Glass’s Guide, car valuation experts from the UK have studied the long-term ownership costs of EVs, such as the forthcoming Nissan Leaf (shown, above.) The news isn’t looking good. Glass’s reports that after 5 years of ownership, EVs will retain only about 10 percent of their value, as opposed to the 25 percent residual value of a comparable gasoline or diesel powered car.
The primary source of this massive depreciation comes from the expected shelf life of 8 years for the battery packs, which can cost up to $15,000 to replace.
Nissan, and European counterpart Renault, have both expressed the possibility of leasing options for EVs, solving the problem of residual value (on the customer’s end, at least.) Renault leases battery packs to owners for about $150 per month, and if you remove the huge battery pack replacement number from the equation, EVs could be the best performing cars on the road in terms of residual value.
[Source: Autocar]