The average price of the most popular used electric vehicles has dropped by up to $5,000 compared to last year, according to retailer CarMax.
Sales data from September 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024, showed that the top electric vehicles at CarMax were the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, and Nissan Leaf. They were also the best-selling in a previous CarMax report published in 2023, but since then, the average prices of all three have declined. The current report showed average prices of $34,045 for the Model 3, $43,896 for the Model Y, and $18,465 for the Leaf.
Overall, among the top-selling list, average prices are $3,000 to $5,000 less than last year, according to CarMax.
This time, there were also fewer luxury brand electric vehicles among the top 10 best sellers, with only four luxury models represented compared to six before. That seems to have helped bring down the price ceiling for used electric vehicles.
Those prices ranged from $22,000 to $72,000 last year, but while the lower end remains the same, the upper end was $46,000 this time. CarMax attributes this in part to the removal of the Tesla Model X from the list and lower average prices of the Model S, which ranks ninth on this year’s list. The only non-Tesla luxury car that made it to the top 10 this year was the Audi e-tron, ranking sixth.
And it’s not that interest in electric vehicles is waning. The report also showed a steady increase in monthly search volume on the CarMax website for electric models. Search volume for electric vehicles increased by 177% from January 2021 to February 2024, according to the report.
The prices of new and used electric vehicles skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021, and by mid-2022, some were warning they might soon collapse without more affordable options.
This remains a market dynamic entirely different from just two years ago. About 16 months ago, in October 2022, several analysts said prices had peaked, and the market had begun to stabilize. About six months after that, the Model 3 began plummeting in its used values, and the rest of the Tesla lineup and the electric vehicle market followed suit a few months later.
While prices are quite different, some of the trading patterns CarMax observed in last year’s report have continued. The Honda Civic and Toyota Tacoma were again the most popular trade-ins for purchasing a Model 3, for example.
