Sections below:
– introduction
– warranty gotchas
– charge cord
– the Tesla effect
– battery health
– tax credit
– model-specific info
The best bargains in electric vehicles can be found on the used market, even more so than for gas cars. EV technology was rapidly improving in the early years of volume production (starting in 2010), and every few years there was a leap forward in capability, with dramatic improvements in miles of range and charging power. The earliest EVs had around 70 miles of range, then 100, then 150, then 200, and so forth. DC fast charging speeds (important for roadtrips) improved from 50 kW to 150 kW to 250 kW and beyond.
These rapid improvements in the new cars coming to market had the effect of depressing the value of the older EVs, even though those older models might only be a few years old and working fine. This very low resale value after only a couple years also contributed to the popularity of leasing of new EVs, since you wouldn’t be saddled with a low-resale-value car only a few years into your ownership, as you would be if you bought instead of leased.
So used buyers get the fantastic bargains! But when you are buying a used car, there are a few major topics that you have to consider, some with unique aspects for EVs.
One of the ways that carmakers provide peace of mind is through manufacturer warranties. These typically come in two forms: a bumper-to-bumper warranty for a shorter period, and a drivetrain warranty for a longer period. The bumper-to-bumper warranty is usually the same as any other car, for 3 to 8 years depending on the car make. The drivetrain (or “powertrain”) warranty on EVs tend to be quite long, 8-10 years and 100,000 miles, both because the automotive engineers have designed the electric drivetrains to last that long, but also because carmakers knew that they had to provide those long warranties to overcome market resistance and provide assurance to buyers of the new technology.
However, a key detail to look into is whether those warranties are transferable. Some carmakes only offer the longest warranty to the first owner! Notably, the Korean conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group has been well-known for offering long drivetrain warranties, but that only applies to the first owner. When a Hyundai, Kia or Genesis vehicle changes owners, the powertrain coverage drops to 5 years or 60,000 miles. If you are looking at a used EV, be aware of this possibility and check exactly what warranties will remain active on the car after you get it.
EV drivetrains are much simpler than gas engines (far fewer moving parts, for example), require much less maintenance, and are much more reliable. However, when they do fail, it’s usually one big expensive component that needs to be replaced, such as the motor controller (aka inverter) or even the motor. These tend to be sealed components that are not serviceable, so the repair shop will only be able to swap out the entire assembly. For that reason, when the drivetrain does need repair, it is often very expensive, like $2500 for a new charge controller, or $5000 for an new traction motor.
Therefore, when buying a used EV, it is advisable to get an extended warranty if the manufacturer offers it. Alternative language that you’ll hear for the extended warranty is that the used car is “certified” by the manufacturer, aka “certified previously owned” or “CPO”. You’ll find that a CPO car will be notably more expensive than a non-CPO car, and many people balk at the extra upfront cost, but you can make that money back in a hurry the first time you experience a major failure.
When getting an extended warranty for an EV, make sure that it at least covers the entire drivetrain — battery, motor(s) and the integrating electronics (e.g. inverter or charge controller). Sometimes that “drivetrain” coverage won’t cover the charging system, which obviously would be big problem if it were to fail — you can’t add energy to the car! Other things like the interior electronics and HVAC that are clearly non-drivetrain can become very expensive headaches very quickly, especially because the makers tend to load their EVs with the latest technology that then fails because it’s only their first or second year offering it (e.g. fancy driver assist systems). So again it’s strongly recommended that you get a CPO car that has bumper-to-bumper coverage.
Most EVs are sold with a charge cord that can be used for home charging. Typically the cord is designed for use with a regular wall outlet, which does make for very slow charging, but it’s still often good enough, certainly to start out with. See the home charging page for more background on this and the various home options. However, this charge cord is the one accessory that often disappears as the car is making its way through the used market (first owner -> lease turn-in -> auction lot -> dealership), so make sure they are providing the cord. If you’re buying a CPO car (see section above) then you are probably at that car brand’s dealership, and they can absolutely scrounge a cord up from somewhere if your prospective car doesn’t have it. And do not assume that you can just use public charging — you can, but home charging is one of the key factors that makes EVs so attractive in the first place.
