The Cadillac Lyriq may be the American automaker’s first all-electric SUV, but that distinction has done no favors for the vehicle’s projected short and long-term resale values. According to Kelley Blue Book, a 2023 Lyriq depreciated around 53% in the last two years, or has lost around $35,000 of its value. Now might be one of the best times to grab yourself a used Lyriq, since the current resale value is around $30,000, based on a $27,000 trade-in value due to its steep depreciation.
The Lyriq is not alone in this predicament. Given that electric cars tend to lose their value more quickly than conventional gasoline cars, early EV models are in the same boat as the Cadillac Lyriq. For instance, the 2022 Tesla Model X has depreciated 55.23% of its original purchase price, losing around $72,000 in value. The Tesla Model Y lost $38,510 in value (56.64% depreciation). At the same time, the mesmerizing Lucid Air has seen its used car prices plummet to about $58,000 from $128,000 when bought new, representing a depreciation of about 54.74%.
What’s behind the fast depreciation of electric cars?
Nothing beats the potentially cancer-inducing new car smell, but the onset of depreciation as soon as the car is off the dealer lot is one of the ugly truths of new car buying. On average, new cars tend to lose 20% of their value in the first year and 30% in the second year, with a depreciation rate of about 8% to 12% still kicking in every year after that.
Unfortunately, electric cars are not immune to depreciation and can lose their value more quickly over the years — some EVs are depreciating $600 a day. One of the primary reasons is range and battery technology. When Cadillac debuted the Lyriq for the 2022 model year, it came with a 100 kWh battery to deliver an EPA-estimated 312 miles of range per full charge. By 2025, the range figures have grown to 326 miles. As batteries, inverters, and motors improve, so do the power and range outputs, making older EVs feel somewhat outdated after only two or three years. Moreover, incentives and price cuts (particularly for slow sellers like the Lyriq) tend to make EVs lose their value further.
Compounding the fact is that newer EV models (whether in the same category or lineage) have longer range figures, better (or more power-dense) batteries, and faster recharging capabilities, with most adopting multiple charging platforms. As for the Cadillac Lyriq, iSeeCars has projected the depreciation figures to snowball downhill further, losing 71.9% of its value after five years and an expected 10-year depreciation of 84.2%. For context, the average five-year depreciation of a standard SUV is around 49%.