[Red Liner]

https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...-too/106224394

No one wants used EVs, making new ones a tougher sell too

Buyers are shunning them due to a lack of subsidies, a desire to wait for better technology and continued shortfalls in charging infrastructures.

China offers a cautionary tale. Lucrative subsidies turned the country into an EV giant, but also produced weed-infested graveyards of abandoned battery-powered vehicles.

Prices for secondhand EVs slumped by around a third in the year through October, compared with a decline of just 5% in the overall used market, according to sales data from iSeeCars.com, a website that ranks cars and dealers. Used EVs take longer to sell than gasoline models even after significant price cuts, the group said.

While combustion-engine cars can be quickly valued via their age and mileage, there are no tests in widespread use that determine the quality of a battery, Weddigen von Knapp said. The battery represents around 30% of an EV’s value, a share that is expected to decline in the coming years, according to BloombergNEF

[GTO]

No chance. We're still in the very early stages of EVs & manufacturers are taking big leaps ahead every year in terms of technology. Reliability too, since it's a big learning curve for OEMs, supply chains & workshops. v1 EVs of all brands suffer niggles & issues.

What's worse is, hardly any independent garage has the knowledge or equipment to fix EVs. And where will you get parts? Brand-new Tata EVs spend months in the workshop waiting for critical parts. A Canadian dude has been waiting since a year for a battery for his old Leaf.

For a couple of years at least, I'd only buy brand-new EVs. When we have good new EVs in the 10 - 20 lakh range, I don't see any need for used EVs. If on a small budget, get a petrol car.

[Jeroen]

I think the survey question should read would you buy an used EV now?

When I buy an EV it will be an used one. Not yet, but give it a few more years and I will

All of the above mentioned reason will disappear over time.

Jeroen

[SamarthMehrotra]

Modern Cars are more electronics than cars (much to my dislike of diminishing feel of the drive). EVs even more so!

So the same rule as with electronics applies: Buy new, get the latest tech, used electronics compromise on reliability.......

[Shresth_EV]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

No one wants used EVs, making new ones a tougher sell too

Buyers are shunning them due to a lack of subsidies

The biggest issue is that since most EVs on the road are quite new by standards of “age of a car”, so naturally, if someone will be willing to sell their old EV for a new one for whatever reason, they will be expecting far higher than what a used car buyer is expecting to pay.

The main allure of a used car being less than half cost of a new car doesn’t apply here because of how “new” the old EV is.

For reference, the oldest Nexon EV will still only be 4y old in January of 2024 and the oldest

I saw Nexon EV prime going for 11-12L and max going for 13-14L when new model arrived, for that kind of money, people can buy a new Tiago LR or eC3.

China offers a cautionary tale. Lucrative subsidies turned the country into an EV giant, but also produced weed-infested graveyards of abandoned battery-powered vehicles.

I think this has been discussed in much depth on other threads. The bottom line was, these were owned by ride sharing brands because startups bought these EVs on subsidy yuan pre covid. But during covid, due to the strict lockdowns in China, these businesses went down under.

Some relevant replies in that thread : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...ml#post5608269 (China: Abandoned & obsolete electric cars are piling up across cities)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...ml#post5608398 (China: Abandoned & obsolete electric cars are piling up across cities)

there are no tests in widespread use that determine the quality of a battery, Weddigen von Knapp said.

TeamBHP thread about a UK Startup which is working in the exact same field. (Companies develop new tests to certify the battery health of EVs for used car markets)

[SS-Traveller]

I did (Pre-owned Mahindra E2O Plus P6 | Our baby steps to EV adoption | Ownership Review), and I don't regret it. It has been largely a trouble-free experience, but some parts now need replacement or repair - the EPS module has been throwing errors lately, but I've found someone who can repair it, and will do it next week - and there are many scrapped cars that can be cannibalised for parts. So even if I do have occasional trouble, it can be fixed despite new parts not being easily available, and in a couple of years, I would have recouped my investment, considering that used EVs are cheaper than ICE vehicles to buy and run.

Over in the USA (California), my cousin is about to buy a used Chevrolet Bolt from 2020 - the company provides a 100,000-mile warranty on the battery and a 8-year warranty on the car, so if anything does go wrong, he's covered. The prices of minimally used EVs there are lucrative, and he also gets a $4000 federal tax credit for buying a used EV.

Maybe if the Indian government also gives a similar subsidy for buying used EVs, folks would vote differently on this thread too!

