Every electric vehicle iSeeCars tracked in its latest depreciation study lost more than half its value in five years — the best-performing EV in the entire dataset still shed 54.6%. That’s the real story hiding behind “EVs depreciate fast”: there’s no EV escape hatch, only a gap between bad and worse. The firm analyzed more than 950,000 five-year-old used vehicles sold between March 2025 and February 2026 to find out exactly how wide that gap is, and which specific models sit on each end of it.
1. The Overall Gap Is Bigger Than Most Owners Expect
Electric vehicles lost an average of 57.2% of their value over five years, according to iSeeCars’ study, compared with a 41.8% average across the overall market — a gap of more than 15 percentage points. “Electric vehicles continue to lose more value than any other segment, outpacing the industry average by more than 15 percentage points,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars’ executive analyst, in the study.
2. The Nissan LEAF Lost the Most, in Percentage Terms
No EV in the study depreciated faster than the Nissan LEAF, which lost 63.1% of its value over five years — a $17,743 drop from its original price. It’s the smallest dollar loss of any EV on the worst-five list, but the steepest percentage decline in the entire dataset.
3. Six-Figure Dollar Losses on the Tesla S and X
The Volkswagen ID.4 (62.1%, $28,010 lost), Tesla Model S (62.0%, $58,907 lost), Tesla Model X (61.2%, $61,216 lost), and Ford Mustang Mach-E (60.8%, $22,976 lost) round out the study’s worst-five EVs. The Model S and Model X stand out for raw dollars: their high original sticker prices mean the same roughly 61-62% depreciation rate translates into a loss well north of $58,000 — more than most new compact cars cost outright.
4. The Tesla Model 3 Held Value Best Among EVs — Barely
The Tesla Model 3 topped the EV value-retention list at 54.6% depreciation, a $20,213 loss over five years. It’s the strongest showing of any EV in the study, and it still means the median Model 3 buyer watched more than half the car’s original price disappear.
5. Porsche Taycan and Hyundai Kona Aren’t Far Behind
The Porsche Taycan (54.7%, $54,403 lost) and Hyundai Kona Electric (56.5%, $18,581 lost) rounded out the study’s best-holding EVs, followed by the Kia Niro EV (57.3%, $22,742 lost) and Tesla Model Y (57.8%, $26,020 lost). The Kona’s dollar loss is the smallest of any EV in either direction, a byproduct of its comparatively low starting price rather than unusually strong resale demand.
6. No EV Cracks the Overall Top 25
Zoom out to iSeeCars’ full value-retention rankings across every vehicle type, and not a single EV appears among the 25 best-holding vehicles on the road. That list is led by the Porsche 718 Cayman (9.6% depreciation) and Porsche 911 (11.1%), with the Chevrolet Corvette (18.7%), Toyota Tacoma (19.9%), and Toyota Tundra (21.2%) close behind. A Tesla Model 3 owner loses value nearly six times faster than a Porsche 911 owner over the same five years.
7. Hybrids Are the Actual Value-Retention Winners
While EVs lost 57.2% of their value and the overall market average sat at 41.8%, hybrids came in well ahead of both at 35.4% depreciation, per the same iSeeCars data. Brauer pointed to sticker price as the root cause: “Electric vehicles consistently cost more than the equivalent gasoline or hybrid model,” he said, and that “high upfront cost comes back to haunt electric cars on the used market, where buyers aren’t willing to pay the premium.” A hybrid buyer, by that logic, pays less to begin with and loses less on the way out.
Put the two lists side by side and the pattern is blunt: internal-combustion sports cars and trucks dominate value retention, while every EV in the study — even the one that “wins” the category — lost the majority of its worth in half a decade. For anyone shopping used, that gap is exactly why a five-year-old EV often prices like a bargain next to its combustion equivalent, and why the original buyer felt it in their trade-in offer.