There has “never been a better time” to buy a used electric car, as they are significantly more affordable than their combustion-engined counterparts at present.
That’s according to Chris Plumb, EV specialist at vehicle valuation firm Cap HPI, who told Autocar that some models “can’t get any cheaper”.
According to Cap HPI, the retail price of a three-year-old electric car is now 8.5% lower than that for an equivalent petrol or diesel. For four-year-old cars, the gulf widens to 14%.
The firm added that values of used EVs had halved since September 2022, regardless of their age or mileage.
Plumb told Autocar that this is a result of supply and demand. EVs’ share of the new car market soared during the pandemic so now, as many of those cars come off company fleets and finance agreements, the supply of second-hand examples is soaring.
“Every month we’re setting new records on the monthly volumes [of EVs] that are coming into the market, which isn’t a surprise, because everything comes back to the new car registrations from three or four years ago,” explained Plumb.
He added that the dip in used prices can also be attributed to the incentives offered by manufacturers on purchases of new electric cars, with the UK’s new zero-emission vehicle mandate adding pressure to boost sales volumes. This makes used EVs less attractive in comparison, depressing values.
Plumb elaborated: “Discounts on new [cars], preferable finance terms, sometimes you get a free charger thrown in as a package; when you look at what the offer is on new compared to the nearly new products or used offerings, the new offering sometimes looks a lot more attractive.”
He added that older and leggier EVs can sell much more quickly than nearly new stock, because of their low prices.
Plumb said: “For EVs three or four years old in the market and sitting below £20,000 at retail, so below £18,000 in trade, when we look at [how long they take to sell] from retail adverts, they are now comparable or faster than petrol.
“When you get up to sub-12 months old, there becomes a bit more of a challenge, and that’s the area of the market that’s a bit more fragmented.”
He concluded: “I don’t think there has ever been a better time to buy an EV, because of the new car discounts that we’re seeing and how much value for money that going used offers.
“Some of these vehicles can’t get any cheaper, so we might find that they increase in value over time as consumer demand increases.”
