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I’m a mechanic with 55 years’ experience – Three reasons EV prices are plummeting
A MECHANIC with 55 years of experience has revealed three reasons why prices for electric vehicles (EVs) are plummeting.
Scotty Kilmer took to to explain why second-hand electric cars are being sold at bargain prices on the resale market.
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Scotty said: "Used car prices have stabilised but one is dropping like a stone - and that is used electric vehicles.
"It's bad enough when you buy a new one, when you buy a used one you don't know what you're going to be getting.
"When you buy a used electric car that's got 100,000 miles on it, the warranty for the battery is gone.
"If it's a Tesla that's $20,000 to $30,000 to replace...these things are;t worth more money than they are selling them for...now it's come home to roost."
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Data compiled by in June found that 29 of the 30 cars with the biggest second-hand price drop over the last six months have been EVs.
Their value fell by an average of a whopping 33.6%, compared to just a 0.5% drop for petrol cars and 1.3% for diesel models.
The 2017 Nissan Leaf topped the list with a 39.4% depreciation between December and June.
Higher-end offerings like the Tesla Model X and Porsche Taycan saw over £20,000 knocked off their value over the period.
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Scotty touched on one of the key issues driving the decline, that being the cost of making the transition from internal combustion to battery power.
The complexity of electric cars and the rapidly evolving nature of the technology means that parts and specialist mechanics can be hard to find, while DIY fixes are mostly impossible.
Similarly, the upcoming expiration of exemptions from road tax and London's Congestion Charge in 2025 are making EVs less attractive in a straight shoot-out on cost.
Secondly, as the UK hurtles towards Net Zero, demand for all-electric models has exceeded infrastructure, particularly in terms of charging points.
A new map revealed that the number of charging points has increased rapidly in recent months, but some parts of the country are yet to be brought onto the grid.
Indeed, large areas of Somerset, Cumbria and Yorkshire are complete blackspots for EV charging.
This means that drivers in those areas have to rely on home charging points, which can be expensive to install and run.
At the same time, the number of manufacturers and products available has increased to keep pace with demand, which drags prices down as EVs become more readily available.
This was not helped by industry giant Tesla making swinging cuts to their prices in an attempt to remain competitive.
EV expert Tom Barnard said: "We...can’t underestimate the impact of Tesla’s sudden price cuts on the used markets.
"Residuals spiralled downwards as owners and traders alike became frightened of losing more money.
"This then hit the values of rival cars."
Finally, it tends to be older EVs that depreciate the most as the field has advanced so rapidly that they have been left in the dust.
This means that drivers are less likely to pick up models from before the last three years as so many of their features are outdated.
Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars told : "Categorically, electric vehicles depreciate more than the average vehicle.
"Because the technology of EVs changes at a rapid pace, obsolescence also plays a role in their dramatic depreciation as well as consumer range anxiety and lack of public charging infrastructure."
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It comes after a group of car experts explained the five most common complaints they hear from EV owners and how to fix them.
Meanwhile, as prices for electric models plunged, The Sun exclusively revealed that the White Van Man favourite Ford Transit has seen prices rocket by thousands since 2018.
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