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Used EV Prices are Now Going Up in America (cnbc.com) 137

Posted by EditorDavid from the charging-ahead dept.
Electric vehicles have historically been "notorious" for losing their resale value, reports CNBC. But this year prices for used EVs in the U.S. "are up 5.1% from January to June 2026, according to a Recurrent analysis published this month." The trend continued into the second half of the year: Prices are up 7% year to date through mid-July, it said. Recurrent compared EVs according to the same make and model year across 108 combinations and weighted price growth according to inventory volume. "Used EVs are appreciating, which almost never happens," according to an e-mailed Recurrent statement about the analysis. Other auto analysts found a similar trend...

Price growth for used EVs has been broad-based, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, the director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, a market research firm. Twenty-one of the 25 used EV models with the highest sales volume increased in price between January and June this year, she said... [T]he price growth for used EVs this year has been all the more surprising because it has happened despite a high supply of used EVs hitting the market — which, all else being equal, would generally cause prices to fall, experts said...

There are several factors juicing consumer demand for used EVs, experts said. Among them are high gasoline prices due to the Iran war, which have pushed more consumers to consider fuel-efficient options, experts said... Overall affordability is another big factor, against a backdrop of inflation that has remained above policymakers' target of 2% for five or so years, auto experts said. The dynamic has pushed more consumers toward the used car market more broadly.
Two interesting statistics from the article:
  • "Used EV sales were up 20% in June versus a year earlier, while sales of new EVs were down about 28%, according to Cox Automotive data."
  • New EVs accounted for 5.4% of total new-vehicle sales in June, while the market share for used EVs was just 2.4%, according to Cox Automotive data.

Used EV Prices are Now Going Up in America More | Reply

Used EV Prices are Now Going Up in America

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  • This article is largely about short-term noise. But in the medium term, most buyers of second hand vehicles are going to under-value used EVs, for two core reasons:
    1. EVs are being thought of like consumer tech eg phones and computers, with new generations superseding old generations and offering substantial improvement each time (it was for exactly this reason that I have always bought my (new) EVs on finance, so I could upgrade easily
    2. People assume EVs deteriorate in the same way as ICE vehicles and thu

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      What that means is that a canny buyer could be a 2027 300 mile nearly new

      Who gets rid of a vehicle with 300 miles on it?

      • Someone who has fallen on tough financial times. Rare.
      • Someone who bought said EV new and rapidly discovered that this one is a lemon.
      • Someone who bought said EV new and rapidly discovered that this model, or it's support infrastructure is not as advertised*.

      *New cars in general and perhaps EVs specifically can go from great vehicles to dogs rapidly if their manufacturer changes policy and uploads new firmware. Enjoy paying rent for your previously standard

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shilly ( 142940 )

        300 mile *range*, you doofus

        I discussed 300 miles range EV in literally the preceding paragraph at some length. You just needed to remember the context from one paragraph to the next

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alcmena ( 312085 )

          In "fairness" to the person confused to the 300 miles comment, I have traded in a car that only had a few thousand miles on it; not even enough to require a tire rotation yet.

          Granted, it was a Tesla, it was during Elon's DOGE-ing of the US, and I did it because I was disgusted with owning it at that point. I knew it was a bad financial decision, but to me the moral aspect drove me to do it. I could not be happier with the Ioniq 5 that I traded it in for!

    • What have EV manufacturers done to keep the body from deteriorating?
      • That is why they say the battery will outlast the car

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shilly ( 142940 )

        This answer is for people who read fluffernutter's posts and want an answer that treats his question as good faith. Fluffernutter will no doubt respond, and will no doubt respond with his usual bad faith response. But the answer is for others.

        On top of what ICE manufacturers do, there is really one thing EV OEMs do: deliver better underbody protection, in the form of a bloody great shield and better sealing than ICE vehicles. This protects both the battery and structural underbody members. Other measures ar

  • No subsidy. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kamapuaa ( 555446 ) on Saturday August 01, 2026 @01:19PM (#66267770) Homepage

    Before September 2025, the government was throwing in $7,500, and maybe your state government was kicking in a few thousand extra, and then the local utility maybe was subsidizing your charger. So your $45k Tesla was effectively selling for $35k. Of course nobody is going to buy a used Tesla for $33k when a new one is selling for $35k, but the depreciation was still being taken as if a $45k vehicle was selling for cheap. What we're seeing isn't as much a change in demand for EVs, as much as seeing that removing government subsidies has normalized the used car market.

    I remember buying an egolf back in 2015, I paid like $21k after subsidies. This was a good price, but that basic value held true for a number of years. Used price was great, for many years I could have sold it for $15k+, and it even went over $21k during 2022 due to supply side issues. But articles talking about used value mentioned that the egolf used value had tanked, going for $37k to $18k. But really that was a 10% drop, because if it went down a normal 30% or whatever you'd literally be buying a used car for more than you would spend on a new one!

