What to Know Before Buying a Used Electric Car

In many ways, driving an electric vehicle is the same as driving one with an internal-combustion engine, though refueling and other ownership aspects are certainly different, and we’ve recognized that the considerations for buying a used EV are quite different as well. Where a used vehicle has spent its life (geographically speaking) and how it’s been cared for are still primary concerns, but the rules are surprisingly different from — and perhaps the opposite of — those for conventional cars. Pre-owned EVs also put an interesting spin on pricing, warranties and features that you might not give a second thought with a gas-powered car. We explore these issues below.

Related: What to Know Before Purchasing an Electric Vehicle: A Buying Guide

Used EVs Can Be a Bargain

With the federal EV tax credit gone for both new and used vehicles, used EVs may not be quite the bargain they were, but depreciation and consumer hesitancy might leave bolder shoppers with the right know-how in line for a great deal.

• Depreciation can affect EVs harder than gas-powered vehicles.
• There are no more federal tax credits for used EVs.
• Knowledgeable shoppers still might be able to get a great deal.

Focus on Decreased Range, Not Battery Death

Like electronic devices, EV batteries lose capacity over time, meaning an older EV will have less range than when it was brand new. Used EVs are still susceptible to climate-related range loss, too — more so if they aren’t yet equipped with a heat pump — but outright failure of the battery pack due to age is unlikely.

• Consider battery health when shopping for a used EV; Recurrent is one service providing battery health reports (including on Cars.com’s used-EV listings).
• Range loss in cold weather will compound range loss due to time, so shoppers in colder climates might want to find higher-range EVs.
• Some used-car shopping advice — desert cars, low mileage, little use — may not be as applicable to EVs as gas-powered cars.

Inspections Are Still Recommended

Just like with gas-powered vehicles, you should get a prospective used EV inspected before purchasing it. A used EV inspection may be more expensive, however, as there might be fewer providers. A good inspection should save you in the long run by identifying the life left on wear items, such as tires and brakes, and highlighting any open recalls or recall work performed.

• Find a provider willing to inspect a used EV before you purchase one.
• Fewer providers may exist, so the cost will likely be higher than an inspection for a gas-powered car.
• A good inspection will help save you money in the long run.

Warranties Are in Flux

The duration and coverage of an EV’s warranty — and whether or not it’s even transferable to a new owner — varies from automaker to automaker and can depend on model year, battery size and more. It’s imperative that you confirm what, if any, warranty coverage will transfer to you before you purchase a new-to-you used EV.

• Warranty coverage varies from EV to EV.
• Some warranties may not be transferable.
• Some EVs are old enough that their warranties might have expired entirely.
• You will have to do the work of confirming what coverage, if any, will transfer before purchasing a used EV.

Free Charging and Some Features Might Not Transfer

Separate from warranty coverage, many new EVs include free charging for a certain period of time or number of charges or total amount of energy used. Those perks may or may not transfer to new owners, if the car is still eligible. Many EVs (especially Teslas) also come equipped with features that require a monthly subscription fee, and those may not be available to new owners without a new subscription. Telematics features may also not transfer.

• Ownership perks like free charging or telematics-based services may not transfer to new owners.
• Some subscription-based features may require a new subscription from the new owner, as well.

Resale: The Market Giveth, But It Also Taketh

Just because you’ve found a used-EV bargain doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to sell it without it becoming a bargain for the next owner. Beware of expired or nearly expired warranties, as well as the possibility that future generations of EVs have far outpaced your older model.

• A bargain for you when you purchased it is likely to be a bargain for someone else if you sell it.
• Warranties expire, and automakers iterate newer and better generations of EVs that may hurt your EV’s resale value.

Used EVs Can Be a Bargain

Key Takeaways:

• Depreciation can hit used EVs harder than used gas-powered vehicles.
• There is no longer a federal tax credit for used EVs.
• Great deals are out there for knowledgeable shoppers.

Cars.com purchased its first EV, a 2011 Nissan Leaf SL, new for $35,665 as equipped, and when we sold it 19 months later to a private party with just 11,000 miles on it, $19,000 was the best we could get for it — a depreciation of 47%. More recently, we purchased a 2021 Tesla Model Y for $66,443, which we traded in more than two years later for $26,800. While trade-in value is always going to be slightly less than resale, we still only made back roughly 40% of the Model Y’s initial cost.

There are a few factors that result in modest used-EV prices. One is incentives. The market immediately accounted for federal tax credits for new EVs, which subtracted up to $7,500 from the apparent purchase price of many battery-electrics even though not all EVs qualified for them. That credit has expired, however, and we’ll have to wait and see how the credit’s ending affects used-EV prices. State and local incentives also play a part in used-EV depreciation depending on where you buy. The federal tax credit also included used-EV incentives, which knocked up to $4,000 or 30% (whichever was lower) off the purchase price of a used EV for qualifying buyers. That credit is gone, too, and its demise is likely to have a more immediate effect.

