A quick look at used car websites shows the first generation of PHEVs/BEVs have not done well in terms of resale value. PHEVs have done ok. Take the PiP, which cost about the same new as a Level 3 trim Liftback after Fed/State incentives in the land of plug-ins (California). Well, a few years later, the resale value is about the same. BEVs like the Leaf, however, did markedly worse and their resale values are pretty lousy. It's always been the cost of enjoying being the first to get ones hands on new technology. Now with then next generation of BEVs about to roll out, heralded by the Bolt, it will be interesting to follow how the depreciation trends play out.
Back in 2008/2009 during the Great Recession, used car values really went up, especially Prius. Here in Virginia we would get letters from the town saying "you may wonder why your local property tax bill on your car went up this year" well it was because Blue Book values were going up. Now new cars are the "in" thing and used cars like Prius are down more. So that's part of it.
As a BEV, better than Leaf and others, no doubt. The average sale price of a new Model S was reported as $107k. Just looked at TRUECar - on the first page it shows 15 used vehicles, and these are selling at an average price of $60k at average model year right between 2013 and 2014. Not great, but depreciation may not be that much different than other premium vehicles. Model S may be doing a bit better than other BEVs here due to superior range and no range competition. The question will be what happens when the Bolt, Leaf 2.0, Tesla Model 3, and others show up. They won't be as refined as the Model S, and none will have lifetime "free" access to DC fast charging, but their range will no longer be in the minor leagues.
Without manufacturers releasing their R&D and materials/manufacturing/labor costs, hard to know with precision. Seems unlikely anyone outside of Tesla is profitably selling plug-ins yet. Many are probably selling/leasing at some loss. Original buyers and lessees all paid handsomely for the luxury, but got to play with the cool tech first.
Now, yes. But if you bought one in the first few years, you didn't get a great deal and the resale and residual now is about as bad as it gets.
If gas prices were at 3 years ago level, I assume there would have been early adopters for used plug-ins.
After tax credits/rebates I paid about $20k OTD (after taxes) on my 2015 Leaf SV w/QC+LED package in December 2014, which had a sticker price of $35.5k'ish (plus tax). The depreciation is terrible if I consider it based off of MSRP of $35.5k, but if I consider it off of roughly $18k (comparable sticker price for $20k OTD) then it's not nearly as bad. Leaf deals have been around for quite some time, but no doubt the initial early adopters took a big hit.
don't you think the fire sales are the cause of the low resale pricing? that's what happened to pip. first, the base was going as low as 24k before tax credits, then they dropped the msrp. what do people expect, to make money on resale? if you're one of the losers like me who paid full boat? tough noogies. fool me once, shame on you. i'll be looking at prime when they can't give them away.
As long as you don't mind taking the huge depreciation loss on your PiP. I'm sure the Prime will be a great Prius, but I would have trouble justifying paying the huge premium to step up from my used PiP to a new Prime (even with 5 seats). That's what Toyota gets for making a car that's just too reliable
