With a new war in the Middle East driving up gas prices, American drivers are once again remembering that electric vehicles are much cheaper to operate and therefore worth considering. Buying a brand-new EV might not be the best way to save money, but the good news is that the used EV market continues to grow, and for the buyer looking to spend between $15,000–$20,000 on something electric, we’re starting to hit a real sweet spot.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at used EVs on a smaller budget. If you don’t need much range, even $5,000 will get you behind the wheel of a Nissan Leaf. At $10,000, BMW’s interesting i3 becomes affordable, as does the Chevrolet Bolt, although expect examples to have some mileage on them. For $15,000 you can find newer Bolts and bigger-batteried i3s, as well as some of Hyundai and Kia’s smaller or older EVs.
Once we jump up into the next (arbitrary) price bracket—$15,000 to $20,000—many of the newer, longer-range EVs that debuted post-pandemic are now affordable.
The No. 1 concern among consumers when it comes to a used EV is the state of the battery; early horror stories from the first generation of lithium-ion EVs like the Nissan Leaf have created the impression that electric car batteries degrade as quickly as the one in your phone. But the truth is that modern EVs with proper thermal management are a much safer bet, losing about 2 percent capacity a year. And since we’re talking today about cars that will be model-year 2021 or newer, that means you can buy one knowing that the battery is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, which is usually eight years/100,000 miles.