NADA's Electric Vehicle Retention Report Card

I saw this on their website and thought others might like the short read on the bad resale value of EV's.
Yes the i is the worst at the 3 year mark as Trade in value is just over $6k

http://img03.en25.com/Web/NADAUCG/%7B413f55a5-807f-4b2e-8310-48cd4aeb40da%7D_April_2015_NADA_Perspective.pdf

Wow, what a steaming pile of.... piss-poor analysis.

Never mind that before reading this I would've guessed that retention was the number of buyers who didn't trade in their cars (owner loyalty?), and that retention instead means the opposite of depreciation. This value analysis does not even mention the effect of the federal tax credit that reduces the value retention by $7500 the moment they drive off the lot, and it also does not address the numerous manufacturers' price drops on new (non-TESLA) EVs or attempt to explain the crazy lease deals that so many folks got. Of course the more expensive EVs would show a lower depreciation percentage impact from a fixed rebate amount (greater retention)! 7,500/100,000 = 92.5% "retention" for a Tesla, while 7,500/29,125= "75% retention" for an i-MiEV, and this on a zero-mile used car the day it was purchased in 2012!

Here's a gem... too bad they didn't enumerate the maintenance and repair costs of EVs...

By comparison, demand for more inexpensive models―such as the Chevrolet Volt and
Nissan Leaf―is driven by more pragmatic factors: upfront costs, maintenance and repair
costs, price among the competition, overall range, as well as real
world practicality and gasoline prices. Simply put, competition for mainstream models has been much fiercer
than for luxury models, hence their lower retention rates.

Click to expand...

Big depreciations are good news for used car buyers. I picked up a mint 2012 miev for $7500.

genec said:

Big depreciations are good news for used car buyers. I picked up a mint 2012 miev for $7500.

Click to expand...

Ah, my least favorite used car descriptive word - *Mint*

Simply it means . . . . in the same condition as when it left the mint, or in the case of a car, when it left the factory

Mint condition by definition would be zero miles, or something very close to zero with not a scratch or any sign of wear . . . . anywhere

I guess you can theoretically restore a car to 'mint' . . . . if you replace everything which shows any sign of wear. An EV with 27,000 miles on it's battery is far from 'mint' - In actuality, it's probably about 1/4 to 1/3rd worn out, since replacing the battery would obviously cost more than the car is worth

I looked at a 2012 Premium SE in Atlanta for $8,900 - It had 1,204 miles on it and was pretty close to (but not quite) 'mint'. I bought a 2012 Premium SE with nav & QC for $8,700 and it has 3,900 miles - Still looks and smells brand new, but it's not 'mint' by any definition I'm aware of. It's just . . . . very slightly 'used' ;-)

I do have another 2012 with 26,333 miles which doesn't have a scratch on it anywhere. Pretty nice car . . . . but 'mint'? Not in my understanding of the word

Don