The Expert Podcast

The used electric vehicle market is in a lot of evolutionary flux right now. There's a change in the used car market that happened in the new car market within the last couple years. Up until 2021, used electric vehicles were a very small part of the used car marketplace. Now that there's more of them coming into the market and a shortage of other vehicles, more and more used car buyers are considering used EVs. So is that a viable option? Auto Trader, one of the largest advertisers of used vehicles, has a really good article about is it a good idea to buy an electric vehicle.

Are there tax incentives? Well there is one on new vehicles, but on used vehicles you don't have that $7,500 tax credit. However, there are some that are available in certain states. More importantly, the fact that the new vehicle had that tax credit might mean that the used vehicles are already discounted by that much, so you might be able to get a used electric vehicle for many thousands less than a new one because that tax credit was taken by the owner.

Some states offer additional state income tax credits, with some of them as big as the federal new car credit, which can make it a lot cheaper to buy an electric vehicle than what the new car sticker price indicates. In addition, you can also see if your local electric company or your electric utility has any rebates. Sometimes they will have a rebate for people who have a used electric vehicle to help them save on electricity, so California Edison has one example of that, and local electric companies may have that.

In addition, the fact that it doesn't have a tax credit isn't the only reason you buy a vehicle. You're going to save a lot of money on fuel over the lifespan of the vehicle. The big question comes in: what about batteries? People get concerned about battery life. They're worried whether or not they have to replace batteries, an unfortunate reality that could lead to a four-figure repair bill, meaning you know eight, nine, ten thousand dollars. Short answer is yes, an electric vehicle's batteries will eventually need replacing.
Usually you don't need it unless you're going to keep the car for many years, but you want to make sure that your specific vehicle doesn't have a battery that fails prematurely because there are some vehicles that are used in hot weather or used in extreme conditions that could have a failure of the battery.

What about resale value? Resale value of EVs is generally below average, but we think that's going to change over the next year or two as combustion vehicles become less in demand. Used EVs might leapfrog them and have more resale value. A nice modern electric car with plenty of life left in it could be a budget item where an internal combustion engine car might be through the roof. Look at our next video talking about how Hyundai is abandoning gas vehicles and going to all electric.Retry