the 10 best-selling EVs last year.
And demand for used examples seems to be dwindling, as the value of a one-year-old version with 10k on the clock is now £8,730 lower than it was in October 2022, meaning a price fall of 37.7 per cent in 12 months.
7. Mazda MX-30 (2020-present) – down 39.0%/loss of £9,119
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £23,375
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £14,256
The Mazda MX-30 is certainly stylish and well built, but a 124-mile range makes it an expensive compromise for families. This might partly explain why nearly new examples have fallen in price by 39% in the last year, which is a loss to owners of £9,100
The MX-30 is Mazda’s attempt to wade into the compact electric SUV market with a stylish retro design and suicide doors.
But there is one limiting factor of this family-friendly Japanese EV and that’s its range. At an official 124 miles, it far shorter than rivals and could be one of the main reasons why second-hand buyers are giving them a wide birth.
Last October, the average year-old example with 10k on the odometer was selling for £23,375. But 12 months later – and a huge crash in EV prices – has seen average sale values slip by over £,9100 to a fraction over £14,250.
6. BMW i3 (2013-2022) – down 39.9%/loss of £12,739
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £32,061
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £19,322
Discontinued by BMW recently, the i3 is set to become one the first electric modern classic thanks to its bold looks, recycled interior and trend-setting platform. Yet values of nearly new examples have taken a near-40% nosedive in the last year
BMW’s first mainstream production electric car – the i3 – arrived way back in 2013 and set a new standard for compact EVs. It’s funky design, mostly recycled cabin materials and chassis-mounted battery were ahead of their time, with manufacturers still following this recipe for new models today.
Before the German car giant killed it off last year, it had been available in i3 and an uprated i3S guise, the latter with improved performance – the values listed here are for a combination of both variants.
Despite being a pioneer for EVs, second-hand values for the i3 have fallen off a cliff edge. A year-old example would have cost £32,000 in October last year but in September 2023 a 12-month i3 with 10,000 miles is worth just £19,300.
5. Hyundai Ioniq Electric (2016-2023) – down 40.8%/loss of £10,750
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £26,375
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £15,625
Hyundai no longer sells the Ioniq Electric family car having released a range of next-gen Ioniq models. And the versatile hatchback has taken a hit, with nearly new examples worth 40.8% – or £10,750 – less than they would have been a year ago
Hyundai’s Ioniq was one of the Korean brand’s first fully electric models to arrive in showrooms 2016. It was sold alongside a conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid variant, making it the company’s green poster car for some time.
With a maximum range of 194 miles from its small 28kWh battery, it’s not the biggest single-charge mile muncher. Yet it has lots of space in the back and a reasonable boot, making the Ioniq a practical second-hand family EV.
And if you want a year-old example, you will only have to pay just £15,625 for one today rather than close to £26,275 if you had purchased a 12-month-old example a year ago. This is because the value of these EVs have dropped 40.8 per cent – or £10,750 – since October 2022.
4. Volkswagen e-Up (2014-2022) – down 42.5%/loss of £9,700
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £22,800
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £13,100
Volkswagen’s e-Up was designed to be a low-cost city EV, and in the last 12 months it has become increasingly more affordable. That’s because year-old ‘nearly new’ examples are down 42.5% in price, which is a £9,700 decline
Volkswagen’s e-Up is one of the smallest five-seat [just, at a push] electric cars sold in Britain.
Using the brilliant Up city model as a shell, VW stripped out the engine and combustion drivetrain and replaced it with a 36.8kWh battery, 61kW electric motor, single speed gearbox and a quoted range of up to 159 miles.
While an accomplished all-round package with an urban-friendly diminutive size might make it appeal to inner-city commuters, second-hand valued have deflated quite substantially, dropping by 42.5 per cent for one-year-old examples with 10,000 miles on the clock.
3. Nissan Leaf (2017-present) – down 42.7%/loss of £10,982
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £25,818
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £14,836
Nissan’s British-built Leaf is still one of the best family EV models at the lower end of the market, yet nearly new cars have taken a big hit in the last 12 months. Like-for-like prices have dropped a massive 42.7% – almost £11,000 – since October 2022
Built in Sunderland and among the most popular electric cars since it first hit showrooms, Leaf has been a success story for Nissan, not least with the arrival of the second-generation car just over half a decade ago.
Depending on battery size, customers were promised a range of 168 to 239 miles between charges for a practical hatchback that could easily accommodate a small family.
