(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- The new-to-used ratio of selling prices for new-energy vehicles is excessively low, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Large technical differences when compared with combustion engine vehicles and poor reliability in some NEVs means electric cars fetch far less in the second-hand market, the CPCA said in a report on vehicle depreciation published Sept. 25. This makes it hard to foresee a rise in the resale value of NEVs, it added, but noting that the rising standards at small carmakers may improve the situation slightly.

Apart from Teslas, pure electric cars are worth less than half their new price after just one year of ownership, the report continued, saying cars made by the American EV giant retain about 60 percent of their value. In cars powered by fossil fuels, the average resale value after a year is between 57 percent and 75 percent.

Power batteries are mostly worn out after three to five years of use and have a very low residual value, 36Kr quoted analyst Liu Yuliang as saying, adding that once you take the battery out of the equation an NEV is worth very little.

Editor: James Boynton