Should I Buy A Second Hand Electric Car?

Used electric cars are becoming a viable alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles. There’s more choice than ever, and demand for second hand electric cars is growing, with sales up 117 per cent year-on-year and almost 10 per cent of inquiries for cars under five years old on Auto Trader being for electric.
But is a second hand electric car right for you? If it’s the first time you’ve looked at an electric car, there’ll be a laundry list of questions you’ve never have asked before: how am I going to charge it? Will it get me from A to B each time? How am I going to afford it? And if you’re looking at a second hand electric car, you’ll have a few more questions: is the battery going to need replacing? Does the charging cable work? How do I test drive it? We’ll help you answer those questions, and point you in the direction of the best second hand electric cars on the market today, so you can shop in confidence. Sound good? Let’s go.

There are plenty of advantages to driving an electric car: it can be cheap to charge, efficient to drive and better for air quality. A second hand electric car can be an affordable way to make the switch from an old petrol or diesel. But they can be expensive, so will you get the most out of it?
There are a few questions to ask, chief among them is how many miles you drive. The average UK car journey is around eight and half miles, so if you fall into this bracket then the range you get from the majority of electric cars will be enough. If you take longer journeys more frequently, you’ll have to find a car with enough range. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are useful for short journeys, running on electric power and may work as temporary solution on the way to fully electric vehicles. But if you’re ready to make the switch, now’s a great time to be buying an electric car.

Used electric cars tend to be much cheaper than brand-new. Older electric cars won’t have comparable tech or range, but you can now pick up a decent electric car under five years old for a good price.
There are financial advantages to running an electric car too: • You won’t have to pay any VED until 2025 • If you’ve got a home charger, you can • You can drive through Clean Air Zones for free • You can save on servicing and maintenance

There are downsides, of course.
The public charging network is still developing, look at charging points in your area and work out whether they’d suit your drives. Charging an electric car still takes a fair bit of time, especially for cars with bigger batteries. Older batteries often require more frequent charges too, so you might spend a fait bit of time charging unless you can trickle charge overnight. Some of the oldest electric cars (like the first Nissan Leaf and Lexus UX300e) use the CHAdeMO charging port, which isn’t used much anymore so may be harder to find on the public network as time goes on. If you can get a home charging point installed, look at your options as this can be one of the easiest and most affordable ways to fuel a car, and you can leave it to charge while you’re in (or even overnight). The other running costs for an electric car can add up too. Insurance is often a bit higher (if you’re working on your budget, you can get a free insurance quote here). While electric cars are cheaper to service, they can be more expensive to fix should something go wrong.

Reliability will depend on the make and the condition of the car, though the car’s reliability score will give you a guide.
Many manufacturers, including Tesla and Nissan, offer a guarantee that their batteries will last eight years or 100,000 miles. If the warranty is transferrable after sale, there’s extra peace of mind there. We’d also recommend getting a vehicle history check to confirm specifications (including the car’s make, model and battery capacity), and other key information including the number of previous owners and the car’s recorded mileage.

One of the main things you’ll need to look at is the used car’s battery.
There’s a lot of anxiety about battery life, but plenty of studies have found electric batteries last a long time. Geotab’s study of 6,000 electric vehicles, running millions of miles across the fleet, found that batteries only degraded by about one or two per cent per year on average. This would mean an electric car would still have 94 per cent of its battery capacity at the end of a three-year lease, and a ten-year-old electric car would have only degraded by 10 per cent. And Consumer Reports estimate the average electric car’s battery pack to have a lifespan of around 200,000 miles, so a sensible driver should get plenty of years out of a battery.

If you can, ask about the car’s charging history.
Generally, batteries slowly degrade as they’re repeatedly topped up and charged. You’ll get years of use out of them, and most modern lithium-ion batteries (the ones used in most electric cars) are expected the last the lifetime of the car itself. In fact, Tesla’s 2021 Impact Report stated their batteries are designed to outlast the vehicle. Underpinning all that, most brands offer an eight-year warranty on the battery alone. So, even if you do face issues, you’ll be covered in most instances.

There are several ways to test electric car battery health, including:
• battery diagnostics on a manufacturer-specific app (e.g. Nissan Leaf’s Leaf Spy) • estimating battery duration on a test drive, by seeing how much the battery level drops on your drive • using a battery testing kit Learn more about battery health checks here.

There are more options on the used electric car market than ever. Some of the most popular brands on Auto Trader include:
• Volkswagen • Nissan • BMW • MG • Tesla • Renault • Hyundai

You can find used electric cars on Auto Trader for less than £5,000. You probably won’t be getting the best range or tech for that money, but it could make a decent run around or second car if you’re looking to try electric out for size.
You can search by price on Auto Trader to find something in your budget. At the end of 2023, 25 per cent of used electric cars on Auto Trader were available for under £20,000. There’s still a price gap compared to petrol and diesel cars, but many used electric cars are priced below their petrol or diesel equivalents, with used electric cars selling faster than other fuel types in late 2023 and three to five year old electric cars selling fastest on our site.

Much like a second hand petrol or diesel, the best used electric car is the one that gives you the best value for money and best fits your driving style.
Finding the best one can take time, but that’s what we’re here for! Start with a list what you want and need from your car: your average mileage, your proximity to charging points, your daily drives. Add in your budget, then find the car that ticks the most boxes. You can use our expert reviews to see how the cars tested on the road, and see what they’re like to live with in our long-term reviews. Add your must-haves to search (a sunroof, sat nav or all-wheel drive) so you’re seeing the cars you want. You can save a search too, and we’ll let you know when a car you matching your criteria like appears on site. You can learn more about electric cars, the latest releases, the charging infrastructure and the latest news in our electric hub.

Checking a second hand electric car is similar to a second hand petrol or diesel – you’ll need to check:
• The V5C registration and service history • Condition of the bodywork, brakes and wheels • The interior, tech and fittings – especially the electrical equipment • The condition of any cables and leads, and of the charging socket Take a test drive and listen for any unusual noises or rattles. Electric cars are quieter than petrol or diesel, so question anything that seems unusual. Here’s our guide to test driving an electric car.

Running a used electric car involves all the usual obligations and costs, including MOT, servicing, insurance, breakdown cover and the rest. We’ll cover that in details at another time, but to help you budget before you buy, here are the top things you need to know:

Not yet. Electric car owners currently pay nothing for car tax, but that’ll change from 1 April 2025. On that date, electric car owners will be required to pay Band B VED – which (under 2023-2024 tax rates) is an annual cost of £10 in the first year and £180 in subsequent years.
This will be backdated, so used electric cars will have to pay tax too.

Yes, all cars aged three and over (including electric cars) need an annual MOT.
A standard electric vehicle MOT will check that: • Steering, tyres, wheel and suspension all work correctly • Brake pads and discs are in good condition • Windscreens aren’t compromised by chips or cracks • Lights, wipers and other features all work • Rust hasn’t set in on any structural areas or mounting points for suspension, seatbelts or similar The only difference is that electric vehicle MOTs don’t need an emissions test.