Who dare to switch to e-mobility and one Buy an electric car want to be happy: The Purchase bonus of up to 9,000 euros The price of new cars with electric drive is increasingly approaching that of comparable combustion vehicles. However, the low price level for newly registered electric vehicles also has an impact elsewhere: Because used electric cars will always cheaper – or lose more and more residual value, depending on the point of view of buyers and sellers.
According to the DAT barometer from October 2021, the used car market for electric cars – unlike gasoline or diesel vehicles – is price under pressure like never. According to the analysis by Deutsche Automobil Treuhand, among other things: “At the moment, dealers sell their used gasoline vehicles for 58.0 percent of the former list price, diesel for 55.2 percent. One challenge is however the Marketing of battery electric used vehicles. The premiums for new e-cars in particular exert a great deal of pressure on prices, so that the values of three-year vehicles currently with 47.4 percent are now far below the classic combustion engines. “
Electric bestsellers at low prices at AUTO BILD
Because of the ongoing bottlenecks due to the lack of chips, not only new cars, but also many used models are rare, sought-after and therefore expensive. But not the one with an electric motor. Three examples: There is a European bestseller in AUTO BILD’s used car market Renault Zoe (Built in 2016) for under 6500 euros, the BMW i3 (Year of construction 2015) from approx. 16,000 euros – and the electrical pioneer Nissan Leaf at the age of three for less than 19,000 euros.
E-Premium makes new Smarts cheaper by almost half
That it is the Market for used BEVs (purely battery-powered e-cars) has a hard time is mainly due to the strong promotion of new cars: “The price difference between a new and a used electric car is often too small to make it attractive for the buyer to buy the used car,” explains Martin Weiss, Head of DAT Vehicle Valuation. A example that it is especially with the smaller segments Problems gives, delivers Smart: A Smart EQ fortwo starts as a new car at 21,940 euros, minus an environmental bonus of 9,570 euros (including saved VAT), the mini-Stromer only costs 12,370 euros – these are 56.4 percent of the real List price.
In general, there is a lot of movement in the e-car market: “Almost all existing models are made by automobile manufacturers revised regularly, and during the life cycle manufacturers may have the Significantly lower list prices for electric vehicles. Partly also become perfect new platforms, sub-brands or new model families created “, said DAT to AUTO BILD Technological leaps currently still fast, so Weiss. You would have significant effects for example on the Range or that Charging behavior. Every used car seller quickly runs out of arguments why the customer should buy a three- or four-year-old car.
Impairment of the value of e-cars for many years
And a Turnaround is not in sight. The subsidy granted by the state and manufacturers until the end of 2025 will be the Making it harder to sell a used e-car over the long termthe DAT predicts. “If the current bonus had expired in 2021, it would have taken a few years for the price level of used electrified vehicles to recover a permanent state“, predicts Martin Weiss. A prospective buyer now knows that he will be in the next five years a brand new e-car – and also plug-in hybrids – always at a heavily discounted price could acquire. That pull down the overall value of used e-cars – especially for vehicles that are already relatively cheap, the new price of which is reduced by a third or even halved by the environmental bonus. The situation is worsening for the retail sector.
There is also repercussions for the resale of plug-in hybrids
Plug-in hybrid models are subsidized by the environmental bonus for new purchases of up to 6750 euros.
The same goes for Plug-in hybrid models (PHEV) – that is, cars with combustion engines and e-drives that can be charged externally. You will receive a subsidy of up to 6750 euros, plus advantages for company car taxation. They too experienced a real boom in the past few months. The high premium could also be the Resale price of plug-in hybrids, experts fear: “We have big ones concernswhat the future Performance concerned “, said Andreas Geilenbrügge from the residual value analyst Schwacke opposite the specialist portal “Kfz-Betrieb”. the Demand for used cars will probably do not grow as fast as the supply on the market. DAT-Fahrzeugbewerter Weiss is also skeptical about the development of the residual value of the partial streams. It is questionable whether the slightly higher new price in comparison to pure gasoline or diesel vehicles can be maintained in the resale (here are the Wertmeister 2020).
Residual values of plug-in hybrids will only relax in five years
Another aspect is that consumption, so Geilenbrügge. This (and thus also the CO2 emissions) is with plug-in hybrids in reality often significantly higher than stated. According to the experts, they are often a deterrent for private customers lack of charging at home, the higher weight and the sometimes smaller trunk. “This means that there are no advantages for the consumer and the vehicles become less attractive,” explains Weiss. At Schwacke one expects that the residual values of plug-in hybrids will remain under pressure until 2025.
