Secondhand EVs now cost less than used gas cars - as the electric vehicle backlash accelerates

Daily Mail ^ | 6/25/24 | Tilly Armstrong

[Libloather]

Secondhand electric cars are now cheaper than their gas counterparts for the first time - and the gap is widening quickly.

This is according to a new study from comparison site iSeeCars, which found the cost of an average used EV dropped $265 below a typical gas car in February.

This marked the beginning of the trend - and the price gap has grown to $2,657 as of latest data from May.

In the last year, average used car values have dropped between 3 and 7 percent, the report found, while used EV values have plummeted between 29 and 39 percent.

While this price drop may be good news for Americans looking for a cheaper switch to an EV, the price crash is yet another sign of dwindling US demand for the cars.

The study analyzed over 2.2 million one to five-year-old used cars sold between May 2023 and May 2024.

It found that the average used EV price is down 29.5 percent year-over-year, versus 6.1 percent for the average used gas car price.

In May this year, the average used EV was priced at $28,767 - with the typoca; gas car $31,424.

These prices show a major turnaround from a year ago, when the figure for an EV was $40,783 and for gas $33,469.

'There's no denying the crash in used electric vehicle values over the past year,' said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.

While EV values appeared to stabilize at the end of 2023, they experienced a substantial drop in February - and have continued to decline over the past four months.

[Libloather]

Find 'em expired on the side of the road? Automatically comes with a $20,000 battery replacement bill. I'm out.

[BobL]

As expected the people who ‘need’ EVs now have them, while us normal people continue to live our normal lives.

[George J. Jetso]

I would never buy an electric car or get into a computer driven vehicle. At my age I do not trust computers. They do not last very long and are unpredictable. These vehicles are all fine tuned as they come out of the factory but in six months they are falling apart. The less computers the better. I had a 1956 Buick that was the most reliable vehicle I ever had and it did not have any computers only the radio had electronics. I also had a 1957 Pontiac that was very reliable. I remember when I was young I used to make fun of all the new cars that were sitting on the side of the road while the old clunkers were still going and were easy to maintain.

[DAC21]

No surprise, Tesla drives the data. Due to less demand Tesla has had to drop the price’s substantially. Buyers who pay federal taxes can qualify for $7500 tax credit driving Model 3 and Y price’s under 40k. (Before T&L) You would have to think like a Democrat to pay last years 40k used EV prices today.

[Williams]

The trend is real, but IMHO the media crashed the EV market because they began running negative stories to hurt Elon Musk.

[Samurai_Jack]

I thought for a few milliseconds that if the price comes down below a gallon of milk I could use one to drive over to get groceries or something. But then what happens when the batteries die, or the electronics stop working. What happens if it overheats and catch fire, what’s it going to cost to insure it? Will AAA even come and get me on the side of the road? Where am I going to charge it, over at the CVS parking lot?

Seemed like a good idea for less than a second and then sanity returned, coffee kicked in... Yeah, I think I’ll stick with my ICE car.

[sips coffee and types]

[21twelve]

I met an electrician that bought an old Ford pickup that was electric. It was new in 2000 or so???

I forget how much money he put into it, but it wasn’t a whole bunch IIRC (a few thousand??). But he did all the work himself in replacing the battery and what not. He drives it to work every day.

I imagine it would be a lot more difficult for him to work on a new EV with technology more developed over the last 24 years.

[ComputerGuy]

All it took was one cold January and my next-door ditched his Tesla and is now driving a new, sporty F-150. Gasoline version.

[servo1969]

Yep. We simply don’t have the technology to make EVs as practical as gas vehicles. Even if you live in a heavily urban area with access to rapid chargers it’s just not worth it practically or financially in the long run.
Now hybrids? They’re pretty good. They give great gas mileage while retaining the reliability of internal combustion cars. But EVs? They’re just not there yet. And I have zero interest in having to rely on a 100% electric car or truck.

[MMusson]

EVs are not used cars. They are used batteries.

[GenXPolymath]

“Even if you live in a heavily urban area with access to rapid chargers it’s just not worth it practically or financially in the long run.”

