EV Depreciation

Looking online, the depreciation on a 1-year-old 64kw MG4 Excite LR is minimal. With the drop in the EV grant, I could possibly come out level (€32,500) but I would probably be looking at losing €1500 - €2500 if I wanted to move it quickly.

I think if I put it up for €30,000, I would get it as a new LR range costs €33,345, and that's the base price with no colour option, so you would be looking at north of €34k for the grey version I have. 1-year-old standard range versions are being advertised for just under €28k.

Completely agree.

Many motoring sites recommend that you carry a fire extinguisher in the car, and it's not so you can help out if you see an EV on fire.

As someone looking to buy a used Tesla model 3 in January I’m all for these type of pieces…😊

We bought one at 32k. New cars depreciate and the depreciation of the Ora is perfectly in line with expectations.

My own personal experience and I was apprehensive about getting an EV due to the 'limited' range.

Last weekend, I had to charge the car publicly for the first time - I always charge at home and never needed to use a public charger so that's a big tick for the EV and it has saved me a lot.

I left it charging overnight, but I made a mistake and the scheduled charging didn't happen. I had an 85km commute on Saturday (170km round trip) and the battery was at 29%. That was enough to get me there but just shy of getting me home. I stopped on my way back at an easygo dc 75kw charger and grabbed a cup of coffee, the battery was at 13% when I left and 51% when I got back after my coffee. Jumped back in and got home - no bother whatsoever. The range for most people is not an issue and if you are a well-prepared person, the EV will be much better than going to a service station.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt". That's such a poor article with all the usual tropes. Given what Tesla did with their prices in the first week of January and the arrival of properly priced decent quality Chinese cars, anyone who bought an EV from another manufacturer in 2023 was always at risk of paying over the odds. Because that's what's happened here. The car hasn't suffered "massive depreciation". For a short period of time, new ones were massively overpriced. And Weckler is a mug if he believes all the other shoite in that article. But I suspect he doesn't; the article is intended for the mugs, not written by one.

Weckler is right.

The market is now so precarious that the solvency of a few quite large makers is in doubt in 2024.

Don't say you weren't warned.

My own experience

Bought a 3.5 year old EV for 20k, 2 years later sold it for 12k, so 4k/year depreciation

I also spent about €10 a week standard on fuel, and maybe €100 over that time on day tripping fuel so lets round to about €1100 on total fuel for that period so let's say €550 per year on fuel

Each tyre was changed twice at a cost of €75 per tyre so €600 so lets say €300 per year on tyres

That was kinda it

By comparison I bought my old car for 12k and sold it for 1k after 7 years of ownership so annually €1,500 on depreciation

I was spending €55 on diesel a week on my old car. standard so €2640 plus maybe €400 on holidaying non-standard stuff per year so €3,040 on fuel

It needed 4 new tyres a year, so again €300 on tyres

Over those 7 years there was

Timing belts - €900 - €120/year

Clutch + Flywheel - €900 - €120/year

7 injectors - €100 each - €100/year

The Exhaust Gas Recirc valve had to be remapped - €900 - €120/year

Went through 3 exhausts - €70 each - €30/year

Servicing twice a year at €300 each time- €600/year

Tax difference was €215/year

So total cost per year of the leaf - €4850

Total cost of the diesel - €6145

Not much but 2 things to bear in mind. Diesel was about €1.30/L when I was spending €55/week and the upgrade from a 12 year old car to a 3.5 year one resulted in much nicer driving experiences

Ford?

High deprecation is not a given on all cars, fyi Im looking at less than 20% deprecation on a VW suv after 2 years, and 25% on a 202 Skoda estate. The day you buy is the day you sell. Adrian had expected similar percentage depreciation on the ID3 but he’s seen approx 40% over two years.

The unique market saw high demand and limited supply especially from 2021 to 2022, which pushed used prices artificially high - Model 3’s were selling well above list. In order to capitalise on this manufacturers stopped all discounts and increased list prices which made new cars artificially high - eg Tesla, ID’s and Ioniq 5’s, Enyaq’s

Now that we have seen big price adjustments downwards for Tesla, ID’s and Cupra to levels that are v competitive versus petrol/ diesels, I think these cars will hold their value well going forward. Some EV’s are still over priced massively and until you see a price correction, deprecation is going to be killer on them eg e-Tron’s, Ioniq 5’s, Kia’s, Mustangs. BYD are mad money here versus Chinese prices - ie they are way cheaper than the Model 3 in China but dearer here so likely a lot of room for price cuts and high depreciation for early adopters.

