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If paying $200 for a single tank of petrol has you now looking at second-hand electric cars, you’re not alone.
Australian automotive auction house Pickles reported a 111 per cent uptick in searches for electric vehicles in the three weeks to March 21. Other online second-hand vehicle marketplaces, including Drive’s own NUSED, have reported the same trend.
The used electric market in Australia could be the hottest it’s ever been, and second-hand EVs were already the fastest growing powertrain type in Australia’s used car market – well before petrol and diesel prices shot past $2.50/litre and $3/litre respectively.
While used EV sales represented just 1.5 per cent of the Australian used car market in 2025 (in which 2,316,208 vehicles were sold), year-on-year growth of 64.3 per cent far outstripped all other powertrain types, according to data from the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA).
As of January 2026, there were 454,000 electric vehicles on Australian roads, with many more on-track to enter the second-hand market in the coming years.
In this article, if you’re considering a second-hand EV, we explore six things to keep in mind – for a future of potentially never having to think about petrol prices again.
1. EV depreciation means you could get a good deal
While depreciation is more of a problem for someone who bought brand new, it means there are bargains to be had for second-hand buyers, said EV expert and former President of the National Electric Vehicle Association Dr Chris Jones.
“What we are finding is where vehicle fleets – like company fleets and government – have been buying EVs, they’re hitting the second-hand market after about three years,” said Dr Jones.
“They’re offering people a near-new used EV with usually pretty low mileage, still under warranty, and substantially cheaper than what it cost brand new. So that’s opening up a lot more vehicles to a lot more people, and you can be assured that vehicle is not going to be worn out.”
A glance at Drive’s own second-hand vehicle Marketplace shows that you can save tens of thousands of dollars on EVs that could still be covered under factory battery warranties.
After five years, a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus with 91,344km is for sale for $30,950. Brand new, this car was $59,900.
After six years, a 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric Elite with 19,319km is $33,999. This car was $60,740 when new.
A 2023 Polestar 2 Standard Range FWD with 38,371km is $38,219 – it was $63,900 brand new only three years ago.
EV depreciation can be a mixed bag depending on the model, but with the technology still reasonably new, make sure you understand the value of any particular car before pulling any triggers. And be sure to cross-shop against other electric models.
“I think it'll be a bit topsy turvy for a while, and especially with crazy demand for EVs, given the fuel prices right now,” said Dr Jones. “Values are probably going to climb up.”
But longer-term, new models entering the Australian market for cheaper could put downward pressure on EV values, even on the value of cars that have already done a lot of depreciating.
“When you can buy a brand new, really good quality EV for $30,000, then second-hand prices can only go one direction,” he said.
2. Not all used EVs are equal when it comes to remaining warranty
Many newer electric vehicles will still be covered under factory warranties, which are transferable to new owners. As well as the standard factory warranty, most electric vehicles also come with an additional warranty for the EV battery.
For example, in Australia, Teslas now come with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty (for “normal” use) with the battery and drive unit covered for eight years and up to 192,000km (depending on the model).
In 2020, the Tesla general warranty was four years or 80,000km, with the powertrain covered for eight years or 160,000km. That means if you purchased a 2020 Tesla Model 3 today, the battery and drive unit are covered until 2028, with the warranty directly transferred to any second-hand buyer.
It’s the same story with all other EV manufacturers. Electric MGs sold on or before 31 July 2024 come with a seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. Those sold after that date come with a 10-year/250,000km warranty, meaning that even a late 2024 MG4 hatchback will be covered by MG’s factory warranty until 2034.
It’s always worth reading the fine print of a new vehicle warranty, however. The MG warranty is actually seven years with unlimited kilometres, but only extends to 10 years/250,000km if you continue to service your second-hand EV at an authorised MG dealer.
We’ve pulled together a full list of the longest electric car battery warranties in this article here, all of which will apply to newer second-hand EVs. However, again, with many longer warranties being introduced only in the last handful of years, it pays to check what warranty applied to any used EVs you’re considering at the date they were sold.