Since the 2017 launch of the Model 3 and then the Model Y in 2020, and even since the earlier Model S / X launches, Tesla has absolutely dominated the EV market, selling far more units than everyone else combined. Their huge “Gigafactories” and unique vertical integration have given them the ability to make their EVs at low cost and in enormous volumes, crushing the competition and taking them to 60-80% share of the entire market. As a result, the used market is inevitably flooded with Tesla models, and along with Tesla’s policy of continuously upgrading the software of the entire fleet, over the air, used Teslas have been an extremely attractive option for budget buyers.
However, the stunning political events of 2024-2025 created a situation where Tesla values are basically in freefall, with much fewer people willing to be connected with the Tesla brand and you-know-who, no matter how cheap. This then has also had the secondary effect of dragging down the value of non-Tesla EVs, both new and used. Essentially, the political earthquake surrounding Tesla has created incredible bargains in the entire EV market, not just for Tesla models.
An EV drivetrain fundamentally consists of three major parts: an electric motor (or two!), a huge battery, and the electronics that integrates them and provides charging capabilities. The newest innovation of those three is the battery technology that, starting in 2010, reached the energy and power necessary to make it possible to propel an entire car over long ranges. Driven by startling achievements in improved battery performance for portable handheld devices such as mobile phones and laptop, automotive engineers have taken the technology and scaled it up to the much larger sizes needs for cars. However, whereas you typically don’t expect a mobile phone or laptop to last for more than a few years, or aren’t surprised when the battery gets weak, buyers do expect their new car to least at least that long, and so engineers figured out ways to extend EV battery life beyond a decade.
Part of that engineering includes careful, automatic monitoring of the battery’s health. The first affordable EV in volume production, the Nissan Leaf, used cheaper battery technology that was more susceptible to battery degradation, and so they included a battery health monitor on the dashboard. Literally right in front of you when you are driving a Leaf, like an oil temperature gauge, is a battery health meter, alongside the separate range gauge that shows how many miles you have left that day. This is health meter is actually unique to the Leaf, and in fact is uniquely important for the Leaf to have, because Nissan did use cheaper battery tech in that car which did degrade faster than all subsequent EVs.
Besides that battery health indicator, the simplest way to evaluate the health of the battery is to simply see what the indicate range (in miles) is shown in the car when it is fully charged. When evaluating a particular used EV, ask the seller to provide a picture of the dashboard that shows the range of the car (in miles) when fully charged (to 100%).
In January 2023, the federal government started offering support for buying a used electric vehicle. In short, you get $4000 off the sale price of the EV, as long as the sale price was $25,000 or less. While it is technically a tax credit, you don’t need to file complicated IRS paperwork and wait a year to get that money back, rather you effectively get that discount on the day you buy the car. See the tax credit page for more details on that federal support for purchasing a used EV, including whether that support even still exists (given the changing political climate).
On this site we have dedicated information pages for a few car models that have been produced in volume for years and that are thus commonly found on the used market. You ‘ll find those links at the bottom of this page and in the menu at right.
When evaluating a specific used car that’s listed for sale, it can be difficult figuring out exactly which options the car is equipped with. The seller may not have provided sufficient photos, or perhaps some features can only be discerned from photos if you know exactly what to look for. Frankly, some sellers may claim the car has features that turn out to only be in some models, and that unit they are selling doesn’t have that option.
These options can make the difference between a car that you like and a car that you love, so pay attention to them! Alternatively, if a particular car is lacking some important options, expect it to be priced lower — in other words, at the very least you should point out all those deficiencies to the seller and negotiate a lower price, because you’re getting a lesser car. As they say in the car business, there’s a reason that car is still on the lot; you just need to figure out what that reason is, and decide whether those reasons are OK with you.
Click for detailed used information on:
Nissan Leaf — including info on Gen1 vs Gen2, trim levels, and a warning about the old Chademo plug so no fast charging and no roadtrips; still a great value for driving around town
Chevy Volt — including info on Gen1 vs Gen2 and trim levels; the Volt is the original “range extended” EV that switches to a gas engine on road trips
BMW i3 — cute (or goofy) looking, very agile, available with and without gas engine option, lots of trim details, luxury interior, OK for roadtrips but not great
Tesla models — a timeline of feature additions, both hardware and software, since Tesla is constantly upgrading their models rather than sticking to model year calendar
Chevy Bolt — the first affordable long-range EV, went through some battery drama and so we provide guidance on making sure you’ve got the fixes
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