What should you know before buying a used electric car?

In addition, the autonomy of an electric car can decrease over the years.Indeed, if they are generally reliable, the batteries tend to lose capacity.This phenomenon is more or less important depending on the model and depends on many factors, such as the rapid loads which particularly use the batteries.

Some manufacturers can provide a certificate attesting to the SOH (State of Health, or state of health that expresses the capacity of a battery compared to its initial capacity) of the battery.This is the case of Renault and Dacia, which allow individuals to access it from their respective applications.The La Belle Battery company also specialized in the supply of battery certificates, for most models on the market, while mobile applications allow you to assess the SOH of certain cars by connecting to their OBD-II socket.We plan to test these proposals.

Note that if the vast majority of electric cars use lithium-ion batteries, this is not the case for all.For example, the Bolloré Bluecar and Bluesummer, as well as the Citroën E-Mehari, are equipped with lithium metal polymer (LMP) batteries.They have the distinction of requiring to be maintained at a temperature between 60 and 80 ° C, which requires significant electrical consumption, even when stopped.

As for recharging, there are still a few models standing out from the rest of the market.If the majority of them use a type 2 socket, or CCS for those compatible with the continuous current, this is not the case for everyone.The Tesla Model S and Model X manufactured before May 1, 2019 must for example use an adapter to connect to CCS on third -party networks or to V3 supercomposes.Some manufacturers have opted for the Japanese charging standard Chademo for continuous current recharge.This is particularly the case with the Nissan Leaf and it can make the search for compatible public terminals difficult.

Is the battery of a used electric car still rental?

In France, Renault has embarked on the electric cars market with a battery rental offer.This allowed the manufacturer to approach the purchase price of its models from that of an equivalent thermal vehicle, while overshadowing fears about the wear of the batteries.Nissan also offered a similar offer.Today, these battery rental offers have disappeared, but the cars that have been bought according to this model continue to require a subscription for their battery, if the latter has not been bought from the manufacturer since.It is therefore important to take this cost into account in its calculations, since it can amount to a hundred euros per month all the same.

What guarantee for a used electric car?

The duration of the contractual warranty of an electric car is equivalent to that of a petrol or diesel car, namely generally between 2 and 3 years from the date of first registration, with or without limitation limit.At this level, Kia stands out by guaranteeing all of her 7 years or 150,000 km models.

However, the battery generally benefits from a separate treatment, with an 8 -year or 160,000 km warranty by most manufacturers.The latter define a SOH below which the battery will be replaced for free for the duration of the warranty, often about 70 %.For rental batteries, they are guaranteed "for life", always for a given soh (75 % at Renault, with the exception of the Kangoo Z.E. 22 kWh guaranteed for a 60 % SOH).

In addition to the manufacturer's warranty, which can be expired for a used vehicle, a buyer is covered by the legal guarantee of hidden defects, whether the seller is an individual or a professional, and by the legal guarantee of conformity, if thecar is bought from a professional.To this can be added a commercial guarantee of the seller, if it is a professional (independent or the network of a manufacturer), with a variable duration and which can cover the breakdowns of certain elements or not.

What aid for the purchase of a used electric car?

Used electric cars are now eligible for an ecological bonus of € 1,000.It is granted to all buyers, but also compatible with the rental for a minimum of two years.The main eligibility condition is that the vehicle purchased must have been registered for the first time two years or more ago.

This bonus can be combined with other aids, such as conversion bonus.This requires having an eligible vehicle to scrap.For the purchase of a used electric vehicle at the maximum rate of € 60,000, its amount varies from € 2,500 to € 5,000, depending on tax income.

Finally, regional aid can be added to this list.It is to the regions that the freedom to set an exemption from the regional tax.It is 100 % in almost all regions for electric cars and their gray card is therefore almost free.

Assessment: what to remember

In the end, you must therefore keep in mind that the wear of the batteries is the main weakness of reliability of an electric car, other than points in common to other vehicles, but there are simple means of knowing the statehealth of the latter.Also, it is important to take into account the possible rental of batteries, for the models concerned.Rest assured, the batteries benefit from a specific guarantee most of the time and which includes a minimum load level.Finally, good news, an ecological bonus exists and it can be combined with the conversion bonus and regional aid.Orienting yourself towards a used electric car is therefore not more risky than turning to a second -hand thermal car.

Once these few points have been analyzed, it remains to make a choice among the many models of electric cars available in second hand.A second file will soon be published on our site.We will analyze the offer and give you our opinion on the best -selling models on the second -hand market.