I don’t live urban far from it. I live 40 miles one way to downtown Dallas. My model 3 Tesla is five times cheaper per mile vs $3.09 87 octane from the plug at retail power rates. I don’t pay retail I have solar panels that already paid themselves off so even less per mile. My S60 T5 AWD was $58,000 new a model 3 is 37,000 new both seat 5 and both are within an inch of each other in footprint size. The S60 is 200 lbs heavier curb weight both on 18” low pro tires both wesr P4 Pirelli of.identical sizes.

So in this case you are wrong. The Tesla has less capital costs up front, and drastically lower fuel costs even with retail power rates. I avg 180wh per mile in the Tesla. My S60 gets 28 mpg suburban areas and 25 city. One gal of E10 is 110,000 btu at 28 mpg that’s 3,928 btu per mile or 1115 watt hours per mile vs 180 watt hours per mile. 110,000 btu of 87 octane costs $3.09 at the pump down the road today I just drove by it. 1000 watt hours costs 12 cents retail and zero for me off my panels. Even at 12cents per kwh 28 miles of range would cost 60 cents worth of retail electricity vs $3.09 in gasoline. You are wrong it is significantly cheaper for EVs charged at home ever with retail power rates.

[Republican Wildcat]

While this price drop may be good news for Americans looking for a cheaper switch to an EV

Uh...what if the battery needs to be replaced?

[Lean-Right]

I think I’d broaden
the blame range a bit.
Lack of chargers
Cost of home chargers
Trust in an unproven
technology
Frequent reported battery
failures/fires
Tire change frequencies
Weather operable conditions

People are waking up to
an EV’s falacies as a
whole.

[snoringbear]

The integrated circuit wasn’t invented until 1958 (Jack Kilby/Robert Noyce co-patented).

[Steven Tyler]

Electric battery cars are not ready for normal driving. They have undergone 120 years of development and their shortcomings are obvious to a child.
Plus, the public charging infrastructure is woefully inadequate.
You need to spend thousands to get a stage 2 charger installed in your house.
Electric battery cars are buggy, and the battery life will continue to drop

Below, Scotty evaluates a used BMW i3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUv0QsDJr3o

[Malsua]

My only comment about this is that last week I bought a used Fleet Transit Cargo van decked out with shelving, drawers, ladder rack on top and step ladder holder inside that hangs from the roof(never saw that one before). It even came with a backup beeper and governed at 76 ;). This is one of those side of the road lots. Evo Motors in Seffner Fl.

Anyway, while cruising the lot looking around, there were about 18 Teslas sitting there.

This place attracts a “bargain” hunting crowd, me among them considering the Van was cheap and had about 6k worth of shelving and racks with it.

I never figured I’d see Teslas at one of these discount places, but there they are and they were pretty cheap too.

[roving]

I’m doing my part in keeping electricity rates down by not buying one. If everyone had one, electricity would be unaffordable.

[maddog55]

I’m with you.. I’ve got a 75 Vette that’s still running better than the wife’s 2024 Volvo which is a technology fueled POS. Not electric but controlled by a Google infotainment system and a nightmare of computers that work occasionally. It’s a POS, requires constant software updates and you can’t drive it for 90 minutes when it’s updating.

I told the dealer I could rewrire my entire Vette with three 20 foot extension cords and the only technology it has is a Bluetooth retro styled radio I put in.

[CapnJack]

Used EV’s are worth about as much as used toilet paper.

[Tell It Right]

The trend is real, but IMHO the media crashed the EV market because they began running negative stories to hurt Elon Musk.

Not just the media. Also the EPA. As soon as Musk quit being all Dim, the EPA changed the "math" on how many fake "MPGe"'s the Teslas get so that Tesla gets less fake carbon credits. I own an EV for practical reasons, thus I'm sometimes on an EV forum and posted my numbers for this change in MPGe. All of the MPG and MPGe numbers is little more than a racket rating on which car companies suck up to the Dims the most.

I tried to tell my fellow EV owners (mostly leftists) that before getting an EV you have to do your own research because the government lies, lies, and lies. But in some situations, like mine, an EV can be practical as one of two cars as long as you do most of your driving in it (to get the gas and oil change savings), can charge at home, and research ahead of time if most of your road trips you like to take have plenty of fast charging options (your other car, the gas car, can be used for the other trips).

I don't know about EV prices vs gas car prices today, but back when I got mine I'd say the threshold is about 12K miles per year of driving home charged miles is when getting an EV is worth it. We drive ours about 15K miles per year home charged miles, total 24K miles if you include road trip miles.