The difference is that a car costs tens of thousands of dollars more to own, and (at least) thousands of dollars more to maintain. Also refrigerators and table saws don’t go in and out of style the way cars do. Which is why depreciation is a real thing for car buyers, and not for table saw buyers. You can twist the argument if you like, but using equivalent analogies instead of inapt ones is likely to make for a better conclusion.
I don’t know where Caredge gets its figures, but KBB says a 2020 Tesla that was $40,000 is now worth $25,000. And a 2020 Toyota Camry that was $28,000 is now $22,000 so yeah, I see a difference. Kelly’s is pretty much the gold standard, isn’t it?
And all those things are at virtual parity and have been for the past several years. They’re not “depreciating”, they’re the same. This is opposite of computers, which systems continuously improve, get faster, etc. The rear camera from 5 years ago could be switched with one from today and most drivers would have no idea they’d been switched. A computer needs to “stay current” and accept new inputs and devices; a car is a car. Almost nobody is switching out a 2020 car with a 2025 entertainment system (or drive-by-wire system).
The addition of FSD, if it comes, will certainly enhance the resale value of a car, but only if the cost is reasonable in relation to the used cost of the car, else people will just buy a new one. Relatively few will want to pay up bigly for an old car with new software when a new car is just around the corner, cost-wise.
This sounds high, even for EVs. In an ICE the dollar cost is between $500 and $1000. I’m sure it’s much higher in an EV, but I would be surprised to find it’s 30-40 times higher.