Fleet dominance of the new electric car market is skewing the used sector, impacting demand and values, delegates at the September Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) meeting this week were told.

An uptick in private buyer adoption of new EVs will provide the kind of stock the used market needs, rather than what it is currently getting

Andy Webb, head of sales from Brego, explained that high uptake of EVs among fleets meant there were too many medium and large electric cars entering the remarketing cycle, and not enough smaller ones for everyday buyers.

He said: “We’re seeing a skewing of the used EV market towards manufacturers and models for which there is limited demand in the market and this has been the primary reason for the collapse in EV values over the last few years. If there had been more ‘normal’ EVs around, the falls we have seen may have been much more limited.”

Latest Cap HPI figures show values for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) at the three-year mark rose 1% in September but this follows 24 consecutive months of downturns in values that led to an overall drop of around 60%.

Fleets are now beginning to buy some smaller, cheaper EVs, but Webb said there is a very real possibility that the used market will not begin to function correctly until more private drivers start buying EVs, in turn delivering more affordable models to the used market.

“They will eventually provide the kind of stock that the market needs, rather than what it is currently getting,” Webb elaborated.

September’s VRA meeting was held at the Swindon head office of Arval UK, and included an EV ride and drive event featuring new models from BYD including the Atto, Dolphin and Seal, as well as used examples from Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Tesla and others.

The event also included a briefing on how to remarket EVs, featuring the talk from Andy Webb as well as insights from Martin Miller, founder of Surrey-based specialist EV dealership EV Experts, and Stuart Chamberlain, head of B2B and partnerships, Arval UK, on EV preparation for sale.

Martin Miller said: “There is no doubt we have been through some considerable pain within the EV market but it really does feel as though things are changing for the better. For example, our unit profit has increased by 18% between June and September this year.

“The factors behind this are numerous but the kind of price parity that we are now seeing between comparable EVs and petrol cars is important and, every time there is an increase in petrol prices, we see increased interest for consumers. Especially, when petrol hits £1.50 per litre, it seems to be a tipping point, concentrating the minds of motorists on the kind of savings that are available from going electric.

“We classify the type of customer than we are seeing now as the ‘early majority.’ They are attracted to an EV for practical reasons, don’t overthink their purchase, and are much more numerous than the early adopters who characterised initial EV buyers.”

Stuart Chamberlain said that, given the large of numbers of EVs being operated by fleets, Arval had become rapidly adept at their remarketing.

“There are a wide range of best practices that we have come to recognise around EVs. Perhaps the most important is that, given variations on batteries among otherwise identical models, providing a detailed description is essential for trade and retail customers. Two seemingly identical vehicles could have a 100-mile difference in range, which equates to a £2,500 difference in trade values. Other EVs have doubled their range between model years.”

He also called for continued education among private drivers.

“For example, the most common consumer question we hear is whether you can take an EV through a car wash. Within the trade, the answer to this sounds obvious, but it is a worry for some potential buyers. They also need to understand what they are buying in terms of factors such as the cables included, types of socket, and charging speeds. It’s very much a process.”

Alex Johns of Altelium also took part in the event, testing the battery capacity of the used EVs offered in the ride and drive.

“Battery health checks are emerging as an important factor in the used EV market, providing a high degree of reassurance. As we amass more data, we can increasingly see that battery degradation is much slower than consumers imagine and the cars tested here are further proof of that trend,” he stressed.

VRA chair Philip Nothard said that used EVs still only account for around one in 40 sales, and many members don’t have wide experience of driving or processing EVs. The event was held to tackle this, familiarising attendees with new and used models and giving practical information on how to process them for remarketing.

“There is a growing volume of EVs entering the used sector as company car fleets start to defleet an increasing number of units, and knowledge about this area is becoming more and more important. However, it does feel increasingly as though the situation around EVs has eased considerably, and there is much more optimism in the remarketing sector than even a few months ago,” he stated.