    The numbers are often taken from sticker price (the article itself doesn't discuss how it got its numbers). But of course many cars sell for under sticker price...or in 2022, during supply chain shortages, were actually selling for $5,000 above sticker price. Now that we're mostly over the supply chain issues, these cars are going to see an additional $5,000 drop in used value. But it seems statistically unuseful to account for a one-time extraordinary industry issue.

    • Re:No subsidy. (Score:4, Informative)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Saturday August 01, 2026 @02:09PM (#66267820) Homepage Journal

      You are getting shafted by the lack of competition from Chinese manufactures. Here we can buy a brand new long range EV for around $30k before tax, and it's better than a Tesla.

      • I'm curious, but suspicious. Tesla Y is the top selling car model by a large margin inside China [evwire.com], and UK reviews I've read of Chinese EV imports has made them sound underwhelming. UK reviews make them sound nowhere near as good as a Tesla, although decently priced.

        But if you could post what model you're talking about, and what the cost of that car is vs. a Model Y in your home market, that might be interesting!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Because Tesla only makes a few models, and I think only the Y and 3 are available in China. With Chinese batteries, BTW.

          Also because they are aspirational. A lot of Audis are crap, they charge a subscription for heated seats. Range Rovers are unreliable and uninsurable, but people think they compensate for their micro penis.

        • The 3 BYD's on the list add up to 54K roughly vs the tesla 38K sales. I'd say BYD takes the sales crown for the month. From what I've read, for me I'd want the SU7. Zero interest in the Y. The latest butt on the Y went from bad to worse.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alcmena ( 312085 )

          I was a former Tesla owner. 2016 S (100k), 2018 3 (60k), 2022 S (80k) -- before any tax benefits; so assume about $7500 less each.

          When Elon started DOGE-ing the US, we dumped our 2018 3 and 2022 S and bought two 2025 Ioniq 5's. They are roomier on the inside, drive smoother, and were $40k (SEL) and $45k (Limited) out the door price. You can get a base trim for about $35k. They also use the NACS (Tesla) charger and are super charger compatible.

          A base 3 now is about $37k. Model Y is about $41k. So the I

      • Apologies, curious. If we ignore the "long range" requirement, what's available over there?

        For secondary or tertiary cars, "150 mile range street legal golf cart with overnight charging" covers a LOT of ground.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alcmena ( 312085 )

          For secondary or tertiary cars, "150 mile range street legal golf cart with overnight charging" covers a LOT of ground.

          I have a condo in St Croix, and I am constantly telling my wife that we should look into a high range street legal golf cart for there. EVs require basically zero maintenance. The island is only 27 miles from end to end, so 150 miles is probably a month's worth of driving. Electricity is expensive, but so is gas, and a relatively small investment in solar panels on our dedicated parking

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Something like an MG S5, for example. CUV shape with plenty of space and a decent boot, 250 miles even in winter at motorway speeds, charges faster than your bladder discharges, autopilot and a nice interior, and while the list price is about 33k with tax, they are actually sold for about 23k with tax for the long range top spec model. That's GBP so convert to USD and it's about 30k, depending on the exchange rate today.

          • The average person urinates 30 seconds at a time in 5-7 visits a day. Assuming a couple of those are going to be in the evening and one at night, that's a maximum of 2 minutes of urination a day. Either you have the fastest charging car I have ever heard of or you should go to the doctor immediately.
      • You mean those manufacturers that are quietly majorly subsidized by the government?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          As far as I'm aware they don't get any subsidies at all from the government. There used to be a tax break on EVs, but that was withdrawn years ago. You pay the full 20% now.

          • I am speaking of Chinese manufacturers funded by the Chinese government, which has spent billions to get them started then to prop them up.

            You can't really call them competing since they can undercut other manufacturers because until very recently some never needed to be profitable to continue operations.

  • Battery fear is gone (Score:4, Informative)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Saturday August 01, 2026 @01:43PM (#66267794) Homepage

    Electrical vs ICE does not affect New vs used. It's not higher gas prices.

    The main reason used EVs are not losing value as much as they did in the past is that the fear of used electrical batteries no longer being as strong.

    Previously people were extremely worried that EV batteries were going to quickly lose their charge. There were concerns that older batteries could not be trusted. They thought a used battery was a liability. Worse, everyone kept talking about how the NEXT generation of battery would be so much better. For this reason a lot of people would rather get the newest technology which meant new EVs rather than used ones.

    Over time we have found that batteries from used EVs stand up pretty well. Moreover, most people now think that 'new' battery technology is likely to be used for things besides cars (i.e. home back up) so the new cars use the same old batteries.

    Combined with the fact that EVs generally have less maintaince issues, people have begun to realize that used EVs are a pretty good deal.

  • but the prices of new EV's are just astronomical.

    Also, a lot of states (and probably soon the Federal Government) have been tacking on surcharges which exceed the average price that someone pays through gasoline taxes to discourage the uptake of electric vehicles.

    If the Republicans win this November (Because they successfully rammed the SAVE act though Congress), expect there to be a reconciliation bill in 2027 with add on surcharges for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles.The add on surcharge will be sig

    • Not all EVs. Look at Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt , Equinox EV, Hyundai Kona. All of them under $35k. The median US vehicle purchase price is now just under $50k. That includes many vehicle sizes, though.

