EVs dominate list of used cars that lost the most value in May as electric cars take the top seven spots

12:31 pm, June 7, 2023

The falling value of used EVs has been laid bare in stark new data, which reveals electric models dominated the list of used cars which lost the most money in May.

Data collected as part of Auto Trader’s latest Retail Price Index found that the seven biggest depreciators last month were all EVs.

The Tesla Model S and Audi e-tron saw the biggest falls in value of 23.6 and 22.8 per cent respectively, closely followed by the Jaguar I-Pace, which saw a 22.5 per cent year-on-year fall in the fifth month of 2023.

Also on the list were the likes of the Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 and Porsche Taycan, which saw their values plummet dramatically, according to Auto Trader’s data.

The findings, based on retail prices across Auto Trader, mirror information put forward by valuations experts Cap HPI last week.

Using trade prices, rather than retail ones, the evaluations firm found that 29 of top 30 biggest used car price drops in last six months are electric vehicles.

The news that retail prices are still falling is unlikely to ease the worries of concerned dealers, several of whom are currently refusing to stock used EVs.

Earlier this year, we reported that supermarket group Car Planet are no longer buying used electric cars due to them being deemed ‘high risk’.

That followed similar sentiments being expressed by a panel of independent dealers at our Car Dealer Live conference in Gaydon in March.

However the likes of Robin Luscombe and EV Experts founder Martin Miller have both encouraged dealers to buy EVs, when speaking to Car Dealer in recent months.

You can read Miller’s guide to selling an EV here.

The only models in the top 10 depreciators not to have an EV option were the BMW 8-Series and the Land Rover Discovery 3.

The Volvo XC40 also made the list but that included petrol, diesel, hybrid and EV variants. The Swedish brand announced yesterday that the XC40 PHEV would be canned in the UK as part of a cull of models.