Low demand drops EV prices below gas vehicles on resale market

Used vehicle prices spiked as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but have been coming down since. Resale costs for gasoline-powered vehicles are currently around $31,000 nationally.

Meanwhile, second-hand electric vehicles have seen their prices drop to around $28,000 — a decline of more than 25% over a 12-month period. That means a used EV now costs about $3,000 less than a conventional car, truck or SUV on average, according to research from ISeeCars.com.

Listen: Karl Brauer discusses falling EV resale prices

Karl Brauer is executive analyst for the automotive website. He says early EV owners were willing to pay a higher price for the latest technology, but that desire doesn’t exist on the used car market.

“If new sales start to pull back, and they are,” says Brauer, “then that should stop, eventually, feeding so many vehicles into the used market. But there’s always a lag time.”

Brauer says second-hand EV’s may continue to be undervalued as expiring leases push more of the vehicles onto used car lots.

“It could be a couple years before we see a stabilization and maybe a recovery where there’s a supply and demand balance on the used side,” he said.

Brauer says regular upkeep costs for a used electric vehicle could be lower than with a traditional car or truck because there are fewer mechanical parts. However, he says some customers still steer away from EV’s because of the limited access to charging stations.