What Does The Future Hold For Ev Resale Values ?
WORDS BY COX AUTOMOTIVE
The fleet market is entering a new era with the increased uptake of electric vehicles , which will require a cohesive 360-degree view .
Beyond total cost-of-ownership , questions linger around things like residual values .
The used EV market has been impacted by issues such as a rapid technological improvement curve on the new side , Tesla ’ s price cuts , emerging low-price Chinese players like BYD , government incentives focused on new cars , and consumer concerns around battery longevity .
We have read reports about companies like Hertz facing severe challenges from moving too quickly , finding themselves stranded with lower-thanexpected asset yields after some initial fanfare .
Right now , second-hand EVs represent a little over 1 % of stock across our Manheim Australia sites , or a touch above 3 % if you add the OEM fleet cars which we sell at dealer-only demo auctions . The small data set means price changes by month are volatile and hard to draw conclusions from .
But the good news is the market is stabilising more every month and there is going to be some
safety in numbers . Around 85 % of the circa 170,000 EVs sold in Australia have been sold since the start of 2022 . This means the majority are on their first owner .
Given fleet and lease cars play an outsized role in this , it suggests that Manheim ’ s wholesale auctions in Australia will be dealing with hundreds and eventually thousands of EVs from 2025 . It is in everyone ’ s interests to create a vibrant market for ex-fleet EVs second-hand .
Manheim ’ s buyer services are being given specific focus , given there is a degree of hesitancy from some of our traditional customers at this stage to take on a number of used EVs . We are looking at several initiatives , such as launching digital EV-focused auctions , and have run trials to this end .
What else are we doing to bolster EV values ? With an EV we are not looking at oil changes , we are talking about battery health . Battery Health Score diagnostics will become the new vehicle logbook in future .
We are working towards launching a VIN-specific solution onto the market , as our colleagues at Manheim in the United States have just done and
18 ISSUE 46 APRIL 2024 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU