New Study Reveals That Electric Vehicles Are The Quickest Way To Lose Money

Battery electric vehicle (BEV) owners have been feeling the heat for quite some time. However, we now have another study that proves these cars are the best shot anyone has at losing money with automobiles. Conducted by iSeeCars, it analyzed the prices of "800,000 5-year-old used cars sold from March 2024 to February 2025 to determine 5-year depreciation rates." Although luxury vehicles are also a money pit, BEVs take the crown when it comes to depreciation.

 

The study revealed that BEVs lose 58.8% of their value in five years. Among the ten highest depreciation rates, four come from electric cars, including the overall winner. A 5-year-old Jaguar I-PACE costs 27.8% of what it did when it was new. That means it lost 72.2% of its original value. The Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model X are the other BEVs joining the Jaguar in this concerning list.

 

What hurts BEVs the most is not only these extreme numbers but also the fact that they are pretty consistent. The only two electric cars among the nine iSeeCars analyzed that did not stay above the 58.8% average BEV depreciation rate were the Tesla Model 3 (which lost 55.9% of its value) and the Hyundai Kona Electric (58%), a BEV that faced a massive battery pack recall due to the risk of thermal runaway (fire).