Electric vehicle residual value forecasts are moving closer to traditional diesel cars as the used car market becomes more accustomed to the technology they contain, according to the latest data from Glass’s.
Glass’s said in some cases RV forecasts for EVs are already broadly similar to their diesel equivalent citing the Vauxhall Ampera Electron’s 27.6% at three years/ 60,000 miles compared with the Insignia SRI CDTi’s 34.6%, while the BMW i3 extender Suite at 39.1% is just a few points below the BMW 320d Sport’s 43.46%.
“Clearly, there is still a difference here between EVs and diesels but there are signs that it is closing all the time. Crucially, when the overall running costs of an EV are taken into account, factors such as savings on fuel mean that they may beat traditional models,” said Rupert Pontin, Glass’s head of valuations.
Glass’s said it was likely that EV RVs would continue to close the gap on diesels as used car retailers and buyers became more familiar with the technology.
“EVs of one kind or another currently account for about 2% of the market. However, if the UK is to meet its 2020 emissions target of 95g/km per vehicle, their penetration must increase quite rapidly. As this happens and they become a more familiar part of our daily lives, we expect EV RVs to firm up and stabilise,” he said.
The best performing residuals for an EV have been achieved by Tesla (pictured).
“The residual value gold standard for EVs is the Tesla Model S. Its minimum 220 mile range means that its three year/60,000 mile value is around 43% – almost exactly the same as a well-established direct competitor, the BMW M535D M Sport.”
