Q: I have a query about buying a second-hand EV. There are a number of (relatively) cheap EVs available on the second-hand market. Some have very low mileage, but would be old enough to be outside the warranty offered by the manufacturer. So my questions are: How big a risk are these to buy? What checks can you do to mitigate any risks? Is it better to go with a low-mileage EV that might not have had much use or a higher mileage car that would have been running regularly? – MW, Co Carlow
A: Buying any second-hand car comes with a certain amount of risk – you’re not just buying the vehicle, after all, you’re buying the previous owner’s level of care and attention.
With electric cars, that risk is largely focused on the battery. An electric vehicle‘s battery is its single most expensive component, and it’s the one that puts most second-hand buyers off.
Worries about the potential cost of battery replacements in the event of a total disaster have meant that used-car buyers have so far steered away from second-hand electric cars, leading to a significant drop in used values for those cars.
However, every cloud ... the silver lining here is, as you point out, you can buy a second-hand EV for pretty reasonable money, and with the tide ever so slightly turning when it comes to used EV purchases, now is probably when they’ll be at their cheapest, so now is the time to strike.
However, as you point out, some of those EVs will have now passed beyond the bounds of their original manufacturer’s warranty. So, should this be a barrier to you buying one?
Generally speaking, no, it shouldn’t. We all buy used cars that have expired beyond their original warranties, and that doesn’t seem to trouble most people. If the battery is a concern, then that probably shouldn’t be a problem either as the good news is that almost every car maker offers an eight-year warranty, up to a limit of 160,000km, for the battery of their electric models, which is separate to the whole-car warranty, most of which are up after three years.
That battery warranty will protect you against the battery falling below 70-80 per cent (different brands offer varying levels of cover) of its original energy storage capacity, and if that does happen then the battery will either be replaced or repaired at the car maker’s expense (terms and conditions et cetera…).
Given the eight-year cover, there will be hardly any used EVs on the market which are not covered by this.
Equally, batteries are proving far more resilient than we ever expected them to be, and an average degradation rate of around 1.8 per cent has been observed, meaning that a five-year-old EV may have lost only around nine per cent of its original charging capacity. To put that in perspective, for a Volkswagen ID.3, that would equate to less than a 40km loss on an original 420km range.
Speaking of warranties for batteries, there are even better ones available. BYD’s battery warranty lasts for the same eight years as others, but runs to a 200,000km limit. Toyota’s EV battery will remain covered for up to 10 years and one million kilometres if you get the car serviced annually at a Toyota main dealer.
When buying a used EV, the crucial check to make is the battery’s health. A reputable dealer will often proffer a completed battery health check when you’re shopping for the car. Indeed, they should do, and if they don’t then you should ask why.
There are also independent battery health checks which can be carried out, although these can mean actually physically bringing the car for inspection, so that’s probably best left for when you’ve decided on the car, but just want to be sure before you finally hand over your cash. Again, a reputable dealer should be prepared to accommodate such an inspection.
Once you’re happy that the battery is in good health, the rest of the car purchase kind of proceeds as normal. Check the car’s overall condition, take it for a good test drive and listen for any nasty knocking, clonking or scraping noises, and then make sure that it comes with a full service history.
As for mileage, it’s not necessarily relevant. With any car, the advice is always to buy on condition and history, not mileage.
With EVs, there can be a concern that any car with mega-miles has been charged up using rapid DC charging a lot, and that can potentially accelerate the wear and tear of the battery.
However, the battery health check will answer that question, and it doesn’t automatically follow that high mileage means lots of fast charging – there is a potential correlation, but it’s not absolute. Again, your other checks of the battery and the car’s service history should cover that issue.
When it comes to warranties, remember that many car makers offer long initial warranties which, in almost all cases, transfer to the new owner.
Hyundai, for example, offers a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty on all its cars, including electric models, and that’s both separate and complementary to its eight-year battery cover.
Kia offers a seven-year warranty, although that’s capped at 150,000km. Peugeot offers a five-year warranty, while MG also offers a seven-year warranty.
Equally, an “aftermarket” warranty can be purchased, from the likes of MAPFRE, which allows you to pay to have your personal warranty cover. It’s not necessarily cheap, but it can give you some peace of mind.
Is such a cover worth having? Yes, it probably is. Electric cars are, of course, much mechanically simpler than a combustion-engine car, but they do come with lots of high-end sensors and electronics, which can be expensive to fix if they go wrong, so having some sort of warranty is probably a good idea.
