Ask most people if they'd buy a secondhand electric car and they'll walk the other way. Others will roll their eyes and say they wouldn't want to take the risk.
But a few will say they already have... and it's the best thing they've ever done. I'm one of them.
15 years of daily electric vehicle (EV) driving, owning seven different electric models and covering 170,000 battery-only miles gives me a clear perspective. And in all that time and those miles, nothing has gone wrong.
I got my first and, so far, only EV repair bill the other day. It was for £375 for front control arm bushes on the Tesla Model 3 that I've owned for five years and have driven for 50,000 miles.
Motoring made simple
Buying a used EV is less risky than buying a used combustion-engine car because there’s much less to go wrong. There are around 20 moving parts in an EV drivetrain, compared to over 200 in a petrol-or diesel-powered vehicle.
Clutches, gearbox control units, fuel pumps, exhaust gas recirculation valves… the list of stuff that can, and does, go wrong in combustion-engine vehicles seems endless.
Meanwhile, multiple studies show that EVs break down less than combustion cars.
Servicing an EV involves replacing the cabin filter, changing brake fluid every three years and rotating tyres to even out wear. That’s it, because there are so few friction-based parts.
Once you understand how mechanically simple an EV is, you begin to know what you need to look out for.
And the main thing is the battery. This is the greatest concern for used-EV buyers. But we now have billions of miles of EV data to show that the failure rate of their lithium-ion batteries is actually tiny.
Most EVs come with an eight-year, 100,000-mile battery warranty, so if the capacity drops below 70 per cent, the battery will be replaced free of charge. I’ve driven EVs out of warranty with 250,000 miles on their original battery packs that still hold good charge and range.
We’re even seeing ex-taxi EVs – sometimes with as many as 300,000 miles – still running and charging well.
Most experts now agree that an EV’s battery will outlast the car’s chassis.
Consumer Reports estimate that the average battery pack has a life expectancy of 200,000 miles, while a Geotab study of 10,000 EVs showed a loss of battery capacity of 10 per cent over 10 years.
But after a decade of use, a combustion engine will also lose efficiency through mechanical wear.
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What to look out for
Dealers now offer State of Health (SOH) certificates for batteries and many EVs have software that the owner can use to check the SOH themselves. I did it on my Tesla at 50,000 miles and found I have 93-per-cent capacity left.
If you buy from a dealer, make sure you get a SOH certificate or, if it’s a private sale, get the battery capacity checked. Anything around 90 per cent means there’s plenty of life left, as on many models we’re seeing cell degradation levelling off after this point.
There are some exceptions, though: the early Nissan Leaf had battery cooling issues and loses range and capacity faster than other EVs.
Early Renault Zoes have battery management problems and the oldest electric Smart EVs can be difficult to repair. The oldest BMW i3s have reliability glitches, and according to WhatCar so does the MG4 and Vauxhall Corsa E.
As a general rule, avoid the earliest EVs, which may look alluringly cheap (some as low as £3,000).
Battery tech has now improved, bringing with it longer ranges, faster charging times and better software.
Some may also have CHAdeMO plugs that are being phased out in many countries, although you can buy adaptors to convert to the Combined Charging System (CCS), now used on all chargers.
Go for EVs from 2017 onwards and you’ll be buying more modern technology.
We’re seeing premature failures in hybrid batteries because of their greater charging cycles that degrade the pack quicker.
Hybrids are proving less reliable than battery-only EVs because they have two power trains – a petrol engine and a battery – so twice as much to go wrong.
They also cost more to maintain and their range on electricity alone is much less than an EV – typically 20–40 miles from a plug-in hybrid. Mild hybrids and full hybrids run mainly on a petrol engine and aren’t proper EVs.
On some EVs, there have been problems with charging port flaps, charging ports and cables, but these are relatively rare.
Before you buy, make sure you check the functionality of the port and flap by charging for a while and watch the central screen for any charging warnings or a failure to connect.
Ask the seller to charge the battery to 100 per cent before you arrive and check what the indicated range is. If it's significantly lower than the manufacturer's quoted range, walk away.
Most EVs will lose range in colder weather, but if the ambient temperature is warm, the range should be close to the official figure. EVs fitted with heat pumps give improved range in lower temperatures.
The 12-volt battery in some EVs – like in combustion cars – can lose charge over time, but this can affect the charging of the main battery and spook some of the software, so it’s wise to change the auxiliary battery every three years.
Apart from electrical glitches, look for suspension wear on front control arms and bushes, and if there are any rattles or squeaks, ask why. EVs should be silent and silky smooth.
There’s now a large global data set on EV reliability and they’re proving more reliable than petrol or diesel cars.
One very important thing to do before you buy, is to get a home charge box fitted (if you have space) so you can charge your EV outside your house, as you’ll be able to access a low night-time tariff of 7.5p per kWh.
That means the average cost of a full charge will be less than £15, or around 3p per mile. But, however you charge your secondhand EV, it’ll be much cheaper than the eye-watering forecourt fill-ups you’re used to with petrol or diesel vehicles.
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