Cheap used EVs have doubled, and almost half have barely been used

Most people shopping for a cheap electric car assume a $30,000 EV is a used one that’s already lost a chunk of its value. But that’s not always the case. EVs under $35,000 now account for a quarter of used EV sales, double the share of a year ago. And almost half are dealer demos: cars with just a few hundred kilometres on the clock that have never had a private owner. That changes what you can expect from a $30,000 EV, whether you’re buying or selling.

Cheap used EVs have doubled their share in a year

At the cheaper end of the market, EVs under $35,000 accounted for 26% of used electric cars sold in September, up from 13% a year earlier. That’s 1,288 cars in a month, compared with 355 in September last year. It’s the part of the market where buyers are finding their first EV, a second car or a runabout.

We count a car as sold when its listing comes down, meaning it has found a buyer or been taken off sale, rather than remaining listed. The overall used EV market grew by around three-quarters over the same year, but the under-$35,000 segment grew faster than the rest.

Almost half of them are dealer demos, not second-hand cars

Look at who’s selling these cheaper EVs and the picture changes. Dealer demos are cars that have been registered by a dealer and driven for a short time, often just a few hundred kilometres, before being sold at a discount to the new-car price, usually with most of their new-car warranty intact. Dealers register demos to get them on the road and into the showroom, which is why they can appear in used-car listings just weeks later, with barely any kilometres on the clock.

In September, 580 of the 1,288 EVs sold under $35,000 were demos, almost half. A year earlier it was 50 of 355, about one in seven. They're mostly new Chinese models. Nearly 300 of September's cheap demos were MG4s, and more than 100 were Geely EX2s.

Even when you count only EVs that have had a private owner, cheaper cars have still grown their share, just more gradually. Among second-hand EVs, the under-$35,000 share rose from 27% to 33%. Dealer demos account for the bigger shift, jumping from 50 a year ago to 580 now.

The genuinely second-hand ones are getting cheaper too

Prices for second-hand EVs have fallen too. In September, the same used EV from a brand other than Tesla was worth 9.8% less than a year earlier, a drop of around $3,900 on a typical car. By comparison, used-car prices overall fell 6.5% over the same period, on the same basis.

These figures compare advertised asking prices for cars with the same make, model, age and kilometres, a year apart. They include only cars that have had a previous owner, showing how the value of the same type of car has changed over time, rather than demos pulling the average down. Dealer demos are excluded because they haven't had a previous owner.

Teslas held up better, down 4.0%, or about $1,600 on a typical $39,900 car.

To put that in perspective, for every $1,000 your EV was worth last September, a Tesla lost about $40 in value over the year, compared with $98 for an EV from another brand.

But the year's decline is relatively small compared with the drop from the original new-car price. A used Tesla Model 3 was selling for about 54% of its original new-car price.

Petrol decides how fast the cheap ones go

Cheaper EVs tend to move faster when petrol prices rise, and March 2026 was a case in point. As unleaded reached around $2.50 a litre, twice as many used EVs sold as in February, with cheaper models moving particularly quickly. The Australian Automotive Dealer Association recorded the same surge, while the number of EVs under $35,000 listed for sale nearly halved in a month.

The share of used EV sales under $35,000 dipped through April and May before climbing back to a quarter in September. The March surge appears to have brought forward purchases from buyers who might otherwise have waited, and it took several months for the cheaper end of the market to regain its share. If petrol prices spike again, March suggests that EVs under $35,000 could be among the first to see demand pick up.

What this means if you're buying or selling now

If you're buying an EV for around $30,000, you could be looking at two very different cars for the same price. A dealer demo might have just 15km on the clock and most of its new-car warranty intact, while a privately sold EV at the same price might have around 65,000km. Before comparing prices, check the build date, kilometres and remaining warranty to understand what you're getting for your money.

If you're selling a Tesla, your car has held its value better than other EVs. If you're selling another EV privately, buyers are likely to see near-new dealer demos listed at a similar price to yours. Their asking price is what buyers compare against yours, regardless of what you originally paid. And with most of their new-car warranty intact, demos can be tough competition.

Peter Willis, Carma's Director of Buying, puts it this way: "At around $30,000, you're looking at two very different EVs. One might be a demo with a couple of hundred kilometres on it and most of its factory warranty intact. The other might be three years old and have done the school run every day. If you're selling the second one privately, check what those demos are listed for, because that's what buyers are comparing your car with."

In the market for a used EV Every car Carma sells, demo or not, is inspected and reconditioned through a process verified by the NRMA, with 7-day returns and a 3-month warranty behind it. Selling instead? Get an online valuation and see what your EV is worth against today's market.