But the used value of a Leaf has fallen dramatically than most other EVs. In October 2022, a year-old model with average mileage would have cost £25,818 but today used prices for 12-month-old examples have slipped to just £14,836 – deflation of 42.7 per cent, or almost £11,000.
2. Renault Zoe (2019-present) – down 44.2%/loss of £9,536
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £21,557
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £12,021
One of the best small EVs on the market, Renault’s Zoe offers unrivalled range for an electric car of this size. But it has suffered big price deflation in the last 12 months with nearly new examples worth 44.2% – or £9,500 – less than they were a year ago
It’s no surprise that many early EV adopters on the hunt for a small – relatively affordable – battery car for nipping around town bought Renault Zoes, which remains one of the best compact car packages there is.
However, it hasn’t been able to escape painful deflation in the last 12 months, meaning owners are set to lose out of thousands if they sell now.
This month, a year-old Zoe with 10,000 miles on the clock is worth just over £12,000. But that’s £9,500 less than a 12-month-old Zoe with the same mileage was selling for back in October 2022, says cap hpi.
1. Seat Mii Electric (2019-2022) – down 50.3%/loss of £9,875
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Oct’22 £19,650
Average price of 1-year-old 10k mile example in Sep’23 £9,775
The nearly new electric car that has lost the biggest chunk of value in the last 12 months is Seat’s Mii Electric. Prices for a year-old example of this dinky EV have plummeted by more than half (50.3%) since October 2022 – that’s a loss of almost £10k on a vehicle that a year earlier would have sold for £19,650
If you thought VW’s e-Up had suffered huge used price deflation in a turbulent last 12 months for EVs, wait until you seen how much one of its sister cars has haemorrhaged in price.
Like the VW, Seat’s Mii Electric makes a solid choice on paper. Also a sister model to Skoda’s Citigo e iV, it has a claimed range of 162 miles on a single charge and is bundled-up into an attractive city car package with lots of equipment and build quality.
Production only ended last year but used values still went into freefall. The average year-old car with 10,000 miles on the clock would have set buyers back £19,650 if they had bought one a year ago. Today, you can get your hands on a 12-month-old example with the same mileage of 10,000 miles for only £9,775 – a loss in value of almost £10,000, which is deflation in excess of 50 per cent.
Will used electric car prices continue to tumble or have they bottomed out?
Rewind just over 12 months and second-hand electric car values were in a spell of good health.
Like their new prices, used EVs remained expensive compared to petrol and diesel equivalents, sometimes with the same model being £10,000 more due to having electric propulsion.
But such a high starting point has left more room for sizable declines, explains Derren Martin, cap hpi’s director of valuations.
Derren Martin, director of valuations at cap hpi, says the ‘worst is over’ for fall EV values, but warns there is likely ‘further realignment’ for some models that could continue to fall in price in the coming months
And it isn’t solely their higher starting point that has seen some EVs shed more than half their used value in 12 months. In fact, the reason behind the decline is multifaceted, he explained.
‘Range anxiety became an issue once more following a number of unfavourable reports surrounding queues of two to three hours over the Christmas period, particularly at motorway service stations,’ Derren says.
‘Then there was the cost to charge. With prices of electricity having increased and fossil fuels reducing over recent months, it was no longer clear-cut that it was cheaper to charge your EV than it is to fill up your ICE [internal combustion engine] car.
‘This all happened at the same time as vastly increased volumes returned to the used market, from registrations starting three years ago.’
Tesla’s decision in January to slash the price of Model 3 and Model Y added an additional layer of uncertainty around the value of used EVs, while the roaring success of finance and leasing deals – as well as booming demand for tax-cutting salary sacrifice schemes – saw the cost of owning a brand new EV fall to a similar level to, if not lower than, used prices.
But Derren says used prices are now starting to level out having endured a year of spiralling.
‘Since the start of the summer, EV values have started to stabilise and August saw the smallest downward movement so far this year,’ he told us.
‘Many models are now seeing adjustments more or less in line with other fuel-types of vehicles that sit in the same sector, rather than the big adjustments we witnessed earlier in the year.
‘Last month, we saw less pressure for some of the smaller and medium EVs, and many of these models now hit an attractive price point in the retail market, encouraging wholesale buyers, albeit in small numbers.
‘However, some heavy reductions have been applied to some more expensive, premium EVs, maybe a reflection of some of the financial headwinds consumers are currently facing.’
And he went on to warn: ‘Whilst the worst is over, there is likely to be some further realignment for some EVs, particularly where volumes are increasing and values have not fallen by as much as other models.’
ELECTRIC CAR VIDEOS
