8:13 am, January 9, 2023

Used Tesla values have begun to freefall with one of its models losing a FIFTH of its value in just 12 months.

Values of the popular electric cars are in a tailspin as experts blame rising electric prices and swathes of new models arriving seriously damaging prices.

The Model 3 is the worst-performing electric car, according to industry used car pricing experts Cap HPI, losing some 23 per cent or £9,900 in the last year alone.

In a table of the worst-depreciating electric cars, Teslas take up three of the top five spots.

The Model S is the second worst performer, losing 22 per cent in the last year.

The Model X has lost 13.4 per cent in the last 12 months.

Cap HPI generated the values of a one-year-old car each month and shared the data with Car Dealer.

The figures compare to an average drop over the last 12 months for a one-year-old used car with 10,000 miles of just 2.2 per cent.

The fall in Tesla used prices has accelerated in the latter months of 2022 and has continued into the new year.

While electric cars in general have been badly hit in the used market, dropping significantly more than petrol and diesel vehicles, it’s Tesla owners that have been feeling the pain.

In the last three months alone the Model 3 has dropped 15 per cent, while the Model S (8.9 per cent) and Model X (four per cent) have also seen values tumble during that period.

As of this month, the cumulative loss for the last 12 months means the Model S has lost £17,916, the Model X £12,829 and the Model 3 £9,900.

‘It has been well documented of late that new car sales of electric vehicles are going from strength to strength, but this is not replicated in the used car market,’ said Cap HPI EV valuations expert Chris Plumb.

‘Battery electric vehicles remained the most challenging area of the used car market throughout the last month of 2022, as values reduced for the fourth consecutive month.

‘When analysing which electric vehicles have reduced the most in value over the past 12 months, Tesla appears three times in the top five, with Model 3 showing the biggest decline in 2022.’

Top 10 biggest depreciating used EVs 2022

Prices for used models 12 months old with 10k miles from Cap HPI

Tesla Model 3 -23%
Tesla Model S -22%
Audi e-Tron -15%
Jaguar I-Pace -14%
Tesla Model X -13%
Mercedes EQC -13%
Smart ForFour Electric -10%
Audi e-Tron Sportback -9%
BMW i3 -8%
Renault Zoe -8%

The Model Y – introduced in March 2022 – has fared better over the year with values currently up 11.2 per cent over the same 12-month period.

However, it has also suffered in the last quarter, with those initial gains achieved earlier in the year that mostly came as a result of demand for it being a new model rapidly disappearing.

In the last three months, the Model Y has lost 14 per cent of its value.

Tom Barnard, editor of Electrifying.com, told Car Dealer there were a number of reasons for the dramatic price falls.

He said: ‘We saw at the end of 2022 that the market for new Teslas was saturated, and the company had to heavily discount and pre-register to try to move stock. That will naturally push down the value of older examples.

‘Many of the older Model 3s will have been bought on leases and are now being returned after three years, with a large proportion being sold on the open market where they will find a natural price level rather than through the managed Tesla-owned channels.

‘The one big advantage Tesla still has is the Supercharger network, but the shine has been taken off it by the opening-up of some charge points to all EVs last year, and recent negative publicity surrounding queues at peak times.

‘We also hear some private and business buyers are put off by Tesla’s high insurance rates, with groupings comparable to supercars.’

James Attwood, editor of Moveelectric.com, said the figures are understandably bad news for Tesla and come at a time when its stock price is plummeting too.

He told Car Dealer: ‘These figures underline the pace at which the electric car market is moving and the competition Tesla now faces within it. Having enjoyed an almost unrivalled status in the car market, rivals are now being launched weekly.’

He said he also believed electric cars buyers are ‘fickle’ and want the latest products – and with many Model 3 and Y models now on the roads this ‘brand allure has been inevitably dented’.

Derren Martin, director of valuations at Cap HPI, told Car Dealer that ‘consumer demand for used electric vehicles has dropped away’.

Martin said people are being put off by high charging costs and the fact they are more expensive to buy than equivalent petrol or diesel models.

‘Electric cars are often an aspirational purchase, and in a cost-of-living crisis people are not necessarily going out and buying them at the moment,’ he said.

‘They’re expensive vehicles and there’s more of them coming back into the market. So it’s kind of the wrong time with demand dropping away and supply increasing – that really only leads to one thing.’

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