According to Rest of World, used-car dealers in China—the world's largest EV market—are increasingly refusing to buy five-year-old electric vehicles. The cars' poor resale value is tied to a growing anxiety over battery health, as owners and dealers worry about degradation and the end of warranty coverage.
The report suggests this is not just a local quirk. As Western EV fleets age, buyers in the US and Europe may face the same battery-related depreciation shock. Dealers in China are already pricing in the risk that an aging EV battery will be expensive to repair or replace, making older models hard to sell.
The source does not offer a counterpoint; it presents the Chinese market as a preview of what is likely to come elsewhere. The implication is that battery longevity, not just range or charging speed, will increasingly define the value of used electric cars.