Even though Manufacturers of Electric vehicles have yet to produce a vehicle that can provide enough range and utility to replace their gasoline counterparts market annalists of the secondary or used car market are predicting that vehicles will lose 90 percent of their value after only 5 years.
Most standard fuel cars retain at least 24% of their value at the five year mark and many exceed that amount. With recent government incentives for car owners to purchase new vehicles the secondary or used car market has been hit with a loss of inventory which has inflated prices. Although this may be good for sellers it is a problem for anyone looking to buy a used vehicle.
In the same sense when electric vehicles begin to hit the end of their battery life expectancy vehicle owners will be faced with the decision to either replace batteries costing thousands of dollars or purchase a new vehicle. And with prospective all electric vehicles like the chevy volt announcing starting prices over $40,000 five or eight years will not be worth it to many buyers when they consider the car is disposable.
By the time the car reaches 8 years old there will be no other option but enormous repair bills. This means the secondary used car market will be left without cheap vehicles that young and lower income people can afford and you wont be seeing cars getting passed down from parent to children like the good old days.
The only option at that point will be an after market battery supplier that may reclaim batteries from wrecked vehicles or produce lower quality battery packs that will extend the life of the vehicle a few more years.
This is not only a consideration with full electric vehicles but also with Hybrids like the Prius. Any vehicle over 5 years old will only have a few years left until that budget breaking battery replacement service needs to be paid for.
So, what are the options? Really it seems within a few decades or by the time our great grand children become drivers the cost of driving will be more then most people can afford. People will have to relocate to homes near rail or closer to cities.
Just as the 50’s and 60’s saw great expansion into the suburbs expect that just as fast things could change for the opposite.
Anyway sorry to bring the bad news but this research is current information that we all need to examine as we try to move forward.