Used EV values holding firm

By Alan Feldberg - 28/11/2019

The value of used electric vehicles is rising, bucking an overall industry trend for used vehicles.

This is according to exclusive research by CarGurus. Every day it analyses millions of data points on hundreds of thousands of UK used car listings to calculate each car’s Instant Market Value (IMV) or fair retail price.

Using this data, it found that prices either rose or remained level for months at a time for the four most searched-for EVs on CarGurus.co.uk — the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe and Tesla Model S.

Figures show that between January 2017 and November 2019 the average asking price for a used 2015 model year Renault Zoe increased by 18%, from £6,425 to £7,612. By comparison, the average price for the most popular petrol and diesel supermini of the same age on CarGurus.co.uk, the Ford Fiesta, decreased by 22% over the same period, from £9,165 to £7,160.

The BMW i3 have risen by one per cent since the start of the year, while the values of petrol or diesel-engine MINI hatchbacks, the most searched-for premium small car on CarGurus, fell by 14% over the same period.

The Nissan Leaf is also performing well compared to the most searched for petrol or diesel family car on CarGurus, the Volkswagen Golf, while at the higher end of the price scale, the 2015 Tesla Model S luxury EV fell by 29% between October 2017 and November 2019, while the Mercedes-Benz S-Class dropped by 37% in the same period.

Chris Knapman, CarGurus.co.uk editor, said: “Our data shows that the residual values of EVs have turned a corner as an increasing number of buyers are starting to take advantage of the benefits of electric motoring, such as the low running costs and easy driving manners of cars like the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.

“With the market changing so quickly it can be hard to judge what’s a fair deal, which is why the price analysis and deal ratings offered by CarGurus are such powerful tools. With this technology to hand, consumers wanting to move into the world of electric motoring can feel confident of paying a fair price.”