Used electric cars lose half their value in two years - manufacturers blamed for discounting new prices

Daily Mail​

29-05-2025

Electric cars are losing more than half their value within two years, according to a new report.
Analysis by Cox Automotive has suggested that a 24-month-old battery car sold to the trade in April on average retained just 47 per cent of its original new cost.
However, two years earlier, an EV of the same age profile was - on average - holding on to 83 per cent of its new price.
The dramatic acceleration in depreciation is being blamed on manufacturers who are caught in an unprecedented catch 22 scenario currently playing out in the automotive sector.
With car makers being forced to increase their sales of EVs to meet Government-mandated targets, they are offering huge discounts on new models to make them more attractive to new customers in order to meet their quotas.
But this is having a significant knock-on impact for residual prices, as drivers are seeing more value for money buying new rather than opting for a nearly-new second-hand EV, which has seen used prices tumble.
This graphs shows the average auction sale price for EVs under 24 months old as a percentage of their original cost new, with the typical electric car retaining just 47% of its showroom price
The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate introduced to law last January requires mainstream car manufacturers to sell an increasing share of EVs every year between now and 2035.
Failure to adhere to these quotas can result in significant fines of £12,000 for every car sold below the required threshold for that year.
In 2024, the minimum quota was for 22 per cent of all deliveries by manufacturers to be zero-emission electric cars.
However, the target jumps to 28 per cent this year, 33 per cent in 2026 and 80 per cent by 2030.
Officials reported that every mainstream brand achieved last year's 22 per cent EV sales mix - though at a huge cost to car companies.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that makers lost a collective £4billion in discounted prices as they tried to make electric cars appear more attractive to petrol and diesel counterparts.
Mike Hawes, chief exec at the trade body, described the scale of these discounts as 'unsustainable'.
Labour's decision to force EV owners to pay car tax for the first time from April has also dampened demand for new models - and triggered further manufacturer discounts.
Both Vauxhall and Abarth - the performance division of Fiat - have recently reduced prices of their electric cars so that they sit below a £40,000 expensive car tax supplement being imposed on new EVs starting from next year.
But Cox Automotive Europe discounts are now having a huge knock-on effect on the second-hand market, because 'nearly new' used EVs are falling in value as a direct result.
Second-hand electric vehicle prices are also taking a hit from the huge acceleration in available models coming to market, with March seeing a record 69,313 new electric cars entering the road.
A rapid development of battery technology is also stinging the value of quickly outdated older EVs, while the emergence of new cheaper brands - predominantly from China - is also pushing second-hand values lower.
As such, a two-year-old electric car today is now holding just 53 per cent of its original price.
In contrast, the average diesel car selling to trade with the same age profile is retaining 30 per cent of its new value.
When second-hand EV values were at their peak in 2022 - as a result of supply constraints around the Covid-19 pandemic - a two-year-old electric car was losing only 17 per cent of its showroom price.
Philip Nothard, insight director at Cox Automotive Europe, said: 'The current performance of nearly-new EVs in the used market is still much lower than we would anticipate for vehicles in this age profile.
'The heavy discounts offered on new vehicles mean that consumers can pick up a brand-new model for the same price as a nearly-new model.
'This gives consumers very little incentive to consider them, which is a real blow to a market that needs all the incentives it can get its hands on.'
On the flipside, EVs between three to five years old are performing much better.
At auction, these vehicles have seen only a modest price drop of 15 per cent on average in the same time period as they aren't impacted as severely by heavy manufacturer discounts and tend to attract a different driver.
Last month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to water down Britain's electric vehicle sales targets in response to Donald Trump's watershed tariff announcement.
The PM's new measures included additional leniencies in the ZEV mandate in a bid to 'support car makers'.
And only last week, a leaked letter from transport minister Lilian Greenwood revealed that the Government is considering dumping the expensive car supplement - widely being referred to as the 'Tesla Tax' - for new electric cars in an effort to stir up more demand for green vehicles.
Nothard added: 'The used market is a crucial source of profitability for the automotive sector.
'Within increasingly volatile market conditions, the strength and consistency of used operations are crucial.
'To ensure this, more support for the used EV sector is needed to put the brakes on the rapid pace of depreciation.'