Looking to buy a used EV? You’re not alone. Nearly 43,000 secondhand electric cars were sold in March alone, a new monthly record.
“That was on no one’s bingo card,” said Scott Case, cofounder and CEO of Recurrent, a startup that tracks used EV battery health. “September 30th of last year, all the rebates run out, and that’s it. We’re supposed to be in EV-apocalypse land right now.”
Indeed, even as the market for new EVs takes a dive, used electric cars are more popular than ever. That’s despite widespread concerns around how electric car batteries degrade over time.
A growing supply of modern, off-lease options hitting the market is helping. Plus, as Case pointed out on this week’s episode of the InsideEVs Plugged-In Podcast, high gas prices tend to push buyers from the new market into the used one. “I can’t believe I’m thanking the Trump administration for accelerating the EV transition, but that’s exactly what they’re doing,” he said. Another big driver of demand: People are recognizing that they can get a better, newer car if they choose an EV over a used combustion vehicle, Case said.
The battery question cuts both ways. For some buyers, it’s a deterrent. For others, it presents opportunity. Uncertainty around how much range EVs lose over time is one factor depressing used EV values. And depreciation makes for great deals.
The big question, then, for any used EV shopper is this: Is it really worth worrying about range loss or battery degradation? After analyzing over 1 billion miles of electric driving across tens of thousands of vehicles over the last six years, Case says the results are clear. EVs, especially modern ones, tend to retain their initial range very well over years of normal use.
“The biggest surprise for me over that period and looking at all that data coming in is basically these cars are holding up way better than I expected going into the company,” he said.
According to Recurrent’s data, the average EV retains 97% of its original range after three years and 95% after five years. If an EV was driven in an exceptionally hot climate, or fast-charged a lot, that can have an impact, but in general the variance in battery health for EVs that are a few years old is pretty tight, he said.
Case added that many electric models beat their EPA range ratings out of the gate and continue to do so even after years on the road. Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Rivian show no observable range loss after three years, Recurrent has found. Importantly, that doesn’t mean these batteries aren’t degrading—they are. But it’s not happening that quickly, and some manufacturers add in hidden battery buffers to keep the driver’s experience consistent over the years.
Full-on EV battery failures are extremely rare too, with Recurrent observing a 0.3% battery-replacement rate among modern EVs. “This is new technology relative to combustion engine cars, so I think the fear is just way overblown compared to the reality of what actually happens,” he said.
Fears of EV range loss can yield massive savings for for savvy buyers, and so can battery replacements. Case said that an EV with a battery that’s gone bust is actually a hidden gem if you can find one. That’s because a pack that was replaced under warranty should function like a brand-new one, adding years to a car’s usable life.
“It’s rare but if you can identify that there’s a car that’s five or six or seven years old that got a battery replacement a year earlier, that’s an incredible deal,” he said.
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
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