Two VW vans, both 2019 models, tell radically different stories when it comes to depreciation.
Based on recent auction prices and AutoTrader listings, a 2019 VW 2.0L TDI Diesel Highline van lost £4,000 in depreciation.
The 2021 VW ABT Etransporter T32 ADVA electric van lost £47,000.
The hard details (including auction results) are real, though the stories of how each were used seems invented for amusement value.
The EV van has only 8,064 miles, the diesel has 23,699.
“The price when new for my diesel van in 2021 was £32,997 and [the] EV was £55,717.”
Both vans look kitted out for cargo rather than passengers.
“After 28,000 miles, my diesel van, as you can see from here, AutoTrader, there’s loads of them online, so you can go look for yourself. 23,000 mi on this one, 24 grand plus the VAT. So, my van at the end of four years is worth £28,788.”
“His 8,000 mile van that he spent £20,000 more than me on, is today worth £8,100.”
“So my depreciation, I’ve lost £4,209 across four years, which is £1,000 a year…I’ve lost £4,000 in four years, £1,000 a year, £87 a month, £2.88 a day.”
“He’s lost £47,617 in four years, which is £11,900 a year, which is £992 a month or £32 a day.”
Electric vans “genuinely are selling for as cheap as that. Nobody wants them.”
But what about the running costs? “29,000 miles at today’s diesel price is £4,816. The road tax will be £345 a month [I think he means per year. -LP]. So call that £1,380 for four years.” (More on the nightmare tax Brit car drivers have to pay here.)
“Even with the running costs, I am only losing £10,000.”
The EV van owner loses £47,000 even before charging costs.
Though that’s the UK, the high road tax and the higher diesel costs both weigh more heavily on the internal combustion van, and it still comes out ahead.
Now, a 2021 Tesla here in the U.S. with 8,100 miles wouldn’t have depreciated nearly that much, but it appears that there are serious depreciation concerns for pretty much all other manufacturer EVs.