3. What to ask someone privately selling their EV
If you’re looking at used EVs from a private seller, ask questions about the remaining range, said Dr Jones.
“[Ask] what kind of a range and what kind of efficiency do you get? Hopefully they're observant enough to know roughly how many kWh/100km they've been getting,” he said.
If the car you’re looking at has the common nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion battery, ask the seller if they regularly charge to 80 per cent as a maximum, or 100 per cent. Charging only to 80 per cent may help extend the life of NMC batteries.
Ask the seller how they normally recharge the car. Regular DC fast-charging can degrade an EV’s battery faster if the car doesn’t have an active thermal management system. Most newer EVs have this system, which can reduce the impact of regular fast-charging on battery degradation.
Ask the seller how long it takes the car to recharge, and if possible, take the car to a DC fast-charger and check for yourself.
4. Why it pays to get an EV battery health check
EV batteries are proving far more resilient than anyone expected. Auction house Pickles, which trades thousands of cars each year, found that of 250 examples examined, the average Australian used EV can be expected to retain 90.1 per cent of its battery capacity after 120,000km of driving.
Other international studies have come to similar findings.
“Basically, the manufacturers have put so much research and development into batteries so that they don't need replacing, because that was one of the earliest concerns that consumers were raising with EV makers,” said Dr Jones.
Tesla effectively guarantees that after eight years, the battery will have retained 70 per cent of its original capacity. According to Tesla’s own data, its popular Model 3 and Model Y showed an average battery degradation of 15 per cent after 321,000km.
It’s still wise to get an independent EV battery health check for any second-hand EVs you are considering, said Dr Jones.
“As an indicator of state of health and as basically instilling confidence into the buyer, they're pretty valuable,” he said. An independent EV battery health check can take as little as five minutes, costs around $250, and some mobile providers can come to you.
5. Will the battery need replacing in a second-hand EV?
A well-to-do uncle or friend may warn you that buying a used EV will mean having to replace the entire battery within months, at a cost of $20,000 or more. This is a common second-hand EV myth, said Dr Jones.
“That’s total horse-s**t,” he said. “We hear that all the time … early Nissan Leafs did have crap batteries, and they did wear out quickly [but] Nissan is literally the only manufacturer that made that mistake. Every other manufacturer has batteries that are lasting pretty much as expected … with the exception of Nissan EVs, the battery is going to outlast the car. The car will fall apart around the battery.”
Dr Jones said that electric motors are also proving robust in the long term. “They're pretty much bulletproof,” he said. “They've got like, one moving part, two bearings, that's it. Short of a catastrophic electronic failure, the motors don't break.”
When looking at a used EV, the components most likely to wear out are tyres, wheel bearings, bushes, ball joints, steering and brakes. “The electric motor also still has a differential and a transaxle, which will have gear oil in it that needs to be replaced every 100,000km or so,” said Dr Jones.
6. All the same checks for a second-hand car still apply to EVs
If you’re buying a second-hand car, consider getting the car looked over by a trusted mechanic or member organisation like the NRMA, RACV or RACQ. And make sure you take it for a test drive.
Search the Australian Government’s Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) to check if the vehicle has any finance owing on it, is recorded as stolen or has been written off. A search costs just $2, and you will need the car’s VIN or chassis number.
But once you’ve checked that, and taken into account all the other things above, buying a second-hand electric car is a much less risky bet than many people think, said Jones.
“Anyone who can afford to buy an EV and doesn’t has got rocks in their head,” he said. “There is the one percent of people in Australia for whom an EV won’t meet their needs but most Australian households are two- or even three-car households. There’s no excuse for not replacing at least one of those vehicles with an EV.”
With petrol and diesel prices currently only going in one direction, there’ll be plenty of Australians who need no encouragement.
Australia’s top-selling, second-hand EVs in 2025
Did you buy a second-hand EV? What was your experience and what did you learn? Let us know in the comments below.
Dylan Campbell has been road-testing and writing about cars and the new-car industry since 2006. An independent motoring expert based in Melbourne, Dylan is a former Editor of Wheels Magazine, MOTOR Magazine and the TopGear Australia website.