Higb demand and under supply has also been an issue for some diesels - and it’s led to massive price increases eg (Mercedes C class). These cars are also seeing v high deprecation so it’s not a unique EV thing

I've a friend who bought a 2015 Hyundai IX35 diesel for 15k, Diesels seem to be holding their value at the moment but is it really worth it?

I dont disagree with you that EVs suit the majority of people who have own driveway. However, I dont agree with a cant beat em join em response to anti EV people view on the non suitability of EVs to the majority of drivers - what proportion of ICE drivers spend hours every month filling up at fuel stations?

Are you basing those depreciation figures on a trade in quote?

do the majority of drivers not have their own driveway?

That wasn't my point though . I fully agree that EVs suit the majority of people with own driveway. Probably could say the vast majority tbh. The only real exception at the moment IMO are those who tow, need 7 seaters and those who cant afford to shell out for a decent range EV. The latter issue is diminishing now as more reasonablly priced used EVs come on stream

Our experience differs slightly. Although diesels have longer range so things are less noticeable, the discrepancy between claimed and real world is just as stark. Our last diesel was advertised at 4.1l/100 km at high speed. The only time I ever saw that was on the way down from Ticknock to the coast. The rest of the time we'd get 5.2 at best (79% of claimed) and in the summer with aircon on, 5.3/5.4.

Our EV has a WLTP of 533km and at 120kph 3 seasons of the year, we get exactly 400km of range, 75% of claimed.

The last time I read an AW article it was on the battery range and how manufacturers should be more honest. Because he had driven on the motorway from X to Y and not gotten the listed range.

But we know the listed range is based on a variety of driving including city driving. Not a how far can you go on the motorway test. No one buys a petrol car that does 40mpg and complains that after a motorway drive at 120kmph they only got 30mpg. They understand if you go faster you use more fuel.

As for the depreciation I changed after 15 months a 222 MG ZS for a 232 MGZS. I tried BYD and Tesla, neither of which take in trade-ins but rather sell to the trade. They were offering what I was getting from the "we buy any car" sites. Around the €22 mark.

But MG on the other hand gave me €35K. I had bought it for €36.5K the year before so only losing 1500 was good.

On the other side, the new car had jumped to €42,750. So we landed on my car + €6K. (Also it had a sunroof. MG have stopped adding the sunroof to the new ones so was happy to get one of the last ones of those)

So if you go back to the same brand dealer (that has a used market) you will do okay I feel. If you want to change to another brand then you are likely to see a big drop off as they are worried about the used market at the moment.

I got chatting to one dealer and he just said things went mad for a few years with prices of used cars being more expensive than new cars due to the backlog. But now supply has caught up everyone is overly careful and over-correcting, he expected it to balance out a bit over the next 1-2 years again.

Depends on the car. You try driving a Subaru Solterra for example and come back to me. Add in a motorway and it’ll be worse again.

I’ve driven upwards of 50 EVs this year and I see plenty of variables whether it’s range, efficiency, charging curves, motorway range etc etc

"They understand if you go faster you use more fuel."

I'm not sure about that, whether it's EV or ICE I think lot of people don't get this.

Neither do they get that driving faster leads to more wear and tear, jamming on the brakes wears tyres and brakepads faster etc. etc.

Those of little faith...

VW Tiguan : 221 New RRP €49000 (Inc Met / On the road).

Trade In Offered (45,000km) : €43500 - so actually 11% depreciation

VW Tiguan : 224 New RRP €51500 (Inc Met- same spec)

Cost to Change: €8000 (4k per annum)

Skoda Octavia : 202 New RRP €26500

Trade In Offered : €20000 - so 25% depreciation

Skoda Octavia : 224 New RRP €32000

Cost to Change : €12000 (€3428 per annum)

To be clear these are real life trade-in values for new factory order for delivery 2024. Potentially I might do better selling privately but I'm busy enough without having loads of idiots low balling or asking me to take a swap etc.

I would highlight that not all Skoda or VW dealers offered the same- one VW dealer in Fermoy offered me 6k less for my car, so my strong advice is to shop around near and far when trading in fresh cars into main dealers.