Used Mercedes EQS loses half of its value in just one year

Owning a high-end electric vehicle has always come with a hefty price tag, but a new study reveals the financial blow you take can be even more significant than you expect. If you're in the market for a luxury EV, you might want to reconsider the purchase – or consider buying a used one.

Headline-making research from US-based iSeeCars demonstrates that several electric luxury cars are rapidly losing value. Topping the list of fastest-depreciating vehicles is the flagship Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan. Staggeringly, its value plummets by almost half within the first year of ownership, shedding an average of $65,143.

The EQS isn't alone in this nosedive. The Nissan Leaf takes second place. Interestingly, the Kia EV6 rounds out the top five, showcasing that depreciation isn't exclusive to European luxury brands.

These figures raise some eyebrows. After all, EVs have been touted as the future of transportation; shouldn't they hold their value better? Several factors might be at play, including growing competition from other manufacturers and rapidly evolving technologies in battery and charging systems. Many media outlets would like you to believe the potentially waning consumer interest in fully electric vehicles could be influencing these figures.

But not all is as it seems. The same research indicates that both the Tesla Model Y and Model X are holding their value rather well. In some cases, a one-year-old Model Y can be more expensive on the used market than a brand-new one. We can squarely blame Tesla and its price-cutting exercises for this situation. Although some used prices are now higher than those of new vehicles, one year ago the story was different, and the Tesla vehicles are still dropping in value but nowhere near as much as other EVs.

If you're itching to embrace the EV revolution with a top-of-the-line model, consider waiting to buy a used one. You could snag a significant discount and avoid the initial depreciation hit. When buying new, look closely at the tech hiding in the car - while the vehicle may be new, the battery and software can be quite a few years behind, and that's a deal breaker sometimes.

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