As soon as a vehicle is driven off the forecourt, the value instantly drops. However, there is discussion around whether a more premium car can hold its value for longer. But what about electric vehicles? To what extent does this apply to the ever-growing green cars we have on our roads?
Electric and hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular and are starting to enter the second-hand market, meaning a lot of people may be wondering how well certain models hold their value.
New research from Compare The Market has delved into the data of ‘new’ prices for the most common plug-in and hybrid vehicles to ‘used’ prices to reveal how much electric and hybrid cars depreciate in value and those which hold their value the most.
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Electric vehicles with the lowest depreciation
The electric vehicle which holds its value the best is VW’s electric version of the Golf, with used models selling for an average price of £23,248 – three-quarters of its ‘new’ (£31,025) price three years ago.
This is followed by two Tesla models: the Model S 75 (26.7% depreciation) and Model X 75D (27.5%). Teslas are among the most expensive electric vehicles overall and benefit from regular software updates which may be why they retain their value so well.
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Electric vehicles with the highest depreciation
The models which are the worst at holding their values are Hyundai Ioniq Premium SE, which has a depreciation of £13,682 (46.7%), Renault Zoe (Signature Nav), which has a depreciation of £11,674 (46.8%) and the Renault Zoe (Dynamique Nav) which depreciates by £10,633 (46.9%).
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Hybrid vehicles with the lowest depreciation
Looking at hybrid vehicles, the one with the best resale value over the last three years is the Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid, with a new price of £81,141 (2017) and a used price to £64,030 (2020) meaning there’s a depreciation of just 21%.
This is followed by Mini’s hybrid offering, the Countryman Cooper SE started at £51,585 (2017), which dropped to £21,622 in 2020 (depreciation of 31.5%) and another version of the VW Golf, the GTE Advance which started at £32,145 and reduced to £20,466 (depreciation of 36.3%).
Other vehicles with the lowest depreciation are the Volvo XC60 which started at £57,950 and dropped to £36,523 (37%) and the Toyota Prius VVT-h, which depreciated by 38% from £29,195 to £18,102.
Read next: Audi e-tron review: Best premium all-electric SUV?
Hybrid vehicles with the highest depreciation
The hybrids which are the worst at holding their value are the Kia Optima, which depreciates by £18,708 (53.2%), the Mercedes-Benz E350e (53.1%), Mercedes-Benz C5350e (51.5%), BMW 225xe Active Tourer (50.1%) and the Audi A3 e-tron (49.4%).
Interestingly, the worst-performing hybrids lose more of their value than electric cars, whereas the best performing electric cars do not hold their value as well as hybrids.
The Audi e-tron has just overtaken the Tesla Model 3 as the best selling car in Norway, which is an exciting development for Audi, who’s A3 e-tron ranks as the fifth worst model which loses value.
