You could actually get an EV from RM 50,000 right now on the used market, but should you?
Now despite the still ongoing tax relief, the prospect of EV ownership is unfortunately still to be somewhat out of reach for the common man. Thanks after all to the RM 100,000 CKD price floor, pretty much all of the tailpipe-less automobiles in Malaysia are still currently commanding six-figure price tags in the showroom.
That said, most people will have heard that EVs are also notorious for their poor resale value (no thanks to the ongoing price war). And this grim reality came into sharp focus recently when an ad popped up on this writer’s social media feed offering a used, year-old Neta V for just RM 50,000.
Yes, you read that right. You could now buy a one-year-old EV for less than the base price of a brand-new Myvi.
Naturally, this led to a curious thought: what other EVs out there are now trading hands for Myvi money? And after a quick scroll through the classifieds, lo and behold, there’s actually more than than a few options out there for those looking to go zero-emissions on a nearly zero budget.
Neta V
Let’s start first with the aforementioned Neta V. Now while many may not have even heard of this EV before, this all-electric tall hatchback did indeed officially arrive in Malaysia back in 2023.
Dimensionally, the Neta V comes in slightly larger than a Myvi in every respect. Under the hood meanwhile sits a modest 70 kW motor paired with a 38.54 kWh battery pack, which (on paper at least) promises a respectable 380 km of range on a single charge.
What more is that like most Chinese cars, the Neta V comes with tech that genuinely punches above its price point. Standard equipment includes keyless entry and start, a 12-inch digital instrument cluster, and a massive 14.6-inch central touchscreen paired with a six-speaker sound system.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the particular listing that caught this writer’s eye was for a 2024 model with just 8,000 km on the clock. So you’re essentially getting what is still a nearly-new car, for half the original price.
Sounds like a pretty good deal then? Well… not quite.
For starters, the automaker itself has since gone recently into administration, which means you probably shouldn’t count on that warranty being worth anything for much longer. More critically too, parts support might be spotty (aka non-existent) moving forward.
And this is all before getting into what the car is actually like, which to be frank, is not great. Some inside baseball here, the best compliment a trusted colleague could muster when he drove the Neta V was that it “went and stopped.” That’s not exactly glowing praise, and certainly not confidence-inspiring.
Also, it is worth pointing out while its RM 50,000 now, this was supposed to be how much the car should have been sold locally when it was new in the first place. This same Neta V was selling over in our neighbours to the north for the equivalent of just RM 45,000 brand spanking new…
Nissan Leaf
Moving on to something slightly older and slightly more expensive, but likely an infinitely more sensible EV used buy than the aforementioned Neta V: a second-generation Nissan Leaf.
Before Tesla came along, the Leaf was the mass-market EV. The first-generation was pretty much the first serious effort anyone attempted at making an electric car that felt like a proper car, instead of a glorified golf buggy. And with the second-gen model built upon that with a more modern design, as well as upgraded specifications.
The particular unit found online for RM 60,000 looks to be one of the units that came with the first (small) batch of second-generation Leafs, which landed in Malaysia in 2019 fully imported from Japan. It packs a 40 kWh battery rated at 311 km of range on the NEDC cycle, which is not spectacular by today’s standards, but still more than sufficient for daily use.
Performance likewise isn’t exactly thrilling, but nevertheless still more than respectable. Its 150 PS front-mounted motor is still capable of scooting this EV from 0–100 km/h in just 7.9 seconds, easily outpaces most ICE-powered commuter cars.
All in all, this Leaf makes decently spacious, and reasonably well-equipped city runabout that will certainly outclass the Myvi in comfort and refinement. It would also be remiss not to mention that the 8-year battery warranty still has a couple of years remaining, which certainly adds peace of mind.
BYD Dolphin
In rounding off the list, let’s have a quick discussion about the BYD Dolphin.
Now, this spot was originally meant for the Renault Zoe — one of the earlier EVs now trading close to Myvi money — but none could be found for sale at the time of writing. What did pop up instead, however, was a BYD Dolphin going for RM 68,000.
Yes, that’s technically more than a brand-new Myvi. But less than RM 70k for a less-than-two-year-old Dolphin still seems like a solid deal, especially when you consider that this is one of the newer-generation EVs on the market, complete with modern tech and over five years of factory warranty still left on the clock.
Moreover, despite this example being the lower-tier Dynamic spec, this Dolphin still nevertheless comes with a 44.9 kWh battery rated for 340 km of range on the WLTP cycle, more than solid for the weekly commute. It even supports 60 kW DC fast charging too, so this city runabout could also just about manage the occasional interstate run.
Sure, it doesn’t come with the fancier bits from the Premium trim (no panoramic roof, no ventilated seats) but the Dolphin Dynamic still packs all the key active safety and driver assistance features. Also, despite looking compact, this small BYD shares the same footprint as a Honda City Hatchback. So it’s bigger than it looks, and perfectly usable as a family car.
Closing Thoughts
Three quick points to wrap up on the EVs presented here:
- The Neta V might be cheap, but it’s probably not worth the risk. They’re not exactly stellar to begin with, and with the automaker themselves soon out of the picture, these will likely be pretty worthless pretty soon.
- The Dolphin meanwhile was actually a surprise… for how much it still costs on the used market these days. Given all the chatter about weak EV resale values, seeing the Dolphin still hovering around RM 68k was to be a lot more than this writer honestly expected it to have dropped in value more than it has.Also just as a tangent here, after knowing how much the Dolphins still cost, this writer then thought to have a quick check to see how the similarly-sized Ora Good Cat was faring. And to his surprise, even the cheapest examples of these cutesy EVs are still (somehow) stubbornly hanging on at around the RM 85k mark.So the narrative that all EVs have terrible resale isn’t totally true. Much like with ICE cars, the “good” ones still tend to retain some value (particularly if they’re still within their warranty period).
- Finally onto the Leaf, this Nissan EV is the one this writer actually recommended to an older family member that was considering a new Myvi as a retirement runabout. The Leaf made a lot of sense in that context as it’s basically a normal Nissan, just without an engine up front. Not flashy, not complicated, and not too high-tech. Just instead simple, serene, and pretty much sorted.Perfect then for those who just want a car that happens to not see them visit a petrol station every month.
