- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
Archive link:
New electric vehicles cost thousands more than similar models that run on gasoline. But a growing number of shoppers are discovering that for used cars, often the opposite is true.
Used battery-powered vehicles often sell for less than comparable cars with internal combustion engines, making them a good deal even before calculating savings in maintenance costs and fuel. That is expanding the number of people who can afford to buy such models.
Sales of used electric vehicles rose 40 percent in July from a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive, a research firm.
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And if a cheap, used, decade old EV battery is down to 80% of its former max life, that’s still a very usable vehicle for almost everyone. It probably isn’t even noticeable outside of long trips.
In fact, I can vouch. I keep the max charge on my new battery at 80% to extend its lifespan. I don’t even plug the thing in every night. My charge from 80% down to 45% can last nearly a week.
yep, seeing 2019/2020 model 3’s starting to head towards 20k here in Australia, absolute bargain
But then you have to drive a swasticar…
Yes that’s one of the downsides, unfortunately many people in my country don’t care
https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/australias-best-selling-evs-in-the-first-half-of-2025
Tesla may have experienced a sales slump in recent months, but it’s still Australia’s number one electric vehicle (EV) brand by a huge margin.
So since there are more Tesla EV’s than any other company they are going to be the most on the used car market and get cheaper prices
Pros:
- Cheap
- EV
- Has decent distance
Cons
- Musk
Keep in mind that this is typically because the drivetrain battery is nearing or at the end of its useful life, is out of warranty, and will cost thousands of dollars to replace.
nononono. Batteries last a lot longer than a few years.
That’s all well and good if the EV you’re buying is 2-3 years old. People frequently buy cars that are 5 years old or more, and at that point you get into stickier territory. I’m not saying you should avoid it at all costs, I’m saying that you should get info on the car you want - check the current battery’s SOH gauge and ask if was recently replaced. If the dealer doesn’t know, walk.
It’s also important to remember that battery degradation doesn’t just affect range. There could be damaged cells in the battery, or the conditioning system (if there is one) may be showing its age. A damaged/degraded battery will also affect the vehicle’s acceleration, ability to navigate steep terrain, and take longer to charge.
Most EVs on the market have batteries that will last a comparable amount of time to a modern gas engine, often over a decade, and possibly over 20 years if you baby them.
I think the concern is that the previous owner might have abused the car, but the same concern applies to combustion engines.
I think the fear about this might be the result of classical FUD marketing. Apart from that, there are also ways to examine the state of a battery.
To some extent that, to some extent that people notice concerns more than refutations of concerns.
In the early days of electric vehicles, there were legitimate concerns about what would happen as the battery aged. None of them had aged before, and other devices (e.g. phones) were known to experience pretty severe battery degradation over time. People remember this concern. They do not remember that this turned out to be much less of a problem than anticipated, because good news doesn’t circulate nearly as widely as bad news.
I mean, most used dealerships give a report on the battery’s state of health, which is at least a more specific and harder to fake metric than a description of the state of the engine
Most EV have an 8 year battery warranty.
Batteries don’t generally just die at the end of their warranty. They just have like 70% or less of their original capacity.
Yes - I know at least for Kia and MG, that they have 7-8y/around 159k km qarranties on batteries, so this is something they are sure about. And even after that, you can keep driving, just with a noticeably lower max range
Federal law requires the warranty of 8 years or 100k miles. Several states have stricter controls beyond that.
It is great that it’s also forced by law, but I was just joining to the point that an e-car’s battery is not something from a “Poof! It’s gone!” category. Things get old, but as with the usual cars, if you are not buying something 10+yo, you’ll probably be fine
There there now. Sleep tight.