      My Equinox EV was $27k out the door including about 10% CA sales tax last August before the $7500 incentive expired. I was sti able to take it as point of sale despite having only 3 digit federal tax liability last year.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by alcmena ( 312085 )

        I had a 2011 Leaf. I know they're better / different now, but I don't care. That car was such a POS that I will NEVER recommend a Leaf to even my worst enemies. It has a realistic 88 miles of range when I bought it, and I was ok with that limitation. It was less than 60 miles after the first year alone! The best thing that car ever did for me was get rammed by another car so I could replace it w/o taking a huge loss (GAP insurance for the win on that one).

        I knew people who had early Bolts, and they hat

        • I had a 2012 Leaf which was leased. I agree with you. It sucked. Mine was not totaled. I had $0 down 39 months lease. I returned it 9 months early.

          My husband drives a 2017 Bolt. It had a battery replacement due to the recall under warranty. New battery increased range from 238 to 259 miles. Car has been flawless. I suggested we replace the car. He is happy with it still and doesn't want to.

          My Equinox has great range and price was hard to beat. But lots of software bugs, which OTA updates don't fix, or worse

          • I just bought a 2027 Bolt. The local dealer had several in inventory, and they did not appear to be selling rapidly. Conjecture: people might be waiting for California's announced $3500 rebate program for first time EV buyers. I decided that definite availability was worth not waiting for the rebate, which by the time CARB gets through with the details, could take a while.

            Purchase was straightforward, apart from being held hostage in a hot car for OnStar setup, where of course they misspelled my name, and w

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by madbrain ( 11432 )

              Yes, the update process frequently fails on my EQEV, no doubt because I live in an area with extremely poor cell signal. Basically the updates have to run when I'm away from home. I was not referring to issues with the update process, but regressions introduced in their content. Bugs that affect the infotainment, various apps, bluetooth, etc. GM does not have the best firmware engineers. This is also on Google, who develops Android automotive. But ultimately, the buck stops with GM.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by alcmena ( 312085 )

                One thing the Teslas did that none of the other EV's I've tried could was the ability to connect to home wifi for updates. I have ok cell service where I live. However, like you, I also get most of my updates when I'm away from home where as my Teslas almost always only updated at home.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Also, a lot of states (and probably soon the Federal Government) have been tacking on surcharges which exceed the average price that someone pays through gasoline taxes to discourage the uptake of electric vehicles.

      Tacking them on where?

      I've been thinking about swapping a worn out ICE in a classic car with a Tesla crate motor. There are shops that will do that kind of work. But leaving the vehicle registration as 'petrol'. No more gas taxes, no EV annual surcharge.

      • > Tacking them on where?

        Annual or registration fees. An extra $150-$200 per period in many states, with some of them charging more based on weight.

        For example, New Jersey charges an additional $1080 to register a battery electric vehicle, which is four years worth of the $270/yr fee they will start charging you on year five and beyond.

        > I've been thinking about swapping a worn out ICE in a classic car with a Tesla crate motor.

        Tesla doesn't do crate motors, and Tesla drivetrains are traverse axles whic

  • Honest question, I just took six family members to the coast for a day trip. The drive was 133 km. We drove there in the morning and parked on the street, didn't see any chargers around. We went on a boat trip for three hours, then to a restaurant for an hour then drove home. It was a very full day but we didn't need to worry about gas or filling once. My suv cost approximately $55k Canadian. What would the EV cost to go on the same trip without having to charge while there?

    • My suv cost approximately $55k Canadian.

      The world outside North America stares in bafflement...

      • Why do they cost something different there?

        • Why do they cost something different there?

          I should first apologise for being so presumptuous as to speak on behalf of "the world outside North America".

          But the point I was making was not about the cost of SUVs - It was more the popularity of SUVs. I understand there is a sort of arms race in the the US (and Canada?), in which you need to own a large car, because everyone else does, and you would put yourself in danger if you bought a smaller one - even if the smaller car was sufficient for your needs.

          But if we were back in the 1980s, and there was

          • I need to own a large car because I go grocery shopping once a week and bring two large dogs with me (80 lbs and 120lbs). They are really squished with groceries in the crossover.

    • Road trips where you recharge are not a place where EVs save you money. Charging on the road is the same price as gas.

      If you make the whole trip with no recharge (pretty easy based on the km you post) you save on the miles, but miles are cheap.

      Don't think about the road trip savings. It's how much you save per year which is important, and that's going to save you about $1k to $1.5k per year. You also save on maintenance costs.

      The EV would make that road trip more comfortable -- they are quiet, and much m

      • According to my calculations, an EV will cost around $15k more. Since I work from home I don't save any money at home really. I will probably never make that $15k back and I will just have to spend time charging when on trips.
  • I have a paid off truck and a new one would cost $30-70k more !!

  • That I spent the money last year in Jan, and bought a used PHEV. I just bought gas the other day, and that makes, un, three? four? Can't be five tanks this *year*.

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