What this says is that picking up a secondhand EV should be a good move.
I bought a really inexpensive used Leaf almost a decade ago. It’s been the best car purchase of my life. Sure, I’m not going on any road trips with it, but for 99% of my driving, it’s perfect and charges off my standard outlet in the garage.
This applies to all cars. I don’t think there’s ever a situation where you should buy a completely new vehicle over a used one that’s 2-5 years old. The value proposition is just insane
Yeah unless you want very specific customizations and don’t care about the costs
This is why it’s a good idea to lease rather than buy EVs and luxury cars, at least in countries where leasing is available and for brands that lease well.
The lease has fixed monthly payments, and a fixed residual value. If the car goes down in value more than expected, you can just return the car at the end of the lease - you’re not on the hook for that extra depreciation.
Buying a car is good if you’ll keep it for a long time (say at least 7 or 8 years). EV technology is changing so quickly though, so I’m not sure I’d want to keep an EV for that long.
Technically for a lease to get ahead of sellers value, you need it to be really really cheap, otherwise you’re still not getting enough vs. a sell (or trade in, even!). You’re right that EVs in 5 years could be great, though, which is one reason I’m holding out… that, and who the fuck trusts the market right now.
Your mileage will vary, though, as some markets look good. I’m curious about the Chinese sodium batteries, personally. They’re also making them affordable, while the US market is strictly luxury these days (rip Chevy). I had hopes for the VW minibus but it looks overpriced and underwhelming. Basically, if you want to fight devalue and aren’t buying used, you need it to start low with real incentives and actual negotiations on MSRP.
Or, you know, buy used. I might be willing to get a VW minibusin a few years if range doesn’t get better, and it probably won’t unless we get a new battery model.
Technically for a lease to get ahead of sellers value, you need it to be really really cheap, otherwise you’re still not getting enough vs. a sell (or trade in, even!).
That’s true, however that’s the case for a lot of EVs in the USA at the moment, since many manufacturers currently have rebates that you can only get when leasing.
In the US, I’m paying around $32k total for a three year, 12k mile per year lease of a BMW iX with around $101k MSRP. It definitely would have cost more to buy it then sell after three years, especially since the Neue Klasse BMWs will be available by then (which may result in higher deprecation of the older models).
BMW have a $9,900 lease credit which reduces the cost quite a bit compared to buying.
Yeah, I can see that losing 32k in value after 3 years. My frame of reference is much lower where 32k would be a new car and resale after 3 years would remain a bit closer, but in the EV market that’s slim pickings right now. Of course, owning and selling also depends on when you have to replace parts, and if BMW EVs are anything like their ICE counterparts, I imagine repairs are extra pricy.
but in the EV market that’s slim pickings right now
In the USA, sure. In other countries, there’s plenty of EVs in the US$15-30k range. Kinda sad that the US doesn’t get the cheap Chinese EVs because they’re quite good. I’ve driven some MG and BYD EVs in Australia and I would have bought one if they were available in the USA.
It’s just lobbyists and politics ruining progress. I’m aware what we’re missing out on but, you know, there are considerably worse things about being American right now so… picking battles.
There’s a chance I’ll end up in Japan but I heard similar issues there.