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

No one wants used EVs, making new ones a tougher sell too

I actually got a pre-worshipped Kona.

Had already booked for a new EV and the Kona was out of consideration, but then opportunity knocked and i went for it.
Had the same qualms especially it being my first and only vehicle. So was quite scared, but then decided to go ahead with it.
It felt somewhat easier to inspect an EV compared to an ICE and the deal was good enough, till i ended up facing an issue later on with it's AC.

But whatever the case i was quite glad that the vehicle was still in warranty - Realized that the hassles of EV adoption is still quite a nightmare especially out of most cities/metro's.

Though i must point out that the same issue and the subsequent misdiagnosis by the service center would have made the experience even more painful had it been a New vehicle.

[supermax]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

. It has been largely a trouble-free experience, but some parts now need replacement or repair - the EPS module has been throwing errors lately, but I've found someone who can repair it, and will do it next week - and there are many scrapped cars that can be cannibalised for parts. So even if I do have occasional trouble, it can be fixed despite new parts not being easily available

Over in the USA (California), my cousin is about to buy a used Chevrolet Bolt from 2020 - the company provides a 100,000-mile warranty on the battery and a 8-year warranty on the car, so if anything does go wrong, he's covered

Im glad that you are able to make it work, but your post seems like something straight out of a dystopian future horror movie like Mad Max, where one needs to depend on other broken down cars to fix our own. For most people, this is a horror scenario. Most people just want to buy a decent car, fuel it, use it, service it at recommended intervals and not lose the use of the vehicle due to non availability of parts (or other donor vehicles).

As for your cousin being covered under the warranty, that sense of security too is only on paper. There are people waiting for over a year despite being covered by the warranty, so there's that. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...eplacment.html

[shankar.balan]

Considering there is so much doubt about these EV batteries and all, it is difficult to make that leap of faith.

[shancz]

Voted No.

The technology is still too new to inspire confidence but after a few years down the line I think the polls will reflect a tilt towards "depends on the manufacturer" owing to their track record in spares, support and warranty.
Then the main point of concern would be battery health and cost of battery replacement for 5 years or older EVs.

All this provided any new breakthrough doesn't come in by then.

[SnS_12]

I think it would depend on the price a used EV is available compared to a new one as they depreciate in value like by 25 to 30% in the first year itself and then the number of kms it has been used will affect the resale price even further. The biggest factor affecting EV pricing is the rate at which the evolution/development in tech is happening at the moment.

You look at smartphones every year you have new model launches and if you wait to buy the older model at that time you receive some insane discounts compared to the price you would have paid a few days prior to the launch of the newer model. Now if you buy a used model in the equation which is just a year old the price drops further and if the battery health for a year old phone is below 80% (iphone) the buyer will push the price down further.


So if the second or third buyer is not going to get any resale value and might have to invest a good sum to keep his EV running and the only way they might consider buying one is if its at a really discounted price or else it makes no financial sense to invest in this technology.

[Raskolnikov.R]

I will definitely consider a used EV from a known/reliable source.

There is an inherent uncertainty in all vehicles. However, I'd not want to hold myself back from picking up an Ionic5 or an EV6 if, and a big 'if,' I can afford it.

Below the 20 lakh threshold, I'd instead pick up a new EV.

[cdrajeevkumar]

Voted No.

I have never been comfortable with an EV and hence, a used EV is a BIG NO.

Also, given the struggle & niggles an EV carries, I would probably be the last one on planet earth to switch from ICE to EV.

[sanhan10]

Going by my experience with my mobile phones, the Li-ion batteries have lasted for reasonable usage for only 4 years at best. They were down to 60-70% of capacity by that time. Extrapolating it to EVs may not be entirely correct but I fail to see why the Li-ion batteries in an EV should last longer. A new EV that say has a 100 km range when new will have about a 70 km range when 4 year old. Replacing costs of the batteries on even say a Nexon costs upwards of 5L today. There is a lot of fine print to be dealt with when negotiating a warranty replacement. Horror stories abound. I saw this story about a owner being charged more than the cost of his Hyundai Ionic EV for a declined battery warranty.

https://youtu.be/EEXieo06ta8?si=UotE3Ubju0kgIfUo

Till these issues are sorted out owning a second hand or a new EV is a definite no!

[Cresterk]

Considering the cost of EV battery replacements and limited lifespan, no. Unless it’s going for some throwaway 3-4L.