When we first drove the Hyundai Ioniq 6, we didn’t find it particularly sporty, but if you’re just looking for a comfortable daily driver, it’s fantastic. That said, there are two notable downsides — the styling is incredibly divisive, and it can get expensive fast. It starts just under $39,000 including destination, but start adding features, and the price can cross $50,000 before you know it. Look at the used market, though, and depreciation has already hit these cars hard. Like, so hard that some used ones already cost about the same as a new Honda Civic.
Take this 2023 Ioniq 6 in West Palm Beach, Florida, for example. It’s a rear-wheel drive SEL that probably cost about $48,000 when new. Now? With only 28,000 miles on the odometer, you can take it home for only $22,998. It isn’t even a full two years old, either. According to the Carfax, it was first registered in October of 2023, so that’s, what 16 months on the road? Some quick back-of-the-napkin math shows depreciation somewhere in the area of $1,500 a month. And it isn’t even a salvage title. Heck, the Carfax doesn’t even show any wrecks.
That listing is far from the only one like it either. It looks like there are at least seven Ioniq 6s listed for sale nationwide that cost less than $25,000, and at least 74 priced below $30,000. Even if you hate the styling, it’s a whole hell of a lot easier to get past that when you’re paying less than $25,000 for the privilege. And if you love the styling, well then you just lucked out. Not that it’s much of a surprise that EVs depreciate quickly. It isn’t exactly new, but it can still be surprising when you realize just how quickly one of the EVs you thought was a little overpriced at launch can depreciate.
It’s also a great reminder that if you want a new EV, it’s probably a good idea to lease instead of buying. At least that way, ownership costs will be predictable, and you don’t have to worry about finding out at trade-in that the car you paid a lot of money for a year or two ago is worth next to nothing. Or just wait six months and take it off some other sucker’s hands at a huge discount.
