Every month there's a headline about electric-vehicle sales. Those figures describe the new-car market, which is a different place from the one most people buy in. A car sold new in 2022 arrives in the used market around 2025 — so the used electric wave lags the news by about three years.
I sorted our listings by model year to see where it currently is.
| Model year | Listings | Electric | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14,897 | 1.4% | |
| 2019 | 12,228 | 1.5% | |
| 2022 | 7,244 | 4.5% | |
| 2023 | 7,027 | 4.6% | |
| 2024 | 5,806 | 4.6% |
Nine times the share in seven model years. And note the crossover: hybrids led until 2022, then electric overtook them.
What a 6% share actually feels like
It means that if you're shopping a three-year-old car and looking at twenty listings, roughly one of them is electric. Enough that you'll encounter them; not enough that the market has settled.
That in-between state is exactly where the pricing gets strange. Not enough comparable sales to anchor values, so identical cars sit at wildly different asking prices — one seller pricing off the original sticker, another off what the neighbour got.
The hybrid line is the quiet story
Hybrids sat at 1.4–1.5% for years, then jumped to 4.6% and stopped. That plateau isn't weak demand — it's that manufacturers who might have built more hybrids went straight to electric instead.
Which arguably leaves the best-value corner of the used market underpopulated. A used hybrid asks around $22,270 against $26,712 for a used electric in our listings, needs no home charging installation, and sidesteps the entire battery-health question that hangs over a used EV.
Three things to check that don't apply to a petrol car
Battery health, not original range. A five-year-old EV rated at 310 miles when new might hold 88% of capacity — a 273-mile car today, and less again on a motorway, where EVs lose 11% of their range. Ask for a battery health report; the sticker figure is history.
Where you'll charge it. This decides whether ownership is effortless or irritating more than any spec does. A home 240-volt supply takes about ten hours — fine overnight, impossible if you park on the street.
What's open on that specific car. Battery and charging-system recalls are among the most serious campaigns issued, and they're precisely the letters a second owner never receives. A free VIN check surfaces them.
And the number everyone quotes wrong
Used EVs average $26,712 in our listings against $13,958 for petrol cars — which looks like a crushing premium until you notice the electric ones are far newer. We filtered for age and mileage in used EVs cost $4,000 more, except they don't, and most of the gap evaporated.
The running-cost side is more clear-cut: $852 a year in electricity against $2,611 in petrol, before you touch purchase price or depreciation.
Frequently asked questions
What share of used cars are electric?
About 6% of 2023 model-year listings, up from 0.7% of 2016 cars. Hybrids sit at 4.6% and were overtaken by electric vehicles around 2023.
Why does the used EV market lag the news?
Because a car sold new arrives in the used market roughly three years later. Monthly EV sales headlines describe the new-car market; the used wave follows behind.
Should I consider a used hybrid instead?
It's the underpopulated corner of the market. Used hybrids average around $22,270 against $26,712 for electric, need no charger installation, and avoid the battery-health uncertainty of a used EV.
What should I check on a used electric car?
Battery health rather than the original range figure, whether you can charge at home, and any open battery or charging-system recalls — those are serious campaigns that rarely reach a second owner.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
Keep reading
All articles →
A Plug-In Hybrid Costs $1,118 More a Year to Run Than an EV
The plug-in hybrid is treated as a compromise nobody really wants. Put the running costs side by side and it lands much closer to the electric car than to the petrol one — while sidestepping the two things that make EV ownership awkward.
A Lamborghini Emits More Than Two Volvos
Everyone knows a supercar drinks fuel. Fewer people have seen the actual spread: across every model rated since 2020, the dirtiest brand puts out 2.2 times the CO₂ of the cleanest, and scores a 1.5 out of 10 on smog while Volvo scores 6.2.
Home Charging Still Takes 10 Hours. It Did in 2023 Too.
Every launch promises quicker charging, and every year the fast-charger figures do improve. Meanwhile the number that actually governs owning one — how long it takes on the socket in your garage — hasn't moved since 2023.