AUTONEWS

Cars are aging faster than ever because the cutting-edge technology that powers them is also their biggest problem

There used to be a rule for conventional cars that they experienced the greatest drop in value in the first few years, and then the curve flattened out and they existed for a number of years without replacing their technology with more modern ones. This logic does not apply to electric cars. Today, models that are only three or four years old already seem technologically outdated, and this is clearly reflected in their price on the used market.

The main culprit is the pace of development. While diesel and gasoline cars evolved gradually, electric models are undergoing technological leaps of a kind. For example, early models such as the first generations of electric compact SUVs or sedans offered a range of 200 to 300 kilometers and relatively slow charging. Today, even the middle class can easily exceed 500 kilometers, with significantly shorter charging times.

The problem of infrastructure and charging speed is even more pronounced. Older models often support maximum charging powers of 50 kW or 100 kW, while newer ones can easily go over 200 and even 300 kW. In practice, this means the difference between waiting 40 minutes and half as long, and the market is certainly feeling that.

And then there's the software, which is becoming just as important as the mechanics. Newer cars are getting regular OTA (over-the-air) updates, more advanced driver assistance systems, and better integration of digital services. Older models, even when mechanically perfect, simply can't keep up.

Because of all this, the used electric car market is behaving differently than ever before. The value isn't just falling because of mileage and age, but because of "technological obsolescence." Buyers are increasingly bypassing older models because for similar money they can get a significantly more modern car with better performance and longer range, because today's new electric cars are equipped with the latest generation technology and are significantly more affordable.

So, the trend of ever-better and more advanced technology is accelerating. Thus, solid-state batteries are already seriously developing and promise a new level, higher capacity, lower weight, and even shorter charging times. However, even without them, technology is advancing at an incredible speed. Already today, some manufacturers offer batteries that can be charged to 80 percent in just fifteen minutes, which until recently sounded like science fiction.

In such a context, it is clear why the first and second generations of electric cars are losing value enormously, because the technological momentum that is driving the EV industry is simultaneously accelerating their obsolescence.

Conventional cars, with several redesigns and improvements, have had almost the same technology for 7 to 10 years, however, electric cars age much faster in terms of batteries and software, and sometimes three years without improvements and updates is a lot.

In the end, one thing is certain: for owners of older generations of EV models, reality is harsh because an electric car is no longer just a means of transportation, but a technological product that ages at a pace almost like smartphones, and this is precisely the key to the whole story, which is that the electric revolution is not linear, but constantly accelerating. Especially with Chinese manufacturers.

The problem is, therefore, that you can't replace an electric car worth 40, 50 or 60 thousand euros in a few years like you can replace an old smartphone when a new and better one arrives, so on average an electric car loses half of its value on the used market after just three years...

by Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas