Used EVs Are Setting Records While New Ones Keep Sliding

The federal EV tax credit died last fall, and new electric car sales have been nursing the hangover ever since. According to Cox Automotive‘s mid-year review, new EV sales are down more than 20 percent year over year, even with gas prices at all-time highs. You’d think pricier gas would push people toward EVs, but instead, buyers increasingly appear to be finding value in the used market, given how secondhand EVs just had their best quarter ever.

Cox reports 128,000 used EVs changed hands in the second quarter of 2026, up 29 percent, or roughly 30,000 cars, over the same period last year. Three-year-old used EVs are running well ahead of typical seasonal demand and outperforming every other powertrain on the used market right now, according to Mark Strand, Cox’s Deputy Chief Economist. Meanwhile, the new EV market continues adjusting to the post-tax-credit environment.

Off-Lease EVs and Prices That Actually Make Sense

A lot of this used EV inventory is coming off lease. A short-lived rule once let automakers classify EV leases as commercial deals. Those leased vehicles are now reaching the end of their typical two- or three-year terms, swelling dealer inventories. Analysts expect the wave to continue for another two years or so. The average used EV now costs around $37,000, roughly a $3,000 premium over a typical new gas or hybrid car, up from just under $35,000 before this surge. While still more expensive than the average used gasoline vehicle, these used EVs are still a fraction of what they cost when new.

Battery Degradation Is Overblown

Modern EV batteries hold up better than the horror stories suggest, with real-world fleet data putting average degradation around 2.3 percent a year, leaving most packs above 80 percent health at the eight-year mark. Automakers have gotten genuinely good at managing this, as the research shows. 

The real catch is resale, not range. Depreciation on EVs still runs steeper than on gas cars, and an eight-year-old EV will likely fetch less relative to its original price than a comparable gas car would. The bottom line with used EVs is this: buy one to drive, not to flip.