8:57 am, September 18, 2023
The dramatic drop in used electric car prices appears to be easing with new figures showing values have RISEN slightly for the first time in a year.
Auto Trader’s data for September shows that used EV prices are currently up 0.8 per cent on this time last month.
Although still drastically down on where they were a year ago, the uptick in retail pricing for used EVs is the first positive news for electric models for some time.
The used car advertising platform took a snap look at prices so far this month and says it now believes ‘demand is outpacing supply’ for EVs.
The firm’s latest figures show that used EVs have now lost 21.4 per cent of their value in the last year in the retail market.
These huge falls have meant many electric variants are now cheaper in the used market than their petrol or diesel equivalents.
Auto Trader said a three-year-old Renault Clio currently costs an average of £13,163 whereas an electric Zoe is available for £12,550. Meanwhile, an electric Jaguar I-Pace costs around £30k with a fossil-fuel powered F-Pace on average £4k more expensive.
Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s data and insight director, said: ‘Although it’s still early days, it’s positive to see that after more than a year of contraction, the market is beginning to see green shoots emerge in used EV pricing.
‘With the continued de-fleeting of circa 750,000 electric vehicles sold over the last three years it’ll be some time before the market reaches maturity, but with clear signs of prices beginning to stabilise, retailers using our data should have more confidence in being able to source and sell profitable electric cars for their forecourts.’
Auto Trader’s mid-month used car prices update also revealed slight growth for petrol values, up 0.1 per cent, while diesel prices were down 0.7 per cent, compared to August.
However, on an annual basis, prices for petrol are up 3.4 per cent and diesels 2.4 per cent.
Tom Barnard, editor of Electrifying.com, told Car Dealer: ‘The crash in values of used EVs was largely caused by the shock when Tesla slashed the price of its new models.
‘The market seems to have settled now, and buyers are looking at used electric cars and thinking they look like great value.
‘The recent rise in the price of fuel will also make the ownership costs add up for more people.
‘This increase in demand will naturally result in a rise in values, but will also give dealers more confidence to invest in used EV stock.’
Car Dealer recently reported data from Cap HPI which shows values of some electric cars had halved in a year.
Cap HPI said the Seat Mii electric had lost 50.3 per cent of its value since October 2022, the Renault Zoe was down 44.2 per cent and the Nissan Leaf had lost 42.7 per cent.
The firm has also noticed the trend of some EV prices dropping lower than their ICE equivalents.
Derren Martin, director of valuations, told Car Dealer: ‘There’s definitely interest from consumers and dealers are certainly buying EVs again, but they’re being selective about what they buy and they’re not stocking many.
‘There are some real EV bargains at the moment – some are cheaper than the ICE equivalents.’
