Automotive research firm iSeeCars published a study this week explaining the dynamics of the used EV market in the U.S. The study said that prices of cars like the Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona Electric and the Kia Niro EV have dropped six times faster than gas cars over the past 12 months.
For starters, used EVs have lost 24.7% of their value since September 2023, compared to 6% for used hybrids and 4.4% for used gas cars. That’s according to a dataset that included 1.6 million one to five-year-old used cars sold between August 2023 and 2024. “The substantial drop in EV prices over the past year appears to have brought them in line with demand, with used EV days-on-market much lower today, reflecting a faster selling rate compared to a year ago,” Karl Brauer, iSeeCars Executive Analyst said. In short, affordability is driving sales.
Brauer added that the price drops we're seeing now aren't quite as drastic as before. Used EV prices were dropping by 30-40% at the end of 2023 and the start of 2024. The 25% indicates things are leveling off a bit. The average cost of a used EV is now $27,000. It’s expected to stabilize at around $25,000—a price tag many automakers are attempting to hit with their next-generation models.
This has led to used EVs being on the market for an average of 55.3 days in September 2023 to just 38.6 days now. That means used gas cars, hybrids and EVs now take the same amount of time to sell.
So which models are headlining this trend? The average price of a Tesla Model 3 is now about $26,000, over $8,500 less than a year before. The average price of a Kia Niro EV is roughly $22,000, about $6,000 less than last year. The humble Nissan Leaf now costs $16,000, about $4,000 less than 12 months ago. Other notable low-cost used options include the Chevy Bolt EV and the Jaguar E-Pace.
So before this, people were complaining that used EVs were too expensive. Now prices come down to more reasonable regions (what was to be expected with more and more cars being on the market) and they're complaining again that EVs are losing value?
I think the issue is that it makes it riskier to buy one. They're expensive one day and then drop in price the next means that the market hasn't figured out what they should really cost. If you sell/trade-in your cars semi frequently, that's a big risk.