I was talking to a friend about EVs as he was thinking about buying one. He’s been looking on-line and sent me a link to this video. It doesn’t look like a spoof video:
He is going for petrol
Edit
He also sent me this:
Yesterday I saw a BMW with a flat tire.
Never buy a BMW! They have flat tires!
The Captain
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VW was ‘self-insured’ so they were out the cost of all the vehicles. Now they may have to pay for the cost of a new boat.
DB2
Never buy an electric BMW! They have flat batteries 
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I saw a BMW with a soft tire. Can you imagine?
ICE cars have more fires than EVs.
Maybe not a spoof, but still garbage. Seems like he’s whining about the inconvenience of having to charge his EV, but maybe he’s more upset about having to pay to use the toilet.
Buying an EV should be a more thoughtful decision. He probably should’ve thought about charging hassles before purchasing one. Also, his EV isn’t worthless, he just doesn’t like his options.
Youtube is full of hysteria like this, just like the national network “news”. It’s all a play for eyeballs, to make money.
Steve
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i’d have been upset if my car had depreciated by the amounts he quoted. That model does seem to have a very high depreciation:
It’s the end of 2023 and the Taycan market has crashed:
I’ve just been contacted by my Audi dealer and was offered a price that reflected a 50% drop in value from new on a petrol Audi that is just over 5 years old.
This is nothing new–gas or electric. He got caught in the age-old consumer problem of a manufacturer coming out with a better version product shortly after he bought the previous version. Now he is whin(g)ing about his failure to check if Porche was planning to release a newer version of the car in the near future before he bought the older version.
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Many years ago, every time I took my Honda Pilot in for service, the dealer kept asking if I wanted to sell/trade in and gave me a rough estimate. Which considering the car was 10+ years old but low mileage, was a “good deal” but not as good as a paid off car. There was an obvious market for midsize SUVs. Wound up giving it to my niece when she got old enough to drive.
Got an estimate for the resale value of my current six year old large luxury SUV and it was about 40% of price tag. But doubt there is much of a market for large SUVs.
Just about any EV (or anything run on batteries) will quickly loose about 1/2 its value because the batteries are the main cost. And I am not aware of any reliable way to estimate the life left in a battery so dealers are probably assuming immediate replacement need.
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I think my friend said that the battery was guaranteed for eight years from new. Then the car would be potentially worthless as this man found out:
The astonishing cost of a Mercedes Benz hybrid replacement battery has sparked major concerns about whether the cars are actually beneficial for the environment or more cost effective…
….He thought the lower CO2 emissions would mean it was greener than the alternatives but was left horrified when the battery on the eight-year-old car failed recently and he was quoted £15,000 for a replacement - more than the current value of the car itself.
It’s a bit clearer now. The value of used EV must be closely related to the warranty on the battery. Generally eight years or 100,000 miles, but some are much less, and don’t forget the T&C.
Any EV close to, or beyond the warranty must be almost worthless.
After graduating my first car was 12 years old and I ran it for another 5 years just having running repairs done now and then.
They will, no doubt, come along with better batteries at some stage, but until then, no thanks!
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My Hyundai EV is warranted for 10 years or 100,000 miles. EV batteries should last 15-20 years and 200,000 miles. They would not be handing out warranties of 10 years if they thought they would only last 12; I’m sure they give themselves a wide margin of error. I feel fine about it.
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Completely ignore-able.
That’s OK, and I hope that you get the 200,000 or more out of your car.
I was looking at the market value of an EV which was close to, or out of, warranty. This would make buying one a big risk IMHO and affect the market value - I wouldn’t consider one in those circumstances. The same could apply to a ICE but the risk isn’t as high.
And yet, people still buy used BMWs (generally very nice cars) at 60,000+ miles KNOWING that they will likely have to do engine seals sometimes over the next 1 to 3 years. And the job usually costs somewhere between $5k to $8k. At the gym, I have a friend that I know for 20+ years, and he is (was) a BMW man through and through, and his 2013 (I think 2013, maybe 2012) 550i needed gaskets changed in 2018. Cost him $7200 (he showed us the bill). Then 4 months later, it needed something else big that cost $4300. Right away, he traded it in for a newer model used BMW (his 5th BMW over the years). And sure enough, in 2022 it needed a whole bunch of work that would cost many thousands yet again. Since he now works from home and doesn’t drive much, he decided to get rid of it (sold it for nearly nothing) and use the Mazda he owns instead. I guess he’s not a BMW guy anymore. Now he’s looking at Corvettes which is what he drove before he bought his first BMW.
(He nearby bought a used M5 until he realized that not only would he pay a premium at purchase, but it would probably cost even more when it needed new gaskets as it’s considered “extra performance”!)
Now, since people generally know this about BMWs, their resale value above 60k miles should also take a hit. But BMW has an advantage of being a vaunted German brand, and German brands have reputations for good quality, so they still mostly have decent resale values. But apparently even they are now beginning to see lower resale values.
This is great news if you are considering an EV. Buy buying used you get a substantial discount. Compare top brands like an ICE Toyota. There is no discount premium for used beyond mileage. But EVs lose value once they roll of the lot. Great opportunity for consumers.
Yes, get one cheap and take the risk. There must be some winners.
There’s an app that provides info on battery degradation. Modern EV batteries last the lifespan of the vehicle. I had my 2013 Leaf in for a recall issue and the dealer told me it still had 90% of the original battery, which tracks with what the (somewhat flakey) onboard computer says.
Studies show a typical LFP battery loses about 5% after 1000 full cycles and about 15% after 3000, at which point your interior is worn out and you need a new paint job.
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We also just bought a 2016 Toyota Sienna van to replace our 2005 Toyota Sienna Van. Paid $30k just to have a refreshed model. For our trim line it’s new at $60k, so it’s 1/2 off. It will also need some expensive stuff in the pretty near future: timing chain, etc. but that’s OK we otherwise trust the brand.
I suspect that 10 years hence people will know and trust what the degradation of EV batteries is and what the replacement costs will be - which I expect to be lower than they are today given the downward trajectory of battery manufacturing prices.
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