Best we can tell, the rest has been about consumers’ hesitancy to purchase used EVs because they’ve believed a few things: that newer models would be coming with longer ranges, faster charging capabilities and better features (true), that they truly needed more range (often false), and that a used EV is closer to imminent and prohibitively expensive battery death (highly unlikely).

We’ll address the biggest boogeyman next, but suffice it to say that shoppers with the right perspective on these concerns and all the facts below have gotten some great deals on used EVs.

Focus on Decreased Range, Not Battery Death

Key Takeaways:

• Be sure to take battery health into account when shopping for a used EV.
• EV batteries lose range over time.
• Range loss from age can be compounded by temperature-related loss.
• Some pieces of traditional used car buying advice — where the car has spent its life, the value of low mileage and minimal use — may not apply or may apply in the opposite manner.

As we’ve reported many times, electric car batteries are more like those in hybrids than cellular phones: They lose capacity over time, but outright failure requiring replacement is very rare. This should allay one of the primary fears about buying a used EV, but just the same, you should think about what your daily range needs are and make sure you reconcile that not with a brand-new version of the car’s EPA-estimated range, but rather a vehicle of its current age. While you’re at it, allow for further range loss if you plan to keep the vehicle for years to come.

All makes and models age differently, and the way they’re charged and driven affects battery health, as does the climate (more on that below), but based on the data available today, it seems that most EVs lose 10%-20% of their capacity over 10 years. Don’t forget to account for the inevitable temporary range decrease caused by cold temperatures if it applies to you, which is roughly 40% at 20 degrees Fahrenheit compared with the ideal 75 degrees for older EVs without a heat pump. This is pretty linear, meaning it gets steadily worse on its way down to 20 degrees, and it doesn’t stop there. Subzero temps easily mean half of your range is gone. Newer EVs tend to be equipped with heat pumps, which are more efficient; a 2025 study by Recurrent found that those models lose closer to 20% of their range, on average, when temperatures drop from the ideal — 68-74 degrees Fahrenheit — to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Having established that outright battery failure is rare, we don’t want to proceed to scare everyone off of used EVs. However, there are some considerations to ponder, and one example in particular resonates because it illustrates how different EVs can be from what we’ve always known: the desert car.

People of a certain age were taught that a used car from a desert climate with low mileage (meaning miles on the odometer) was the best you could hope for. The desert meant it wasn’t exposed to much rain, road salt or sea air, and consequently, it was less likely to rust. Plus, low miles is a good thing for a used car, as that equals higher value. Fast forward and cars are now so rust-resistant that the desert might not be the advantage it once was — but did anyone expect it to become a disadvantage? In the age of EVs, one could argue it is. EVs unavoidably lose range as they age, but the data also show that hot climates accelerate this degradation.

Lower odometer readings are also a plus, all other things being equal, partly because it should reflect that more of both the original battery capacity and the warranty remain. But once again, the data tell us an EV that’s regularly used is a happy EV, while one that’s driven or charged infrequently can incur battery damage, specifically if it’s allowed to discharge too far and for too long, or to sit unused indefinitely at 100% state of charge.

How do you know if a used car meets this description? One way is via Recurrent, a company that monitors connected EVs in the U.S. and analyzes the resulting battery data to determine how specific makes and models age. Using basic information, the company believes it can determine the health of an EV battery and has even alerted a couple of its community members, who allow Recurrent to retrieve data wirelessly, of batteries that were failing prematurely due to manufacturing defects. You can find Recurrent’s battery health reports on many used-EV listings on Cars.com.

Recurrent also offers owners EV battery-condition reports, currently free, if you’re willing to share telematics data with them. We’ve just signed up with our current long-term EV, a 2024 Kia EV9. We probably won’t keep the EV9 long enough for range loss to truly take hold, but we hope the added points of data improve the service.

While these reports aren’t a guarantee, they seem like a better option than ruling out used EVs in the country’s warmer regions or avoiding the type altogether fearing battery problems.

Inspections Are Still Recommended

Key Takeaways:

• You should have a used EV inspected before purchasing it.
• Inspection providers may be harder to find and may cost more than for a gas-powered car.
• An inspection can still identify costly issues with an EV before purchase and save money in the long run.

Just because EVs have fewer moving parts, require less maintenance, and have one big and expensive component that distracts attention and instills fear — the battery pack — it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a prospective purchase inspected by a qualified mechanic. Though it costs around $100 (depending on the shop and region), this step can save you more in the long run by ruling out stinkers, and it should give you an idea how much life is left on wear items like brakes and suspension components, even if they’re currently good enough. Naturally, it’s better to use a mechanic who’s trained to work on EVs, which may limit your choices and increase the inspection price; some otherwise-competent technicians might refuse to touch an EV.

Any mechanic should be able to determine if there are outstanding recalls on the vehicle, and that includes anything battery related. If you’re buying a Chevrolet Bolt EV or EUV of any age, for example, you should be getting (or will be eligible for) a battery pack from 2021 or later.

To this end, there’s no reason to fear an EV with a battery that’s been replaced due to recall, defect, age or damage apart from the usual expectation that a vehicle that’s been damaged significantly should cost less, even if it’s been repaired. This is one of the things an inspection can uncover.

