The Expert Podcast

Wow, there's a lot going on in the electric vehicle industry, especially with regard to used EVs. One of the things that determines whether there's a market for a vehicle is what happens with the used vehicles. With a new vehicle, there's a lot of marketing, advertising, and sales efforts. When you go into a dealership, they’re trying to sell you a certain vehicle. New cars have the skewed effect of salesmanship and marketing. Used vehicles, on the other hand, are simply based on customer demand.

Up until about a year ago, less than half of the people who wanted to buy an electric vehicle would consider a used one. According to this article from Auto Remarketing, interest in used EVs has increased. It was less than 50 percent, but now nearly 80 percent of buyers are interested.

Let's take a look at the numbers from Recurrent, which is a major source of research on electric vehicles. The rise of used EVs in Quarter 3 of last year is quite notable. First of all, new EV sales are dominated by Tesla because they produce most of the electric vehicles. Sales of new EVs from other brands are relatively small. But when it comes to used EVs, they are actually bigger than new EVs from non-Tesla brands, and they are gaining ground.

According to Recurrent, car buyer interest in used EVs is relatively new. In the summer of 2021, a survey found that about half of EV shoppers would be interested in purchasing a used electric car. A year later, in the summer of 2022, that number increased to 80 percent. Now, 80 percent of people looking for an electric vehicle would consider a used one—that’s a huge shift.

Why is this happening? Well, new electric vehicles are hard to find. Right now, any type of new vehicle is difficult to get due to chip shortages and supply chain issues. But electric vehicles are even harder to come by. Prices for new electric vehicles are skyrocketing, and used EV prices continue to rise as well.

Different models are seeing price hikes. The Mach-E is now up to $70,000, and even the Chevrolet Bolt has increased by roughly 15-20 percent over the past six months. These are used cars going up in value, which is unusual since used cars almost always depreciate.

As more electric vehicles enter the used car market and appear on dealership lots, buying a used EV will become more normalized. If you're considering one, make sure to get the electric vehicle’s battery tested before purchasing and ensure the model matches your needs.

A used electric vehicle is now mainstream. Eighty percent of EV buyers would consider a used EV. While a big factor is the difficulty of buying a new one, there's also a growing acceptability in the market as used EVs become more proven as reliable assets.