Bar shows the share of the price still left. A reducing balance estimate from rates you choose, not a valuation. Real prices depend on model, mileage, condition, battery health and the market.
Formula and breakdown
n/a
n/a
This EV depreciation calculator estimates what an electric car will be worth after each year you own it, from the price you pay and yearly depreciation rates you can change, for UK buyers and owners comparing a new EV, a used EV or a lease. It shows the value year by year, the total loss and the depreciation cost per mile, and includes presets built from published UK three-year figures so you can see how much the assumptions matter.
Quick answer: The EV depreciation calculator applies a first-year loss and then a yearly loss to the remaining value. As an example, a £35,000 electric car losing 25% in year one and 15% a year after is worth about £18,966 after three years. Published UK figures range from 39% to 55% of the price left after three years.
What Is an EV Depreciation Calculator?
An EV depreciation calculator is a tool that projects how an electric car’s market value falls over time so you can estimate its resale value and the cost of owning it. In plain words: value at the end of year one equals price times one minus the first-year rate, and each later year’s value equals the previous value times one minus the later-year rate. Depreciation is the price minus the final value.
This is the reducing balance method, also called declining balance, described in the Wikipedia article on depreciation: each year’s loss is a percentage of what is left, so the pound loss shrinks over time even at a steady rate. Cars lose the most in the first year, which is why the calculator lets you set a separate first-year rate.
How Do You Use the EV Depreciation Calculator?
- Enter the price you pay after any discount, including VAT.
- Enter how many years you expect to keep the car.
- Choose a preset based on a published UK figure, or type your own first-year and later-year loss rates.
- Enter your yearly mileage to see depreciation per mile.
- Read the value after each year and the total loss, then open the breakdown to check the sums.
- Try a second set of rates to see how much the answer moves, since no rate is certain.
How Fast Do Electric Cars Depreciate in the UK?
Published UK figures say an average electric car keeps about 39% to 49% of its price after three years or 36,000 miles, while some premium models keep 55% or more. None of these is an official statistic, and the sources disagree, so the EV depreciation calculator turns each one into an even yearly rate you can test. The table lists the published figures.
| Published figure | Published by | Share of price left | Even yearly loss that matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV, 3 years or 36,000 miles | Car marketplace article, Sept 2025 | about 39% | 26.9% a year |
| Average EV, 3 years or 36,000 miles | Car dealer article, 51.1% lost (its own example implies 48.9%) | about 49% | 21.2% a year |
| Premium EVs, 3 years | Car marketplace article, Sept 2025 | 55% to 77% | 8.3% to 18.1% a year |
| Petrol, diesel and hybrid, 3 years | Car marketplace article, Sept 2025 | 52% to 56% | about 18.6% a year at 54% |
| General new car, 3 years at 10,000 miles a year | Leasing company citing the AA | about 40% | 26.3% a year |
| EV segment, 5 years (US market) | US calculator citing an iSeeCars study | 42.8% | 15.6% a year |
The even yearly rate is our own conversion: the three-year share left, raised to the power one third, subtracted from one. Real cars lose more in year one and less later, so treat the presets as averages, not forecasts for a particular model.
How Much Is My Electric Car Worth After 3 or 5 Years?
A £35,000 electric car would be worth about £13,649 after three years at the published 39% average, or about £19,249 at the 55% premium figure, a gap of over £5,600 from the assumption alone. The table runs the same £35,000 price through four sets of rates in the EV depreciation calculator.
| End of year | 39% left after 3 years (26.94% a year) | Example default (25%, then 15%) | 54% left, petrol average (18.6% a year) | 55% left, premium EV (18.07% a year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £25,571 | £26,250 | £28,500 | £28,676 |
| 2 | £18,682 | £22,313 | £23,208 | £23,494 |
| 3 | £13,649 | £18,966 | £18,898 | £19,249 |
| 4 | £9,972 | £16,121 | £15,389 | £15,770 |
| 5 | £7,286 | £13,703 | £12,531 | £12,921 |
Years four and five extend the three-year rates and are illustrations only. Published value curves for older cars show the yearly loss slowing, so the steeper presets may understate later values.
What Makes an Electric Car Lose Value Faster?
Commonly cited causes in the guides we read are cuts to new car prices, newer models with longer range, high mileage, poor condition and worries about battery health. Batteries are a large part of the price: the Wikipedia article on electric vehicle batteries says they often account for up to 30 to 40% of a vehicle’s price, and cites fleet data showing an average battery keeping 90% of its capacity after six and a half years, with frequent fast charging wearing batteries faster.
A battery health report from a dealer or independent inspector can support a better price when you sell, and our EV battery degradation calculator shows how range changes with capacity. Set depreciation against running costs too: charging at home at the cap rate can be checked with the electricity cost calculator, and the solar EV charging calculator shows what panels could save.
Is Depreciation per Mile Useful?
Yes, depreciation per mile puts the loss on the same footing as fuel or charging cost: at the example rates, £16,034 lost over 30,000 miles is about 53p a mile, several times the cost of home charging. Drivers covering more miles spread the loss more thinly, though high mileage also lowers the resale price, which this calculator does not model separately.
Worked Example: £35,000 Electric Car Kept for Three Years
Example: a buyer pays £35,000 for a new electric car, expects to keep it three years and drive 10,000 miles a year. They assume a 25% loss in year one and 15% a year after, the default inputs of the EV depreciation calculator.
- End of year 1: £35,000 x 0.75 = £26,250.
- End of year 2: £26,250 x 0.85 = £22,312.50.
- End of year 3: £22,312.50 x 0.85 = £18,965.63, or 54.2% of the price.
- Total depreciation: £35,000 minus £18,965.63 = £16,034.38, an average of £5,345 a year.
- Per mile: £16,034.38 / 30,000 = 53.4p.
With the 39% preset instead, the car is worth £13,649 after three years and depreciation rises to 71.2p a mile, which shows why it pays to check real used prices for the exact model before buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do electric cars depreciate per year?
Published UK figures that leave 39% to 55% of the price after three years equal an even loss of about 18% to 27% a year. Most cars lose more in the first year and less later, so a first-year rate higher than later years is more realistic.
Do electric cars depreciate faster than petrol cars?
On published UK averages, often yes: one marketplace article puts an average EV at about 39% of its price after three years against 52% to 56% for petrol, diesel and hybrid cars. Some premium EVs hold value as well as or better than petrol cars.
How is EV depreciation calculated?
Multiply the price by one minus the first-year rate, then multiply by one minus the later-year rate for each further year. Depreciation is the price minus the final value. Divide by total miles driven to get depreciation per mile.
Does battery health affect the resale value of an EV?
Yes. The battery is a large share of an electric car’s value, so buyers pay more for a car with a good state of health report. Fleet data suggests an average battery keeps about 90% of its capacity after six and a half years.
Is leasing an EV better than buying to avoid depreciation?
Leasing passes the depreciation risk to the finance company, which builds its own estimate into the monthly price. Buying can work out cheaper if the car holds value well. Compare the total lease cost with the depreciation this calculator shows for the same period.
How accurate is this EV depreciation calculator?
It is only as accurate as the rates you enter. It uses the reducing balance method with your own or published average rates, and does not know the model, trim, mileage or condition. For a real figure, compare current used prices for the same car.
Checked October 2026 by the Solaxyra Editorial Team. Sources: Wikipedia: Depreciation, Wikipedia: Electric vehicle battery, Carwow: Electric car depreciation (published averages), John Clark Motor Group: EV depreciation, Drive Electric: Do electric cars depreciate.