Reading about the new EV's and the pricing, I got to thinking about the used car market and how many people buy used cars vs new cars. Which brought me to wondering about the used EV market. Little have been mentioned about that in all of the EV hype. What is the depreciation of an EV once it drive off the lot, 3 years after, and at the 5 year mark. And then say the 10 year mark, if they even last 10 years. How do the EV compare to the ICE vehicle in regards to resale, labor cost of repairs, special requirements and equipment during repair and parts availability and cost of such. all of these are consideration that I might have if I was to delve into the EV ownership world. As I and my wife tend to keep out vehicles 8 to 10 years or more.
Since the EV used market is relatively new, except Tesla, there isn't much info to go on yet to answer your pricing / resale questions. And unfortunately Tesla is a "cult car" and just one person, Elon Musk, can make decisions that can really skew everything. He royally screwed his customers when he cut pricing a few months ago which left some folks forever upside down in a virtually new car. When I traded in my Hyundai Kona EV there where only three used ones in the Mannheim database to use as a reference. It's hard to determine a value when you have that small of a sample.
As far as scheduled service our Mach-e only requires tire rotations and a visual inspection every 10K miles or 12 months. Every 3 years a Brake Service changing out the brake fluid. At 10 years, or 150K miles, change the transmission fluid. At 200K miles change the battery coolant. I did not purchase a Ford Service Plan on our Mach-e.
The labor rate for a EV repair is the same as ICE. The only difference is you need a certified EV tech versus anyone on an ICE vehicle. I'm sure there are some specialized tools / test sets that are required for an EV. Any certified dealer will have those on hand. Parts availability will vary by brand and model. I've known the Parts Manager at my Ford dealer for a long time and he has assured me it is no different than on ICE vehicles. Keep in mind the vast majority of the parts interchange with ICE cars in the case of Ford and Hyundai. FWIW a friend of mine owns an independent automotive repair shop. He has Zero intentions of working on any EV's if it involves the drive train. Since he already won't work on any German cars, due the expense of the diagnostics software, that doesn't surprise me. He will retire before that decision becomes an issue for his business.
From my own research I would not own a EV for more than five model years. On a car with a 10 year battery life getting out at the 50% point seems to be the best move. For those same reasons I would not buy a used EV. As the market matures it will be worth reviewing those time frames.
The big unknown that the EV promoters are loath to talk about is the inevitable battery replacement cost. No one to my knowledge has addressed this in detail.
That question is common on the EV forums. And it can be estimated by looking at the costs to replace a Prius hybrid battery. A ten year old Prius that needs a new traction battery isn't worth the cost of a replacement battery cost much less the replacement labor fees. I'd expect the same to be true in the EV world. Ford warrants the EV battery and components for 8 years or 100K miles. Some manufacturers, like Hyundai, go 10 years on the battery and drive train. After the warranty expires it is a slippery slope to a vehicle that probably isn't worth repairing. But then not a lot of ten year old ICE vehicles are worth a new engine or transmission.
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