Depreciation
Do Electric Supercars Depreciate Faster
Electric vehicles lost 57.2 per cent over five years against 41.8 per cent for all cars. The gap is real, it has not moved in one direction, and no five year series exists for an electric supercar.
Across more than 950,000 five year old cars, iSeeCars measured electric vehicles losing 57.2 per cent against 41.8 per cent for the market as a whole. The gap is 15.4 percentage points and it is not in dispute. What the same data also shows, and what almost nobody quotes, is that this gap has moved up and down across four editions of the study rather than in one direction.
The segment table, across four editions
The 2026 edition covers cars sold between March 2025 and February 2026. Reading it next to the earlier editions is what turns a number into a direction, or in this case removes one.
| Segment | 2026 | 2025 | 2023 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All cars | 41.8 % | 45.6 % | 38.8 % | 49.6 % |
| Electric | 57.2 % | 58.8 % | 49.1 % | 67.1 % |
| Hybrid | 35.4 % | 40.7 % | 37.4 % | 56.7 % |
| Truck | 34.2 % | 40.4 % | 34.8 % | 42.7 % |
| SUV | 44.9 % | 48.9 % | 41.2 % | 51.6 % |
| Electric gap | 15.4 pts | 13.2 pts | 10.3 pts | 17.5 pts |
The bottom row is the one that matters and it is not in the study's own summary. The electric penalty was 17.5 points in 2019, narrowed to 10.3 points by 2023, and has widened again to 15.4 points now. Anyone describing electric depreciation as a structural fact that is steadily improving, or steadily worsening, is describing two of these four numbers and ignoring the others.
The 2026 edition also shows electric cars improving more slowly than the market rather than getting worse. Electric depreciation fell 1.6 points from 58.8 to 57.2 per cent, while the all car average fell 3.8 points from 45.6 to 41.8 per cent. Both segments improved. The gap grew by 2.2 points anyway.
The best electric car loses more than the average car
Inside the electric segment the spread is narrow and it sits entirely below the market. The strongest performer was the Tesla Model 3 at 54.6 per cent, the weakest the Nissan LEAF at 63.1 per cent. Two more electric cars appear in the study's five worst, the Volkswagen ID.4 at 62.1 per cent and the Tesla Model S at 62.0 per cent.
The Model 3 result is the sharp end of it. At 54.6 per cent the best retaining electric car in a sample of this size still loses 12.8 points more than the average car of any kind. For comparison, the study's overall leaders are combustion sports cars: the Porsche 718 Cayman at 9.6 per cent, the Porsche 911 at 11.1 per cent and the Chevrolet Corvette at 18.7 per cent.
On a car costing 200,000, the difference between the segment rate and the market rate is 114,400 lost against 83,600, a gap of 30,800 over five years.
What this does not tell you about an electric supercar
Nothing in either data set measures one. The iSeeCars electric segment is built from mass market and premium saloons, hatchbacks and crossovers, and its named results are a LEAF, an ID.4, a Model 3 and a Model S. The Hagerty supercar study that produces the 6 per cent and 20 per cent three year averages is built on combustion cars.
Two of the forces behind the electric segment result do carry over, and two do not:
- Carries over: technology dating. A drivetrain that is measurably superseded prices as superseded. This is sharper on electric cars because charging speed and range are published figures a used buyer compares directly.
- Carries over: battery uncertainty. A used buyer prices in a replacement they may never need, and the residual absorbs that whether or not the pack ever fails.
- Does not carry over: new car discounting. Much of the mass market electric residual damage came from list prices being cut and incentives moving underneath the used stock. A supercar maker that builds to order and does not discount does not transmit that shock.
- Does not carry over: supply. The strongest residuals in the supercar data belong to short series with demand above supply. A limited electric run is subject to the same arithmetic as a limited combustion one.
The defensible position is therefore narrow. The segment evidence says electric drivetrains have carried a persistent residual penalty for seven years of measurement, between 10.3 and 17.5 points depending on the edition. It does not say what an electric hypercar built in a run of a few hundred will do, because that car has not been measured yet.
Questions readers ask
Do electric cars lose value faster than petrol cars?
On the current evidence yes. Across more than 950,000 five year old cars sold between March 2025 and February 2026, electric vehicles lost 57.2 per cent against 41.8 per cent for all cars, a gap of 15.4 percentage points.
Is that gap getting better or worse?
Neither, consistently. Across four editions of the same study the gap was 17.5 points in 2019, 10.3 points in 2023, 13.2 points in 2025 and 15.4 points in 2026. It moves in both directions.
Which electric car holds its value best?
The Tesla Model 3 at 54.6 per cent over five years. That is the best result in the electric segment and it is still 12.8 points worse than the 41.8 per cent all car average, which is the part usually left out.
Does this apply to an electric supercar?
Not directly. No five year series exists for one. The electric segment in this study is made up of mass market and premium road cars, and the supercar depreciation data from Hagerty is built on combustion models.
Why do electric cars depreciate more?
Two forces dominate. New car price cuts and incentives moved the floor underneath existing used stock, and used buyers price in battery replacement risk whether or not a pack ever fails. Published range and charging speed also make technical dating unusually visible to a used buyer.
Are hybrids affected the same way?
No, they run the other way. Hybrids lost 35.4 per cent over five years, better than the 41.8 per cent market average and 21.8 points better than the electric segment.
Sources
- iSeeCars, cars that hold their value, for the 41.8 per cent average, the 950,000 car sample, the segment table across four editions and the named model results.
- Hagerty UK, modern supercar depreciation, published 19 May 2021, for the combustion supercar three year averages this segment data is deliberately not mixed with.