The Nissan Leaf loses value faster than any other car on the road

Few purchases lose value as reliably as a new car, but some shed it far faster than others. A study of nearly a million five-year-old vehicles found that one of the earliest mainstream electric cars depreciates more steeply than anything else on the market, erasing most of its original price within five years. The result is a cautionary flag for new-car buyers and a potential bargain for used shoppers, though the reasons behind it are more nuanced than the headline figure implies.

A 63 percent drop in five years

The finding comes from an iSeeCars depreciation study that analyzed more than 950,000 transactions of five-year-old vehicles sold in the United States between March 2025 and February 2026. The Nissan Leaf led the field with a 63.1 percent loss of value over five years, the worst of any model examined. In dollar terms that worked out to about a $17,443 decline, a figure softened somewhat by the fact that the Leaf was relatively inexpensive to begin with, so a large percentage still represents a moderate absolute loss compared with a luxury car.

Still, losing nearly two-thirds of a vehicle’s value in half a decade is severe by any standard, and it places the Leaf at the bottom of a market where the average vehicle retains considerably more of its price. The steepness of that curve is what makes the Leaf the reference point for how quickly a car can become worth a fraction of what it cost.

Why an early electric car falls so hard

Several forces push older electric vehicles toward the bottom of the resale rankings, and the Leaf sits at the intersection of most of them. Battery and range technology has advanced quickly, so a five-year-old Leaf competes against newer electric cars that travel farther on a charge, which suppresses demand for the older model. The generous federal incentives once attached to new electric cars also depress used values, because a since-expired $7,500 credit made comparable new options cheaper and dragged the whole used market down with them, a dynamic reflected in the model’s resale value history.

The Leaf carries an additional handicap. Early versions used a battery design that could lose capacity over time, and buyers wary of a shrinking driving range are reluctant to pay much for an aging example. Together, rapid technological turnover and battery-life concerns make the Leaf a textbook case of how an EV can go from affordable and practical when new to hard to sell only a few years later.

The Leaf leads a field of fast-depreciating EVs and luxury cars

The Leaf did not sink alone. The study’s list of steepest five-year losers was dominated by electric and luxury models, including the Infiniti QX80 at 62.8 percent, the Volkswagen ID.4 at 62.1 percent, the Tesla Model S at 62 percent, the Land Rover Range Rover at 61.7 percent, the BMW 7 Series at 61.6 percent, the Tesla Model X at 61.2 percent, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E at 60.8 percent, as the study’s breakdown showed. By category, electric vehicles lost an average of 57.2 percent of their value over five years, far worse than trucks at 34.2 percent and hybrids at 35.4 percent.

The clustering is telling. Fast depreciation is concentrated among vehicles that either carry high upfront prices or depend on technology that dates quickly, and electric cars often check both boxes. Trucks and hybrids, by contrast, hold value because demand for them stays steady and their technology ages more gracefully.

The luxury names on the list depreciate for a different reason than the Leaf. A Range Rover or a 7 Series starts from a very high price and carries expensive maintenance as it ages, so second owners expect a steep discount to take on that cost. The Leaf reaches the bottom by another path entirely, combining a modest starting price with the specific vulnerabilities of early electric technology, which is why its percentage loss is so severe even though the dollars involved are smaller than a luxury car’s.

What steep depreciation means for buyers

A collapse in resale value is punishing for the original owner but can be an opportunity for the next one. A used Leaf bought after most of its depreciation has already occurred can be an inexpensive way into electric driving, provided the buyer checks the battery’s remaining capacity and confirms the range still fits daily needs. The same logic applies to the luxury sedans and other EVs on the list, which reach the used market at a steep discount to their original stickers.

For new-car shoppers, the ranking is a reminder that the purchase price is not the full cost of ownership. A model that depreciates as sharply as the Leaf can end up more expensive to own over five years than a pricier vehicle that holds its value, once the loss at resale or trade-in is counted. Weighing that curve before buying is the practical takeaway from a study built on how the market actually prices these cars after five years on the road.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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