EV values stabilising at ICE price parity, VRA meeting told

Falling electric vehicle (EV) values are stabilising once they reach price parity with their internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents, March’s meeting of the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) was told.

Andy Shields, global business unit director of Indicata, presented data for a variety of EVs that showed this trend, following on from the dramatic price falls seen in 2023.

He said: “This effect appears to have some relationship to the manufacturer’s reputation for EVs. If it is good, they stabilise slightly above the ICE equivalent, if they have less of a track record, it stabilises slightly below.

“However, the key point seems to be that once prices of EV and ICE versions of a model are roughly the same, buyers start to support the electric version in sufficient numbers that the curve flattens out.

“Of course, whether this is a long term effect remains to be seen but it appears to be holding true at this moment in time.”

Other speakers at the event reported that demand for EVs had stabilised and was even increasing.

Stuart Chamberlain, head of B2B and partnerships at Arval UK, said: “This year, it seems that we have seen much more of a market for EVs start to develop which, with the numbers that are going to start appearing on the used market increasing, is a very timely development.”

He sat as part of a discussion panel looking at emerging fleet remarketing trends that also included David Watkins, commercial director of Greenhous Fleet Services, and Vicky Malcolm, relationship manager at Motability Operations.

The subject was also tackled by Mark Davis, key account manager and Craig Auden, product owner of Epyx, who detailed the trends that were being seen through their 1link Disposal Network fleet remarketing platform.

Davis said: “Probably the most interesting development of the last year or so has been something that we are calling multi-channel remarketing, where major fleets are increasingly looking to sell the same vehicle simultaneously through a number of channels, both trade and retail, with prices adjusted accordingly.

"It offers the best chance of maximising values following recent market readjustments.”