A new report has revealed that electric vehicles depreciate in value faster than their petrol or diesel equivalents, which could be good news for those who are keen to purchase a used EV to keep up with the trend.

According to the analysis, EVs will lose an average of 51 percent of their original cost between 2020 and 2023, compared to just 37 percent for petrol-powered vehicles. For EV owners, this translates to a loss of £15,220, while owners of fuel vehicles lose £9,901.

The study compared the value of new cars now to their pricing in 2020. The estimate for 2023 is based on the typical cost of vehicles posted for sale by private parties or dealerships. In order to assess buy now prices, the investigation also analysed well-known car-buying websites.

The Tesla S model lost a staggering £25,000 in value in just three years, proving that the higher the initial purchase, the greater the loss. But even the entry-level models, like the Nissan Leaf, are suffering £13,000 losses. According to the study, entry-level vehicles frequently see greater percentage value declines; for example, the Hyundai Ionic lost 67 percent of its value.

This is partially because of a market correction that caused new EVs to have lower initial purchase prices, but market analysts predict that the trend of increased rates of depreciation will persist.

“Our research shows yet another blow for EV owners, on top of many other issues that have come to light recently,” said Nick Zapolski whose company ordered the research.

“Not only are the EVs themselves not holding value, but the price of electricity itself has also zoomed up, meaning running the cars is not as economical as it once was. Home charge points are expensive to install (if you even had the necessary driveway to allow that) and there has been uproar about the availability and reliability of public charge points.

“On top of that, recent decisions made by the Government mean that some of the initial incentives to encourage EV ownership are being discontinued, such as lower tax and free entry into ULEZ zones.

“The Government really needs to take action if it wants to continue to push the idea of EVs onto the consumer, as currently the cons of EV ownership threaten to outweigh the pros.”

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