It’s been years since I’ve checked the used electric market, but I’m seeing cars like the Hyundai Ionic 6 or Polestar 2 for low 30s, where as they were in the high 40s or mid 50s new a year ago.
My suspicion is that:
- Normal car depreciation when driven off the lot
- General fear of batteries wearing down prematurely, even if the car has ~10k miles
- Any applicable federal rebates or otherwise have already been claimed and can’t be claimed on used vehicles(?)
Is there any other reason why these drop so quickly? Would buying one be considered foolish in anyway?
Nobody really knows how long such a battery holds out. As it is the major cost factor of an EV, people are reluctant to pay high prices.
While we don’t know the top end yet, we know the average is at least 100,000 miles or every EV manufacturer wouldn’t warranty for that much. And that is just for when the batteries hit 30% degradation, not total failure.
Long term surveys are showing as little as 10% degradation after over 150,000 miles. After over 12 years on the road, less than 5% of old Teslas Model S’s have needed battery replacements. The average lifespan of an ICE car is around 12 years, but less than 8% of EVs built in 2011 have needed a battery replacement and less than 4% of EVs built in 2012 have.
Typically they are guaranteed for 100K miles.