Bear in mind that outside of recalls, battery replacement (specifically the cells or modules) may be the work of third parties, not the original manufacturer, as has been the case with hybrids. You’ll have to decide if you think aftermarket battery components are riskier than original equipment just as you would with other parts. Given the expensive labor involved and the insistence of some manufacturers to replace full packs rather than defective modules, it’s inevitable that third-party solutions will proliferate for high-volume EVs, especially those out of warranty.

Any seller claim of a battery replacement should be backed up with documentation and confirmed, where possible, by inspection.

Read More EV Coverage on Cars.com:

• Find EVs Near You
• More Electric Car News and Testing
• Electric Cars With the Longest Range
• Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy

Warranties Are in Flux

Key Takeaways:

• Warranty coverage varies from EV to EV.
• Some warranties may not be transferable.
• Some EVs are old enough that their warranties might have expired entirely.
• You will have to do the work of confirming what coverage, if any, will transfer before purchasing a used EV.

Many current EV powertrain warranties last at least eight years and 100,000 miles, and it’s now the norm for the coverage to transfer to subsequent owners, but that wasn’t always the case. Today’s warranties don’t apply to older models (unless the manufacturer’s terms have remained consistent, of course), so any shopper should verify the vehicle’s model year using a free VIN decoder and find the original warranty terms. (For your own protection — and ours — we have to leave to you the task of determining what coverage remains on a used EV you might be considering.)

Just to give you an idea of how much variance there is, even today’s new Tesla models provide 100,000, 120,000 or 150,000 miles of powertrain coverage, depending on the model and battery size. Originally, Tesla didn’t limit the miles at all. Another example of what you might encounter is the nontransferable powertrain warranties on older Hyundai EVs, such as an original Ioniq or Kona EV. That limitation was lifted with the 2020 model year for all Hyundai EVs.

As stated above, lithium-ion batteries lose capacity over time, but not all manufacturers’ warranties — past or current — have covered battery replacement should that capacity drop below a stated level. The capacity cutoff varies but has typically been 70%. Some warranties cover only failure or manufacturing defects, too.

Free Charging and Some Features Might Not Transfer

Key Takeaways:

• Not every feature or incentive from the purchase of a new EV may transfer to a subsequent owner.
• Some features of EVs can be subscription-based, and a new subscription may be necessary.

Warranties aren’t the only things that might not transfer past the first buyer, at least not for free. Free DC fast charging (limited by kilowatt-hours or years), for example, typically starts and ends with the original buyer.

A so-called telematics connection to the car also isn’t guaranteed. Most EVs have been equipped with two-way data communication that let you use a smartphone app to start and stop charging, view range and precondition the cabin while it’s plugged into grid power to preserve battery charge for driving range. However, the connection might not be available or offered for free on a used EV.

Also note that the wireless updatability pioneered by Tesla and adopted by many other automakers, especially in electric models, has an arguable downside: It allows manufacturers to offer subscriptions in addition to one-time payment for features. Tesla has done so with Full Self Driving, to give one example, so some owners may keep on paying month after month. This opens the door for confusion at best and unscrupulous sales practices at worst. If you’re buying a used EV, and especially a Tesla, make sure you know what you’re getting for the purchase price — and what you’re not. The vehicle you test drive could behave very differently once money has changed hands.

Related Video:

Resale: The Market Giveth, But It Also Taketh

Key Takeaways:

• If your used EV is a bargain when you purchase it, it will likely remain a relative bargain for someone else when you try to sell it or trade it in.
• Expiring warranties or technological advancements may reduce the desirability and value of your EV.

Buyers who are willing to ignore the hysteria over aging lithium-ion batteries and do a little homework are likely to find affordable used EVs, but if they decide to sell the car later on, they might discover that the same forces are still at play. In other words, you might decide that used EVs have value, but that doesn’t mean the market as a whole will. If your vehicle has gotten closer to — or passed — the end of its powertrain warranty, you might find its resale value has dropped precipitously. Likewise, if the manufacturer rolls out a new generation with longer range and more features, it might impact your model’s value more than the release of a new or refreshed model would for a used gas-powered vehicle.

An extreme example comes in the form of a cautionary tale. In 2022, rumors (and published reports) claimed that Chevrolet had discontinued production of the battery pack for the electric version of the Chevrolet Spark, which was sold from the 2014-16 model years in zero-emissions-vehicle states such as California. This would mean that Sparks with failing batteries would be little more than scrap and even healthy ones would likely lose value. GM denied those reports and blamed supply chain disruptions, but it raised the specter of an automaker choosing not to supply batteries or a shortage that could affect an owner who can’t wait for a repair. This would be more of a potential problem for low-volume vehicles like the Spark because there’s little enticement for an aftermarket company to take up the slack. We hope it never comes to that, though. Even if battery replacement doesn’t come into play until EVs are more than 10 years old or have traveled well over 100,000 miles, it needs to remain feasible or their environmental benefit will be in question, along with motorists’ comfort with used EVs.

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