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Leafs have a terrible resale value, at one point the highest depreciation of almost any car.

I actually think Tesla propped up its resale values in the beginning with the guaranteed buyback price thing. They managed to maintain this until people started getting used to "tesla is expensive". (although teslas are more useful because of the large battery and charging infrastructure)

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It’s not just the Leaf, all electric cars have a terrible resale value problem. People think that preowned EVs suck because these cars have depleted batteries, and they’ve heard car batteries are just like their other devices batteries. More than any other car, EVs should never be outright bought.

> More than any other car, EVs should never be outright bought.

I am uncertain about this. They've tried this with phones, and it ends up that the cost gets bundled into a more expensive service. Also changes might be forced to get people upgrade more often and make the devices throw-away.

I think with ownership, there might be pressure on the manufacturers to focus on longevity.

On the plus side it means buying a used EV is great value. I got a 3 year old leaf for £6.5k, and 3 years later 6 year old leafs sell for £6.5k. Even if not using it as a car I'd still have £5k of batteries

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