Electric cars that crash in value in a year: Some are worth just a THIRD of

Some electric cars are worth as little as a third of their initial price – the equivalent of shedding £26,000 – after just 12 months, with This is Money revealing the 20 models with the most appalling residual values.

EVs in general have suffered catastrophic depreciation since the end of 2022 when a cocktail of issues sent used prices into a downward spiral.

This perfect storm hit almost simultaneously, involving a cost-of-living crisis, rocketing energy prices, hard-hitting media coverage of EVs, an oversupply of vehicles entering the second-hand market, and Tesla slashing new model prices. 

It quickly brewed into a destructive tornado for used electric car values.

Three years later, this punishing depreciation is still hitting EV values – and to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds for owners who bought them outright, according to data shared with This is Money and MailOnline.

Cap hpi – experts in the field of vehicle pricing – provided us with market information showing troubling EV residual values compared to cars of other fuel types, while also revealing the models that hemorrhage the most money after only 12 months.

To understand what’s stalling a recovery for second-hand EV prices, we also spoke to industry insiders to get their perspective on the crippling impact for the motor sector.

How much faster are EVs depreciating?

To understand just how rapidly EVs are leaking value, cap hpi provided data across all fuel types comparing their average new price and what a year-old model with 10,000 miles on the clock is worth. 

The average EV loses 43.2 per cent of its initial price over this 12-month period. In monetary terms, it means the resale value of a year-old EV is typically £25,900 less than the recommended retail price the owner paid.

How does that compare to other fuel types?

Hybrids are holding their value best, losing only 30.4 per cent (around £12,500) of their RRP in the first year.

New diesels – which are incredibly rare now that car makers have slashed their availability on emissions grounds – are also holding value far more strongly than EVs, shedding 31.1 per cent (or just under £17,500) of their original cost.

Buyers of petrol cars can expect to see 31.5 per cent of the retail price wiped from their motor’s value after the first 12 months, which is the equivalent of £18,000.

And it’s plug-in hybrids that are depreciating at a rate closest to EVs, ditching 36.3 per cent of their value, which is a typical loss against the RRP of nearly £29,000 after one year.

We exclusively reveal which 20 electric cars are currently depreciating the fastest, with owners left with EVs worth a third of their original price after just 12 months…

Which EV models shed most value in 12 months?

Below is the countdown of the 20 electric cars that lose the most value in the first year, with a detailed look at the top 10 biggest fallers.

When we asked cap hpi what makes these particular models shed value quicker than others, it said one of the biggest factors is that they were available in ‘high volumes’ during the period when EV values initially started barrel-rolling – around late 2022 and early 2023.

Another contributor to their poor residual value is that many were launched with both a small and larger battery option, with the former much cheaper but far less appealing to used buyers.

‘The smaller battery option looks inferior to rivals in term of range and charging capability, and these were often superseded by slightly larger, more efficient batteries,’ Dylan Setterfield, head of forecast strategy at cap hpi, tells us.

This combination of factors is why the 20 EVs listed below shed between 53 per cent and almost 67 per cent of their value in 12 months.