Used electric cars have become the most interesting corner of the British market, for an uncomfortable reason: they depreciated hard. That is bad news for the first owner and good news for the second, provided the second one knows what to look at.
Battery degradation, with real numbers
The fear that batteries fall apart in five years has been overtaken by data. The largest study of its kind — Geotab’s analysis of 22,700 electric vehicles across 21 models — found an average degradation of 2.3% a year, leaving roughly 81.6% of capacity after eight years. Their conclusion was blunt: modern batteries are built to outlast the vehicle around them.
What matters more than age is how the car was charged:
How charging habit changes battery loss
Average annual capacity loss, 22,700 vehicles
Show the data
| Mostly slow charging | 1.5% (a year) |
| Fleet average | 2.3% (a year) |
| Heavy rapid charging | 3.0% (a year) |
A car that spent its life on a home charger will be measurably healthier than one that lived on motorway rapids. Ask.
State of health: the number to ask for
| State of health | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Above 90% | Excellent. Typical of a well-treated car up to about four years old | Buy with confidence |
| 80–90% | Normal and usable. Range is noticeably shorter than new | Fine, if the price reflects the range you actually get |
| Below 80% | Unusual. Also the level at which many warranties pay out | Check the warranty first — it may be a claim, not a problem |
Get it in writing. Independent battery health certificates are now widely available in the UK, and a seller who will not provide or permit one is telling you something. Some manufacturers will also produce a report through a franchised dealer.
The warranty is the safety net
Most electric cars carry a separate battery warranty of around eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, typically guaranteeing capacity will not fall below a stated percentage. Two things to confirm before you buy:
- How much is left — a 2019 car has perhaps two years of it.
- Whether it transfers to a second owner. Usually yes, sometimes only if servicing was done within the network.
Checks that only apply to an EV
- Is the battery owned or leased? Some older Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf cars were sold with a monthly battery lease. The car looks cheap; the lease continues, and it can be refused to a buyer with poor credit. Check the V5C and the paperwork.
- Which plug? Almost everything modern is CCS. A few older cars are CHAdeMO, which is being removed from charging networks — that affects both usability and resale.
- Maximum charge rate. Two cars with the same battery can differ by half an hour on a rapid charger.
- Does the app still work, and can the account be transferred to you? Preconditioning and remote charge scheduling live there.
- Software updates. Ask when the last one was applied; some early cars gained real range through them.
- Cables. A missing granny cable or Type 2 lead is £100–£250 to replace.
- Tyres. EVs are heavy and eat tyres. Check the date codes and the inner edges, not just the tread depth.
- Brakes. Regenerative braking means discs can rust from under-use rather than wear out. Look for lipping and corrosion.
Service history, MOT history, V5C in the seller’s name, outstanding finance check, panel gaps and paint. An electric car is still a used car. Our used car checklist covers all of it.
What it costs to run once you own it
The running-cost case is real but conditional. On an off-peak home tariff an electric car is dramatically cheaper per mile than petrol; on public rapid chargers the advantage can disappear entirely. Put your own tariff and mileage into the petrol vs electric calculator before you commit.
Two costs that catch buyers out:
- Vehicle tax. Electric cars are no longer exempt — they pay the £200 standard rate, and the £440 expensive-car supplement applies above a £50,000 list price, which catches a lot of ordinary family EVs bought used.
- Pay-per-mile from April 2028 — an announced 3p a mile for battery-electric cars, on top of standard tax. At 10,000 miles that is about £300 a year.
Neither kills the case. Both belong in the sum.
Sources: degradation rates, sample size and fast-charging effect — Geotab EV battery health study; state-of-health bands, warranty terms and EV-specific checks — ONEEV used EV buying guide; vehicle tax — gov.uk; pay-per-mile — PetrolPrices. Last reviewed September 2026.