Used EV prices in D.C. have dropped, and Tesla’s price swings may be to blame, according to new data analysis.
Nationally, the average price of a used car is down 3.6% from a year ago, but used EV prices nationally have fallen 31.8% since last year, according to vehicle search site iSeeCars, which analyzed used car prices for one- to five-year-old vehicles between February 2023 and February 2024.
Overall used EV depreciation in the D.C. metro area is not as dramatic, but it is on some models.
The outsized depreciation for used EV vehicles is largely because of Tesla’s yo-yo new car pricing, according to the site.
“It is really Elon Musk’s aggressive price cuts of Teslas over the past 14 months to meet sales goals that have caused the price of Teslas to drop dramatically,” said iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer. “With prices dropping on his new vehicles, his used vehicles and all the competing used (EV prices) all drop.”
In the D.C. market, the average price of a used Chevy Bolt EV has dropped 36% in the past year, a used Tesla Model 3 is down 26.4% and the average price of a used Nissan Leaf has dropped 25.7%.
Unlike early years of EV adoption, rapidly evolving technology is not having as much of an impact on used EV pricing. EVs manufactured in recent years largely have similar technology, according to iSeeCars.
Leasing an EV may seem a good hedge against steep depreciation, but that steep depreciation itself means that is not the case right now.
“If you’re going to lease it, they are going to be taking depreciation rates into consideration, and it is going to drive up the leasing costs,” Brauer said.
Brauer does believe buying a used EV now may not be as much of a depreciation gamble as it would have been a year or so ago, he said.
“They are probably not going to drop that much more over the next 12-plus months,” he said. “If you bought a used EV today, it probably is not going to lose another 10% or 15% over the next year or two.”
Seven EV models have led EV used car market depreciation: the Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona, and Tesla Models X, 3 and S.
Hybrids and plug-in hybrid used vehicle prices have held up much better than pure-EV vehicles, for their EV-like use with no concerns about range. They also tend to cost more than a gas car, but less than EV models.
The full report from iSeeCars comparing EV depreciation to overall depreciation can be found on its website.
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