Electric vehicle depreciation

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How long is a piece of string?

Ok it's probably an unanswerable question, but a new electric vehicle priced at just shy of £40k today. What's a typical (plus or minus 5k) market value estimate after 4 years? Assuming maybe 20,000 mileage in that time?
 
But that's not what I'm asking for. I'm looking at affordability and lease options with buyout Vs alternative funding... And I need an estimate of depreciation
 
But that's not what I'm asking for. I'm looking at affordability and lease options with buyout Vs alternative funding... And I need an estimate of depreciation

You started an EV thread, what you're asking for is irrelevant, as you'll soon discover.

To give you a better answer however, you'd have to be absolutely mental to go in to EV ownership from new and at your own cost, unless you're willing to accept a 50% hit in value after a year.


Some fantastic used deals to be had though.
 
How long is a piece of string?

Ok it's probably an unanswerable question, but a new electric vehicle priced at just shy of £40k today. What's a typical (plus or minus 5k) market value estimate after 4 years? Assuming maybe 20,000 mileage in that time?

I’m an EV owner but I lease. Buying an EV new is a mugs game. Too much depreciation and the battery tech is still evolving.

Either lease or buy used and avoid the depreciation.
 
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It's actually leasing (salary sacrifice) that I'm pricing up... But the big q is - whether to buy out the vehicle at the end of the term...
 
Just so many wildcards - evolution in battery tech and you'll take a huge hit, if fuel prices and/or shortages become an issue you might see value hold up, etc. etc. increasing insurance costs for EVs, electricity prices and probably VED likely won't do you favours, but then some of those factors will also impact ICE cars the opposite way, etc.
 
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I'm self-employed through my own limited company, the ONLY reason I've debated going and getting an EV is due to the tax benefits through my company, if I was going to get one personally, unless my workplace had a car scheme in place which would benefit me in the long run, I would never run out and buy one out of my own pocket, be it on lease, finance or cash, I know people who've had Audi GT e-trons and Porsche Taycans who've seen between 35-40% wiped off in depreciation within a year!
 
But that's not what I'm asking for. I'm looking at affordability and lease options with buyout Vs alternative funding... And I need an estimate of depreciation

Finance companies are best at this, it's literally what they have to figure out to not get burnt..

The COVID/post COVID component shortage and EV Salary Sacrifice schemes meant we went through a wobbly period, however in 2021 when we bought our ID.3 (PCP) the GFV for 3 years was spot on.. it was £18k, and after 2.8 years, I sold it via carWow at trade price to a dealer for £21k..
The issue was it was still worth more than we paid for it new for over 16 months, then it dropped sharply when SS leases dumped a stupid amount of cars on the market which meant gross over supply, however, EV demand is still high, its the gross over supply that is the issue.

The market has already reacted, SS leases have shot up nearly 20% to compensate and I presume manage what they predict is this high demand will continue to be outstripped with even higher supply for some time..

Just don't worry, SS Lease prices are still decent, considering most include insurance (is usually higher on EVs) and maintained for reasonable monthlies, stop worrying what final residuals are, if they fall through the floor, hand the car back at the end and buy second hand at the crazy low prices, or just go for an ICE car, or re-lease if prices aren't stupid..
 
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The EV brigade will be along imminently to explain that depreciation doesn't matter if you intend to keep it and that it's the best decision you'll ever make and they're so comfy and cheap and fast and like totes amazeballs and if you disagree you're a idiot lolz

Dont be silly, few of the brigage actually own their cars :p
 
The simple answer is, it's high. EVs become hard to sell at 5+ years old and once the battery warranty expires, forget about it. Many dealers will turn them away.

The whole buy and replace every 3 years doesn't seem very green tbh.
 
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Dont be silly, few of the brigage actually own their cars :p

Indeed. When I got in to EVs it was for the cheap deals rather than any ideas of going green. I just felt buying an EV that will be outdated tech in 3 or 4 years was a mugs game.

The used EV market is a better bet. Get a 1 year old EV with most of the depreciation gone already. 30% - 40% in one year is massive. If you plan to own until it goes to a scrap yard, fair enough. But if you buy new again every 3 - 4 years it’s a massive hit financially.
 
The EV market today is scary. I had a Polestar 2 and it was costing just north of £300 a month they sold that car two years later for not much over 20k. Lease deals going up to closer to a grand a month are scary.

Buy used, something with a decent range that actually is more than just a claimed range
 
Good tho innit. Half the engineering world is going "LOL SOLID STATE BATTERIES THE FUTURE YO" and the other half is going "LOLNO" which means in reality nobody has a clue, resulting in nobody wanting to take the plunge and if the proponents turn out to be correct, the current crop will be dinosaurs overnight.

Of course this is an oversimplification but there are loads of these potential zingers hiding in the shadows of EV ownership and if even one of them pops its head out, it'll throw the whole industry on its head.

None of this matters to the gov though, they'll just keep forcing them down our throats until we all succumb and if a new tech changes the landscape, they'll simply drop the mic and run like they did with diesel.
 
I'm self-employed through my own limited company

So I bought my I Pace personally. It's not leased so all the depreciation is on me - I got much grief from anti-EV friends for doing this.

However, I sold the I Pace to my Ltd Co. It's a way of getting money out the Ltd Co - the Co then has to pay for the insurance and servicing etc which is helpful. You also get to discount the eventual sale price against corporation tax (I'm a bit vague on this aspect but I think it slightly lessens the burn of the depreciation). It reduced my personal allowance by £1500 or so as it's now a BIK (again bit woolly on this bit as it's not my forte).

In my case, I handed the money back to my Ltd Co the following day so is now a directors loan. I'll be using this to fund income during 24/25 and I'm also selling 2 rental properties. By using the directors loan for income, it will bring overall income down for that tax year and result in me paying basic rate CGT on the property sales. :)
 
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I'm self-employed through my own limited company, the ONLY reason I've debated going and getting an EV is due to the tax benefits through my company,
100%

Anyone buying an EV brand new with real money is buying too soon. They are priced almost exclusively for the salary sacrifice market atm.

Anyone buying an EV with real money should only be buying second hand.
 
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