Electric Lemons: Why Used EVs Are a Ticking Time Bomb for Buyers, By Richard Miller (Londonistan)
Electric vehicles (EVs) were supposed to be the green revolution: zipping silently past gas stations, slashing emissions, and saving you money on "fuel." Governments are all-in, banning new petrol cars by 2035 in places like the UK and EU, pumping subsidies into Tesla and friends. But as the first wave of EVs hits the second-hand market, a nasty truth is emerging: These things are depreciating faster than a crypto crash, and their batteries are the rotten core turning them into automotive lemons. Drawing from a bombshell Daily Mail investigation, real-world data, and the cold math of ownership costs, let's unpack why buying a used EV in the UK right now feels like playing battery roulette. Spoiler: It's not the eco-dream you were sold.
At the heart of every EV is its battery, a high-tech marvel that's also its Achilles' heel. Lithium-ion packs power the magic, but they don't last forever. The average EV battery warranty? Eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, with most guaranteeing at least 70% capacity retention. That's the honeymoon period. After that? You're on your own, and degradation kicks in like clockwork.
The Daily Mail's dive into the data paints a grim picture: Many EVs lose up to 12% of their charge capacity by year six, slashing your daily range from, say, 250 miles to under 220. Sure, recent studies show an average degradation of just 1.8% per year, better than the 2.3% from 2019, meaning a 300-mile EV might still hit 255 miles after a decade. But here's the rub: That "average" hides horror stories. Early Nissan Leafs with air-cooled batteries? They're shedding 4.2% annually in hot climates. Tesla Model 3s might drop 4% in year one alone, then stabilise, but fleet data from Geotab shows some packs hitting 10% loss by 50,000 miles.
Why does this matter? Range anxiety doesn't vanish post-warranty. A degraded battery means more frequent charging, longer stops, and a car that feels obsolete. Motoring guru Shahzad Sheikh nails it: "With a decaying battery, the range will be poor and you may find it becomes increasingly hard to resell." Buyers know the score, they'll lowball you or walk away, leaving your "investment" stranded.
Now, the real gut-punch: Fixing that battery. The article drops a bombshell, replacement can cost up to £40,000 ($52,000 USD), often 10 times the used EV's value. For context, a 2019 Nissan Leaf might fetch £10,000 on the forecourt, but a new pack? £13,000-£20,000. A Tesla Model S? Closer to £30,000+. Recurrent Auto pegs out-of-warranty swaps at $5,000-$16,000 on average, but that's for smaller packs, high-end models like the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T push $20,000-$30,000.
Compare that to ICE (internal combustion engine) cars: A full engine rebuild? £5,000 tops. And while EV batteries are warrantied longer than ICE drivetrains (8 years vs. 5), the stakes are higher because one component is the whole powertrain. Sure, costs are dropping, Goldman Sachs forecasts $80/kWh by 2026, down 50% from 2023, but that's for new packs, not retrofits. In 2025, you're still shelling out enough to buy a decent used petrol hatchback just to keep your EV limping.
Real talk: Most folks don't replace the whole pack. Recurrent data shows only 2.5% of EVs need it, and under 1% for 2016+ models. But when they do, it's a wallet-killer, especially if you're the third owner in a chain of lease-returns flooding the market.
Used EVs: The Lemon Orchard of the Future
The second-hand EV market is booming, sales up 32% year-over-year in May 2025, with 43% under $25,000. Sounds great, right? Wrong. These are mostly 2023-2025 models, but by 2030, we'll have a glut of eight-year-old beaters with ticking batteries. Inventory's tightening (36 days' supply in August 2025), but prices are tanking, used EVs depreciate 15% faster than ICE in some markets, thanks to battery fears and Chinese import floods.
Experts warn: Avoid anything past warranty without a deep battery health check, there's no easy way to gauge degradation without specialist tools. And with 123,000 lease-returns hitting the U.S. market in 2025 alone, good luck finding a gem. It's a buyer's paradise for specs, but a minefield for longevity.
The Bigger Lemon: Mandates Meet Market Reality
By 2035, all new cars in the UK/EU must be electric, yet EVs cost £10,000 more upfront than petrol rivals (e.g., Renault Clio £20k vs. Zoe £30k). Warranties cap at 100k miles/8 years, while ICEs chug to 200k before major surgery. This isn't sustainable; it's a forced migration to fragile tech. Subsidies mask the pain now, but as batteries age and replacements soar, resentment will brew. And globally? China's dominating with cheap EVs, but their second-hand flood could tank values further.
Used EVs aren't total duds, batteries often outlast the car, and incentives make them bargains today. But the Daily Mail's right: They're a timebomb for resale and repairs, turning eco-virtue into financial vice.
"Money Mail can today reveal a timebomb looming in the second-hand market for electric vehicles (EVs).
Our investigation found that many EVs could become almost impossible to resell because of their limited battery life.
Experts said that the average EV battery guarantee lasts just eight years. After this time, the battery may lose power more quickly and so reduce mileage between charges.
Many EVs will lose up to 12 per cent of their charge capacity by six years. Some may lose even more.
Yet the cost of replacing an EV battery is astonishingly high, our research found.
In some cases, the cost of a replacement battery is as much as £40,000. For certain EVs, the cost of replacing the battery could be ten times the value of the vehicle itself on the second-hand market.
That means used EVs have a limited lifespan — which makes them a bigger and bigger risk as the years go by.
Research into EV batteries is yet to be conclusive and the second-hand EV market is new, given the first popular EVs were rolled off the production line in 2009.
Last night, one motoring expert said customers should be wary of buying a used electric car beyond its warranty (typically eight years), as after that timespan there is no easy way of measuring how much the battery will degrade before it needs replacing.
This may mean you end up needing to pay for an expensive new battery.
Motor expert Shahzad Sheikh, who runs the YouTube channel Brown Car Guy, said: 'With a decaying battery, the range will be poor and you may find it becomes increasingly hard to resell the vehicle after eight years.
Buyers will know that they'll only get a small amount of life out of the car so will pay only a small sum, if anything at all.'
This problem is exacerbated by the fact all new cars coming onto the market by 2035 will be electric and motorists will have to get used to paying around £10,000 more than it's petrol equivalent, for a vehicle which is not built to last as long.
Take a new petrol-driven Renault Clio — it costs around £20,000, while its all-electric opposite, the Renault Zoe, costs closer to £30,000.
While you can drive a traditional petrol or diesel car for around 200,000 miles over 14 years before the engine needs fixing or replacing, by comparison a new EV is typically guaranteed under a warranty for 100,000 miles over eight years.
Should your petrol engine need replacing you can expect to pay around £5,000, but replace the battery on your EV outside warranty and you're looking at an eye-watering £13,000 to £40,000, depending on the make of your car, if you fit a manufacturer's new unit.
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