Do Chinese EVs hold their value?

First, context: losing value is not a Chinese-car phenomenon. All new cars depreciate, and EVs do so even faster than average in their first years. The reason is simple — the technology moves quickly, so newer models with longer range and faster charging make older ones less attractive. This applies to Tesla, the Germans and everyone else.

What adds extra uncertainty for a young brand is recognition. On the second-hand market, buyers also pay for confidence — for knowing what they are buying. So a young brand with no "street reputation" yet can have a harder resale market at first. It is fair to admit that.

But this uncertainty is not the same as "you'll lose everything." It simply means future value is less predictable — the range is wider, not worse. And a wider range can be narrowed in your favour if you understand which levers drive it.

This is an underrated resale lever. A used EV still under factory warranty is a much easier decision for the next buyer. Our models carry 3 years / 100,000 km, serviced in the EU — meaning the buyer does not inherit an "unknown" car, but one still covered by the maker.

In practice: if you sell a car that still has, say, a year and a half of warranty left, you sell that safety net along with it. For the buyer that means less risk, and less risk almost always means a better price and a faster sale.

One important technical point to check when buying: make sure the warranty is transferable to the next owner. For most factory warranties it is, but it is worth confirming — that is exactly the value that will later work in your favour.

Petrol-car buyers look at mileage first. In the EV world that role is increasingly taken by battery health — state of health (SoH), i.e. how much of the original capacity is left. That is what shows the buyer how much real range is still ahead.

The good news: modern LFP batteries degrade slowly. Real-world degradation is roughly 5–10% per 100,000 km — not "half the car after a few years." That means a car with a tidy charging history can still show a high SoH after three years, and that directly protects the resale price.

A practical tip for now: keep your SoH reports and charging history. If you can show the car was mostly charged slowly at home rather than only at fast chargers, and that the SoH is still high, you sell evidence rather than a promise. That is the most valuable thing you can put on the table.

Resale value is partly driven by brand recognition — there is no arguing that. So it is fair to ask: what are these brands, and where are they heading?

Xiaomi is not an unknown startup but one of the world's largest consumer-tech brands — the same one that might be a phone in your pocket. Many models' batteries are supplied by CATL, the world's largest battery maker, which also supplies Tesla, VW and Mercedes; several models use Huawei tech in driver assistance. That is not a random origin.

The key point for resale is trajectory, not the starting point. Recognition grows over time rather than falling. A brand buyers still doubt today can be considerably more familiar in a few years — and that works for, not against, you on the second-hand market.

We do not promise residual-value percentages — and that is deliberate. The market is young, the data is short, and any specific number would be marketing more than fact. Instead, we explain the levers you control yourself.

There is also a cautionary tale worth keeping in mind: the early Nissan Leaf. Its value fell faster than many expected — largely because its early battery (with no active cooling) degraded faster, and buyers knew it. The lesson is not "avoid EVs," but "battery health and technology are exactly what drive value." That is precisely why modern LFP batteries and a documented SoH matter so much.

In short: holding value is not a promise we can issue. It is a set of things you can manage — warranty, battery, history and patience in the right market. Those are levers, not a lottery.