IS IT TIME TO BUY AN EV?

With new and used prices tumbling, electric motoring looks like being in reach for many more car buyers. John Evans analyses the maturing second-hand market

Crisis looms as used electric car values plummet'. 'Used electric car prices plunge in March'. Just two recent headlines guaranteed to have made EV buyers pause before signing the vehicle order form.

Falling values and prices matter because no one, dealers or customers, wants to buy a used car today that could cost them less tomorrow. With some EVs losing as much as 30% in the past 12 months (face the wall, Tesla Model S) and others losing almost as much (including the Jaguar I-Pace, Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf, Audi E-tron and Tesla Model 3), the risk for a dealer and their customer being left holding an overpriced liability has been great.

They aren't out of the woods yet, either. Last month, Cap HPI reported that values had slipped an average of 3.1%. The biggest fallers were the old-model Hyundai Kona Electric (down 9%), the Citroën ë-C4 and MG ZS EV (7%), and the Volkswagen ID 3, current Nissan Leaf and old Kia e-Niro (5%).

Pre-facelift Teslas Model S and Model X were also down 5%, as was the Porsche Taycan, which like other premium EVs has taken a battering in recent months.

"I call this trough in EV values the valley of death," says Philip Nothard, insight and strategy director at Cox Automotive and chair of the Vehicle Remarketing Association. "It's vital government and the motor industry come together to support consumers and in particular private buyers as they make the transition to used EVs. By 2027, almost half of one-to three-year-old cars will be EVs. If there isn't price stability and a reliable public charging network, they may be deterred from buying them." The idea of Rishi Sunak touting used EVS sounds laughable, but when dealers are scared to stock them and 2030 is fast approaching, desperate times might demand even more desperate measures.