Used EV Sales Jump 20% As Gas Prices Push Buyers To Resale Lots
Buy a new car, and it starts losing value the moment you drive off the lot. Buy a used EV lately, though, and the opposite is happening. With gas prices climbing back above $4 amid heightened Iran tensions, budget shoppers are swarming the used EV market. Sales have surged 20% from last year, and dealers can’t restock fast enough to keep prices down.
- Affordable models like the Chevrolet Bolt jumped from ~$17.7K to ~$21.2K — while a Tesla Model 3 rose ~$3K to ~$27K.
- Broader used EV prices rose 7.4% from last year in June — defying the trend while overall used car prices fell 1.3%, per iSeeCars.
Electric laggards: Interestingly, new EVs made up only 5% of new car sales in the first half of the year, partly because the average model can run $8K+ higher than the average new car. That price gap, combined with the $7.5K federal tax credit disappearing on Sep. 30, could push even more buyers toward the used market. Add ~500K lease returns hitting the used market this year, and the affordable used EV boom is far from finished.
