Here’s a question I’ve been pondering in for awhile: Who, exactly, is going to buy all those leased Nissan LEAFs out there after their three-year leases expire, and for how much?
While the initial take on EVs has generally been that they’ll get decent resale value, I’ve been pretty skeptical about this claim for awhile. Why?
Two words: Battery degradation.
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LEAF taxis & battery degradation
And a recent post to Green Car Reports about Nissan LEAF taxi drivers in Japan experiencing siginficant battery degradation is feeding my skepticism.
I certainly wouldn’t buy a used Nissan LEAF, or any other pure electric battery vehicle, that’s been driven, and charged, for three years (or more), for anything other than a dirt cheap price, would you?
So, I’m seriously wondering what Nissan, and Nissan dealers, Mitsubishi and its dealers, etc., are thinking in terms of leasing so many LEAFs, iMiEVs, etc. Do they actually believe they’re going to get decent value on the other end selling three-year-old pure EVs to new buyers? And do they think these buyers are going to want to buy a vehicle for a decent price with a battery pack that’s already been significantly degraded?
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Also, what about being fair/honest with the buyers of such vehicles — are inexperienced EV consumers going to have the wool pulled over their eyes by dealers in terms of how much battery life/charge capacity/range is left in these old LEAFs, iMiEVs, etc.?
What’s your take on what’s going to happen when large numbers of three-year-old pure EVs that have been leased start being sold? And would you buy one, and for how much?
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