Quarterly heycar market news

Five-year-old electric vehicles rose in value by 97.83% in the past year, according to the Used Car Price Index. Every manufacturer with battery-electric vehicles of this age saw an increase in average prices, which leapt from £14,870 in October 2021 to £29,417 in October 2022. 

The move was partly driven by an increase in the number of Teslas advertised for sale, which typically carry higher prices, but values also grew organically across every other brand, including Nissan and Renault, average values of which jumped by 28% and 49%, predominantly driven by the Leaf and Zoe. 

As of October 2022, average prices of five-year-old EVs were greater than those of three-year-old equivalents a year ago (£23,607). However, three-year-old examples also swelled, reaching £35,056 in October 2022 – up 48.49% year-on-year. 

Electric vehicles represent a smaller portion of the used car market than established internal combustion models, which can create greater fluctuations in figures. By contrast, the average price for a five-year-old petrol car rose by 1.25% year-on-year, while equivalent diesels fell by 8.44%. Nonetheless, three- and five-year-old EVs are clearly attractive to consumers and represent profitable opportunities for dealers. 

Older electric vehicles could also become more desirable over time. In its November Autumn Statement, the government announced that new EVs would be subject to road tax from April 2025. Those registered before April 2017 will be subject to a much lower rate of tax and protect owners against additional emissions-based penalties such as existing and forthcoming clean air or low emissions zones. 

Even in the face of rising prices, older vehicles represent the cheapest entry point into EV ownership, while the value spike also dispels early theories that EVs would suffer from poor residual values, often due to concerns about the technology’s reliability. 

Key market stats 

• Five-year-old EVs are worth almost twice as much as they were a year ago, regardless of the manufacturer 
• 97.83% year-on-year rise in the average price of a five-year-old EV
• The average price of an EV was £14,870 in October 2021 but by October 2022 the average price increased to £29,417
• 48.49% is the year-on-year rise in the average price of a three-year-old EV
• EV drivers will be required to pay VED road tax from April 2025

Note from the CEO

"Welcome to heycar’s inaugural quarterly Data Bank report. We’re excited to bring you highlights from our extensive analysis of the UK used vehicle market from our industry-leading Used Car Price Index. 

"It is absolutely no secret that dealers are in the midst of incredibly difficult trading conditions, as well as extraordinary changes both to the products you sell and to the very nature of the automotive retail business. We’re here to help with that. 

"We strive to provide retailers with the most insightful and cogent information in the used vehicle arena which you will not find elsewhere. That is as true of our digital products as it is of this report; the insights on these pages are completely bespoke and based entirely on our data. We will draw your attention to key trends and opportunities. We will not state the obvious; you already know used car stock is low, so we’re not going to tell you that.   

"We intend to publish the Data Bank report quarterly, so we’ll bring you a concise roundup of the stories and figures that matter to you at the industry’s bookends of the year. heycar is experiencing exponential growth within the UK and beyond, and our ever-expanding range of tools and insights is designed to help your business flourish in the most challenging of circumstances." 

Karen Hilton, Chief Executive Officer, heycar UK

Autumn Statement 2022: Why it matters for used EVs

The impending electric vehicle tax was one of the headline announcements of chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s November Autumn Statement, but there was more to it than met the eye, including ramifications for used cars. 

The focus was new EVs, which are currently exempt from the annual £165 standard rate of vehicle excise duty, while those with a new price of more than £40,000 also swerve the £335 ‘expensive car supplement’. From 1 April 2025, new zero-emission cars will have to pay the lowest first year rate of vehicle excise duty – currently, £10 a year for vehicles emitting between 1 and 50g/km – and the £165 standard charge will commence in their second year of registration. The expensive car supplement will be applied to EVs from the same date, too.

Attention was far less focussed on second-hand electric cars at the time of the announcement, but they will also have to pay road tax from 1 April 2025. All zero-emission models are currently exempt from VED, but from April 2025, those registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 will also pay the standard £165 annual rate. 

Crucially, EVs registered between 1 March 2001 and 30 March 2017 currently in Band A (free) will move to Band B – currently £20 a year. 

The effect is twofold: it spells the end of the era of free road tax for electric cars and could potentially cause confusion among buyers. 

However, assuming the latter rate remains the same or relatively similar, it makes a case for older electric cars (exactly those for which values have almost doubled – see our page one story) as new and newer examples will be taxed at a significantly higher rate from the middle of the decade. 

Hot Property 

Our data reveals the most popular brands and their corresponding stock levels  

Supply and demand are the essence of the used car market, and our data reveals the brands at the sharp end of it. The percentage of leads for the eight manufacturers listed above outweighed their portion of total stock advertised on heycar in October 2022. 

In addition to topping this chart, Mercedes was October’s most popular manufacturer among our users, with more outright leads than any other brand. It was also the fifth most stocked brand, behind Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, and Vauxhall, so unquestionably the most desirable major manufacturer in terms of interest from customers and limited availability.   

Land Rover, Mitsubishi, and MG had the starkest differences, because their lead percentages were between 60% and 135% more than those of their proportion of total stock, which shows that they are the most sought-after brands relative to their volume of available used cars. 

The strength of Land Rover and MG is likely down to the desirability of their products – the former’s premium models are big draw, as are the latter’s comparatively low prices and range of electric SUVs – and Mitsubishi’s due to dwindling supply in the wake of its exit from the European new car market. Our data also shows an average lead conversion rate of 12% and our best performing groups often achieve in the region of 20%.

Highlights from our October 2022 lead data

Leads by car body style:

SUV 32.53%

Hatchback 23.97%

Saloon 6.47%

MPV 3.77%

Estate 3.29%

Coupe 2.97%

Convertible 1.49%

Leads by Year: Top 3 

2018 20.54%

2019 17.16%

2017 15.57%

Average Lead Price 

£21,979

+3.69% year-on-year

+1.02% month-on-month 

Number crunching 

• SUVs accounted for almost a third of all leads on heycar in October 2022, which proves their dominance among buyers. Hatchbacks were the second largest segment at just under a quarter and it is worth noting that the Ford Fiesta was our most stocked model of the month, which contrasts with Ford’s announcement in October that it will end production of its long-serving supermini from June 2023. No other single body style accounted for more than 6.5% of leads.  
• Three-year-old models were the most abundant by age group, accounting for 26% of our stock profile, while more than half of all leads (53.27%) were concentrated on vehicles between three and five years old. 
• One- and two-year-old models collectively accounted for 35%. Four- and five-year-old examples were 22%. 
• The marginal increase in the average lead price – both monthly and annually – shows that prices for the most desirable stock are still on the rise, albeit at a steady rate.