Electric cars are very expensive to repair, so they are becoming second-hand bargains in Ukraine

How did my Rivian end up in a country at war and on the other side of the Atlantic? Is What some former owners are wondering of these electric models of this brand that is only sold in the US.

On buying and selling websites Ukraine there are dozens of ads Rivian pre-owned: offered up to for $20,000 less than when they were sold new. They all say “accident”, but the car looks in perfect condition and as if it had just left the dealership.

Damaged Tesla or Rivian reborn in Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the countries that more imports used cars from the US: in 2018 he did the same with 34,000 second-hand models. Of all kinds, not only electric cars. But lately second-hand zero-emissions are more successful. For several reasons.

On the one hand, It derives from the current situation of the countrymired in an eternal war conflict. Since the Russian invasion the price of gasoline has skyrocketed, so electric vehicles are now a cheaper option than a thermal in terms of usesince electricity has not done the same. Added to this is that they are taxed with fewer tariffs than thermal tariffs, which allows their price to be adjusted more.

serves as an example the Rivians announced at Auto Ria. We find units of the pick up R1T even for $54,900. This model, new It starts at $69,900. The same happens with the R1S SUV: there are units per $56,000 being a car which starts at $75,900. They are all models from between 2021 and 2023, as it is also noted that they are damaged cars. And there is the second key to why used electric vehicles imported from the US are so prolific.

Because of the battery, damaged electric cars are almost always a total accident. The rate of electric cars that American insurers consider as a total loss is very high. That they hang that sign on it does not necessarily mean that it is so destroyed that it cannot be fixed or that it cannot circulate, but rather that They consider the cost of the repair excessive. This happens, in general, when the price of the repair exceeds 50% of the price of the car.

In an electric car, its most expensive element is the battery: brands do not repair it, but rather directly install a new one. That increases the cost of the repair so much (it can exceed 30,000 euros)that insurance companies report them directly as claims. And not always because the battery is damaged.

This The rental companies are suffering a lot that have included electric vehicles in their fleet, since that condition is reflected for life in the car’s documentation. Which complicates, or even prevents, its resale. But if these cars are sold and fixed outside the United States, they no longer have that total accident condition on the vehicle license.

Almost the same electric vehicles registered as in the US. This is how these zero-emission cars end up being imported outside of North America, usually through auction firms. The most common destinations are the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria or Eastern Europe. And as we said, Ukraine is one of the favorite destinations.

In these countries, they do dare to get their hands on mechanical workshops, which import parts from China or other European countries. They also opt for still operational parts from damaged cars. This doesn’t exactly make them safe in the event of an accident, but given the many offered it seems like a risk that Ukrainians are taking.

This is how zero emissions used and imported from North America have become very profitable in Ukraine. Although the proliferation of Rivian models is striking, there are much more numerous the Tesla, where they are finding a second life. Especially considering that they are more expensive to repair because only Tesla can do it.

This is triggering the zero emissions recorded in this country where the supply of new electric vehicles is reduced, as are their sales: has the same proportion of registered as those in the US and twice as much as countries like Poland or the Czech Republic.