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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.
For more discussion on technical aspects, especially on battery life times, see also: https://feddit.org/post/21684753
Well picked up our used EV about 2 years ago and it has been great for us. Saved a fortune in petrol.
To be clear, electric vehicles are not a silver bullet. In cities, bikes are often the better option. However, they do save carbon, and as such, they are one of the many puzzle pieces of the big puzzle that humanity needs to put together in order to survive as a civilization. There will be no single solution because it is such a devilish complex and widely ramified problem. For a matter of survival, we need to grasp every puzzle piece we can.
Also, emissions from cars are a surprisingly large proportion of individual emissions - much larger than many people are aware of. They are like 120 Grams per kilometer per person. If you drive a combustion car to a supermarket nearby to get a pizza, the CO2 cost of the travel there will likely be higher than that of the food.
Edit: typo
Depends if the pizza has dead animals on it or not
I am not so sure about that one. If your pizza has a 80 gram ham topping, and you drive four miles and back, I’d guess it is still the car use which weights heavier. Even if avoiding meat is better, of course.
Ultimately, one has to do the math. Carbon reduction is essentially a quantitative endeavour, and many outcomes when one actually measures and counts are counter-intuitive. For example, ship and truck transport of food over large distances can cost far less carbon than your car trip to the supermarket.
Not to mention that cars seem to be one of the largest sources of microplastic. Me personally am hoping for a lot more infrastructure built to suit walking, biking and taking the train. Imagine free public transit that properly covers the city, is free and goes frequently enough you dont even need to worry when you arrive at the stop. Its real convenient and has much much less emissions.
I wish I lived somewhere that I did not have to have a vehicle to get around, but if I have to have a car, I’d love to have an EV. I’m a poor motherfucker, and I cannot wait for the day when I can get a cheap used EV that’s at least comparable to shitty used ice vehicles I drive that leave me sitting on the side of the road
I’m definitely thinking about getting a nice used one in a few years when it’s time to retire my current car.
Try bicycle
I agree with the sentiment, but that’s not a feasible option where I live. Even behind the ridiculous distances between work, groceries, and home, there are no bike lanes or even sidewalks anywhere near those locations. It’s all curvy and quite busy back roads and mountains.
Its illegal to ride on sidewalks, and bike lanes are usually more dangerous to cyclists.
Wear a bright yellow construction jacket. Use a helmet mirror. Take the lane.
Yeah… I’m a big proponent. I grew up in a city where biking wasn’t standard, but could be done. I biked a lot back then. But when I say it is definitively unsafe here, I mean it. It would be a death sentence to try to bike here outside of the local state park
It’s funny how five years ago you couldn’t even get an EV because Of supply chain issues. People were paying well more than they were worth.
These wildly fluctuating prices should really be turning off consumers
What do you think about these price fluctuations?
I just heard news Chinas EV market imploding with too many unsold EVs. Wait a year and a new EV might drop to what are currently used prices.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2025/11/china-electric-cars-market/684887/
That’s what I’m hoping anyway. The world needs affordable cars, not a hype train cars.
I’d buy one of those Chinese Evs they’re like $15k USD lol.
Chinese EVs have massive tariffs in the west, so I wouldn’t count on this actually happening, unfortunately.
Are any of them not a privacy nightmare?
I doubt it, but they’re also not worse than any equivalent year gas car I’ve heard of
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