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Depreciation and residual value describe the same change
Depreciation is the portion of an asset’s initial value that is lost over a period. Residual value is the portion of the original purchase price that remains after a number of years. A US Senate hearing glossary hosted by GovInfo uses these definitions in plain practical terms. It is a glossary definition, not a binding accounting standard.
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) makes the link explicit in its Global EV Outlook 2026, in the section on trends in electric cars: “A retention rate of 70% means that a product purchased new will lose 30% of its original value, on average, and sell at such a discount relative to the original price.”
Value retention is the mirror image of depreciation:
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- Value retention (%) = resale value ÷ original value × 100
- Depreciation (%) = 100% − value retention (%)
- Value lost = original value − resale value
How to calculate EV depreciation for one vehicle
- Fix the original-value basis. Decide whether you are using the sticker price (MSRP) or the amount actually paid, and label it.
- Record a comparable resale value on a fixed date. Match the model year, trim, mileage band, condition, and region as closely as you can.
- Calculate retention. Divide resale value by original value and multiply by 100.
- Calculate depreciation. Subtract the retention percentage from 100.
- Calculate value lost. Subtract resale value from original value in currency terms.
Illustrative arithmetic only: a vehicle with a $50,000 sticker price that resells for $30,000 at three years has a retention of 60%, a depreciation of 40%, and a value lost of $20,000.
Any depreciation figure is only meaningful if it states the following:
- the original-value basis (sticker price or purchase price);
- the vehicle’s age or elapsed period;
- the geography;
- the valuation date;
- whether it describes one vehicle or an average across a cohort;
- the data source and how transactions were counted.
What the current regional evidence shows
The IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026 reports resale evidence for three markets. All figures refer to the periods shown and to the markets named.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| China, three-year-old electric cars | Retention of original value | About 46% | 2024 | The broader used-car market retained about 55% in the same comparison. |
| China, BEVs and PHEVs combined | Average resale value | About 42% | Late 2025 | Reported as an average across battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. |
| France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, BEVs | Retention rate | About 50% falling to about 35% | 2022 to 2025 | The decline followed a period of tight used-car supply, as the market rebalanced. |
| United States, BEVs | Resale value compared with the overall used-car market | Roughly 25 percentage points below the overall market | End of 2025 | The 2025 US values are estimates; the IEA states that the underlying data were unavailable. |
The IEA says these are period- and market-specific retention observations. They are not a forecast for a particular model, and they do not measure what an individual owner will realize on sale. The analysis draws on Autovista, Black Book, and Cox Automotive. The US 2025 estimate draws on iSeeCars, and the report also cites CADA.
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Why EVs lose value: the main drivers
New-car pricing and newer models
When newer models improve or new-car prices fall, older used examples can become less attractive or have to be repriced. The IEA describes rapid battery-technology advances as one reason newer Chinese-market models have drawn buyers away from older electric cars. In the United States, the IEA links a sharp 2023 reversal in used BEV resale values to Tesla’s new-car price cuts.
Incentives and purchase-price context
Incentives and manufacturer discounts change the price of new vehicles, which in turn changes the competition faced by used examples. A Kelley Blue Book (KBB) article dated June 26, 2020 identified tax breaks and price cuts as pressures on used EVs in that market at that time. It is useful as a historical account of how these mechanisms work. Its policy details should not be read as current law or current rates.
Used-market supply and demand
Resale values reflect conditions in the used-car market, not only physical wear. In Europe, the IEA describes BEV retention falling after pandemic-era tight supply eased and supply and demand rebalanced.
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Battery health and perceived repair exposure
The IEA identifies concerns about battery health and the cost of a major repair as factors that can make older EVs less attractive to buyers. This does not mean every used EV needs a battery replacement, and battery condition does not set a vehicle’s price on its own.
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Age, mileage, condition, and exact model
These are the controls to hold constant when you estimate the value of a specific car. The sources reviewed for this article do not quantify how much each factor moves the price of each EV model, so no weighting should be assumed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Battery degradation is related to depreciation, but it is a separate measure
Battery degradation describes loss of battery performance and capacity. Depreciation describes the market value of the whole vehicle. The two are linked in buyers’ minds, but they are not the same measurement.
A 2015 paper by Jeremy Neubauer, Eric Wood, and Ahmad Pesaran, hosted by the National Laboratory of the Rockies, models the value of batteries in second use after they leave the car. It reports that capacity fade affected second-use value more than growth in internal resistance did. Where calendar aging dominated cycling, average battery temperature during automotive service had the largest effect on remaining second-use value. The paper is about second-use batteries, not whole-car resale prices, so it explains why battery history can matter without giving a depreciation formula.
Reading EV depreciation figures without false precision
- Monthly transaction volumes do not always support a sales-weighted annual average. The IEA’s annual figure uses the last month of the year.
- The IEA’s series is not corrected for the average sales age of the vehicles in it, so two years with different average ages are not directly comparable.
- The US 2025 values are estimates, not observed averages.
- Figures for China, Europe, and the United States use different cohorts and methods, so they should not be presented as one number.
When comparing an EV with a gasoline car, use the same basis for both. Compare cars from the same market, with the same age band, the same powertrain category (BEV or PHEV, or conventional), and the same valuation date. A comparison that mixes an older gasoline model with a newer EV, or a sticker price with a purchase price, will show a difference that the method created rather than a real difference in value.
Used together, the definition and the checklist above give a dependable way to read any depreciation claim: identify the original-value basis, the elapsed period, and the market, then check whether the figure describes one car or a cohort.
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