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Comment by heygrady | Hacker News Reader

Get a used EV! The Nissan Leaf is highly recommended as a used car. We have to build new ones -- and sell them -- before there are used ones available.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098554_should-i-buy-a-u...

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Interesting, I had assumed that EVs maintain their value better, but this link says the opposite. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

Tesla have held their value better because there was a shortage, but increasing supply and competition / availability of other models is putting downward pressure on used prices. But all these cars have advancing technology. My view is buying a slightly more expensive electric car today is jumpstarting the future for other people. And if you prefer, you can buy a very cheap used ev today - if doing so, the key thing is to figure out if the car has reduced range. Teslas don't generally have a problem with this because they cool the battery pack when recharging, not other cars do that.

You literally wreck the most expensive part of the car a little every time you drive it for more than a few miles - the battery pack! If you only trickle charge it to 80%, dont get it below 30%-20%, the pixies in the pack will stay happy and stick around. Drive hard and long, charge fast and the thing deteriorates. The worse it gets the quicker it deteriorates. So a used car you bought for 7k might be worth 0 in 2 or 4 years...

Leafs are also dirt cheap on Craigslist. You can find 2 year old ones with <30k miles for $7000 in some cities.

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