2026-07-02 · Industry News · EVs for Idiots
Something happened this spring that has never happened before: the average used EV became cheaper than the average comparable used gas car. Per Cox Automotive's market data, used EVs listed $1,398 below comparable gas vehicles in April 2026, and $2,227 below in May. In early 2023, used EVs carried a $10,000+ PREMIUM. The entire price relationship flipped in three years.
This isn't a fire sale nobody's attending. Used-EV sales hit 378,140 in 2025 — up 35% — then kept setting records: Q1 2026 was up another 12% while NEW EV sales fell 28%, and March, April, and May 2026 were each record months. The stat that says it all: used EVs are now sitting on lots just 31 days — turning faster than used gas cars, three months running. Demand is fine. The prices dropped because supply exploded and because new-EV prices got cut hard after the federal credit died.
iSeeCars' 2026 study found EVs lose 57.2% of their value in five years — the worst of any segment (trucks lose 34%). If you bought new in 2021, that number hurts. If you're buying used in 2026, that number is the whole opportunity: the first owner ate the drop, and what's left is a car with most of its life — and usually years of factory battery warranty — remaining. Per Recurrent, 56% of used-EV inventory is now under $30,000, and under $20,000 the average EV is two years NEWER with 40,000 FEWER miles than the comparable gas car. The average used Model 3 runs about $26,700 — for a car that cost nearly fifty grand new.
It hiccuped — for about two months. September 2025 spiked 76% as everyone rushed the deadline, October fell 20% (the sub-$25,000 segment, where the credit applied, dropped by half), and then... it recovered. December was up 10% year-over-year, and 2026 has been setting records since. Meanwhile wholesale EV values actually FIRMED after the credit died — Manheim's EV index rose 6.1% while gas-car values stayed flat. Translation: the used-EV market now stands on its own economics, no subsidy required. Nobody selling you doom headlines updated their priors.
Remember the 2023-2024 EV leasing boom? Those cars are coming back — EV lease returns ramp hard through 2026-2028, heading toward roughly 50,000 EVs per month hitting the used market. More supply, more selection, three-year-old cars with factory warranty remaining. If you've been waiting for the moment to go electric on the cheap, the moment has a calendar range and you're standing in it.
How to play it: read our used-EV buying guide so the battery folklore doesn't scare you off, check what incentives your state still offers (several states rebate USED EVs — California's utilities pay up to $4,000), and before you sign anything, run the quote through the free Deal-Checker. The dealer knows this math too — the fees are where they make it back.
Sources: Cox Automotive EV Market Monitor (May 2026), Cox Automotive Q1 2026 EV sales, iSeeCars depreciation study, Recurrent used-EV buying report, Electrek - lease-return wave, Manheim index (Nov 2025)