Electric car depreciation: Worst cars of 2024 revealed

Every car loses value as soon as you drive it away from the dealership. This is called depreciation. It’s just something you have to deal with if you buy a new car. But it’s an especially big problem with some new electric cars.

Carwow has partnered with CAP – the vehicle valuation specialists – to find out what’s going on. CAP’s data tracks used-car values for all new models sold in the UK.

We’ve used this to see how used electric car values have changed over the last 12 months.

To do this, we’ve analysed a list of every mainstream car on sale today. We’ve looked up the current trade-in value of a clean, one-year-old car with 10,000 miles on the clock, then we’ve compared this with how much you’d have got for trading in a similar one-year old car, with the same mileage, at this time in 2023.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a clearer understanding of which electric cars to approach with caution and which might offer better long-term value. Check out the video above or read on for the 10 electric cars that have suffered the biggest drop in their value over the last year.

10 Kia EV6

Percentage drop in value: 26.7%

The first car on the list is the Kia EV6 electric SUV. If you traded-in a one-year-old car with 10,000 miles last year, you’d get over £44,500 on average according to CAP’s data.

If you look at a 12-month-old car with the same mileage today, the data shows it’ll be worth less than £33,000. That’s a drop of 26.7%.

9 Cupra Born

Percentage drop in value: 26.8%

In 9th place is the Cupra Born. The trade-in value of a one-year-old car with 10,000 miles has dropped by 26.8% in the last year from over £31,000 to less than £23,000.

That’s even greater than the 24.1% drop in Volkswagen ID3 values – despite both cars sharing many basic components.

But how does the used value of a Cupra Born compare to a petrol or diesel car?

Well, the average trade-in value of a used Cupra Leon hybrid – which is a similar size to the Born – only dropped by 16.4% in the same period. It went from £29,000 on average, to just over £24,200.

And the used value of a petrol version dropped from around £27,000 to just over £23,400. That’s just 13.5%.

8 Audi e-tron GT

Percentage drop in value: 27%

This is interesting because the Audi e-tron GT‘s second-hand values have dropped more than the Porsche Taycan. Even though they’re basically the same underneath.

A one-year old e-tron GT with 10,000 miles is worth 27% less this year than it was last year. That’s a drop in trade-in value from over £45,000 to just over £33,000.

For comparison, the trade-in value of a comparable diesel Audi A7 has only dropped by 2.7% over the same time. And the petrol version only dropped by 1.7%.

That represents a decrease in value of less than £1,000 for each car.

7 Mercedes EQC & Renault Megane

Percentage drop in value: 27.4%

In 7th place on this list are the Mercedes EQC and Renault Megane E-Tech.

The second-hand value of both these cars dropped by 27.4% in the last 12 months.

In terms of actual cash, this means the average trade-in value of a one-year-old Mercedes EQC with 10,000 miles has fallen from just over £45,000, to less than £33,000.

And a value of a similar age Renault with the same amount of miles has dropped from over £29,500 to less than £21,500.

6 Ora Cat

Percentage drop in value: 28.9%

Ora Cat

The Ora Cat is one of the first Chinese cars you’ve been able to buy in the UK. But it doesn’t seem to have particularly stable values on the second-hand market.

The trade-in value of a used Ora Cat has dropped by £7,000 on average since 2023.

This means you can expect to get £17,200 if you trade in a one-year-old car with 10,000 miles today.

That’s down 28.9% compared with this time last year. When you could have been offered an average of £24,200.

5 Mercedes EQB

Percentage drop in value: 30.7%

Back in 2023, a clean, one-year-old Mercedes EQB with 10,000 miles was worth around £44,700 if you traded it in with a dealer.

But now, a year-old car with the same miles is only worth £31,000. That’s 30.7% less!

The EQB is the EV equivalent of the Mercedes GLB. A diesel GLB has dropped in value by 12.1% compared to this time last year – from over £33,600 on average to around £29,600.

Meanwhile petrol versions of the GLB have seen their value drop by just 11.8%.

4 Volvo C40

Percentage drop in value:31%

In 4th place on this list is the Volvo C40. If you went to trade in one of these coupe-style electric SUVs last year, it’d be worth just over £42,700 on average. Today, a similar one-year old car with the same mileage is worth less than £30,000 to a dealer.

That’s a 31% drop over 12 months.

The electric Volvo XC40 – which uses most of the same parts as the C40 – only dropped in value by 18.6% over the same period. The hybrid XC40 dropped by ‘just’ 15.5%, and the value of petrol cars dipped by just 9%.

Toyota bZ4X

Percentage drop in value: 32%

Around 12 months ago, a year-old Toyota bZ4X with 10,000 miles on the clock was worth just over £41,000 if you traded it in. Today, that’s fallen to less than £28,000 for a car with the same age and mileage. That’s 32% lower than last year.

Subaru and Lexus also make versions of this car, called the Solterra and the RZ.

Both of these cars have more stable second-hand values than the Toyota.

Over the last year, trade-in values of the Subaru Solterra have dropped by 23.3%, from almost £42,500 to just over £32,500.

And the Lexus has dropped by 21.4% from almost £54,000 to just over £42,300.

2 Lexus UX

Percentage drop in value: 32.1%

However, it’s not all good news for Lexus. Because the 2nd place car on this list is the Lexus UX. A one-year-old car with 10,000 miles was worth almost £31,300 if you traded it in a year ago.

The trade-in value for a comparable car has dropped to less than £21,300 today. That’s a 32.1% drop.

That drop looks even more serious when you compare it with the standard, hybrid Lexus UX.

A one-year-old used hybrid UX with 10,000 miles today is worth just over £23,100 if you trade it in.

That’s only 13.6% less than a comparable car was worth this time last year.

1 Citroen C4 X

Percentage drop in value: 32.1%

The electric car that has seen the biggest drop in used values over the last year is the Citroen C4 X.

12 months ago, you’d have got £25,891 for a one-year-old, 10,000 mile car.

Now, that value has dropped to just £17,458 for a similar one-year old car with 10,000 miles. That’s £8,433 less. And it’s a drop of 32.6%.

Electric versions of the C4 hatchback have also dropped over the last year. Although by ‘just’ £4,356. Which works out at 23.7%.

It turns out that petrol- and diesel-powered versions of this car remained much more stable in terms of second-hand trade-in values. As is the case with most cars on this list.

The value of a petrol-engine C4 dropped by just over £3,600 or 19.7%. And the diesel dropped by just over £2,200, or 12% on average.

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