Dealers say second-hand EVs harder to resell, depreciation steeper than petrol cars

Its editorial manager Desmond Chan said many consumers remain unsure about EV maintenance and long-term reliability, including whether there are enough workshops equipped to handle repairs when problems arise. 

“There’re (still) some question marks around maintenance, whether there are enough workshops that are able to work on your electric vehicle when something potentially goes wrong,” he told CNA. 

He added that the resale market remains relatively immature. Most EVs currently on the used market are only two to three years old, reflecting when large numbers of new electric cars first entered Singapore. 

“Understandably, there’s a lot of question marks around that – what is the residue value on these cars? How well would they hold up over time? No one really knows,” he said.

“But if we fast forward four to five years from now, when all these cars get older, (there will) be more data points, more factors that (buyers) can explore.”

Mr Chan believes demand for used EVs will pick up over time as the overall vehicle landscape shifts.

Singapore plans to stop registering new petrol cars by 2030 and have a 100 per cent cleaner-energy vehicle fleet by 2040. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Analyst Walter Theseira said the resale market remains important for buyers with tighter budgets, especially amid high Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums.

At the same time, new EVs are becoming cheaper over time due to falling supply chain costs, particularly for Chinese-manufactured models, he added. 

“When you are considering buying a new EV instead of a used one, you may find that the new EV is better priced and has more capabilities than the (second hand) EV (that first came on the market) three or four years ago,” said the associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences’ School of Business.

He added that resale prices for EVs could rise in the near term, as government rebates for EV adoption begin to taper from Jan 1, potentially boosting demand for second-hand vehicles. 

Looking ahead, he noted that the pace of technological advancement of EVs is slowing, which could lead to more stable resale values.

“Any EV you buy today (will) completely outclass an EV (from) 10 years ago, but it is not so clear that it would outclass one (from) five years ago,” he told CNA. 

“So, the rate of change has slowed dramatically. That would be good news for EV buyers today who are wondering about resale values in the future.”