Thinking About Buying A Used Electric Vehicle?

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If you decide to purchase a used electric vehicle by the end of this month, you’ll still be eligible for a $4000 federal tax incentive. It’s a time-limited push to buy, though, so your decision about which used electric vehicle is best will grow more intense — other competing used electric vehicle consumers will be lining up, too.

With so much anti-renewable energy fervor permeating the US these days, it’s going to be difficult to visit a car dealership that has adequately trained their sales staff in the ins and outs of EVs. That means you’re going to have to lead your own Q-and-A sessions if you visit in person. Even if you choose to search online car sites for a righteous deal, you’ll still need to assess for yourself which vehicles offer the features that meet your lifestyle.

So let’s do a little primer here about the key features you should optimally seek in your used electric vehicle.

Battery: It is good to zoom in on the battery as a key focus area as you’re reviewing used electric vehicle options. When I purchased my used 2017 Chevy Bolt over three summers ago, GM had just recalled that generation of Bolts and replaced their batteries. That meant I had purchased a four-year-old EV with a brand new battery! It was quite the coup. You, too, will want to know the life of the battery of any used electric vehicle you’re considering.

And it’s not just the cost of replacement that makes a battery an important focus area: the older the battery is in an EV, the less oomph it has.  Make sure the used electric vehicle’s battery warranty transfers to you by finding the car’s VIN number and calling the manufacturer. Ask if the battery warranty transfers to a new owner and if it is, indeed, still valid. In the US, warranties typically apply for eight years or 100,000 miles.

Range: Most EV drivers charge only to 80% as a way to protect battery life. So if the manufacturer says that your used electric vehicle gets 250 miles, take into account that you’ll generally have 200 miles, and you won’t want to use up all those miles between charging stops. It’s stressful to see red warning lights coming on somewhere under 20 miles of available remaining range.

The range of your used electric vehicle will vary depending on a series of factors, including:

• how fast you drive — my Bolt loves back roads at 45 mph
• if you use air conditioning — wear a hat, open the windows

• how often you turn on the heat — opt for the seat heaters first to see if that warms you up enough
• how quickly you accelerate — slow and steady wins the range race

It’s also important to note that the dilemma about 300-mile range being a deal breaker is mythologized and can be easily refuted. Greater energy density has introduced smaller, lighter, less resource-intensive battery packs. A not-well-known fact about range that needs to be emphasized: 95% of car trips are 30 miles or shorter. That driving distance reality, however, doesn’t seem to sink in to most US drivers. We don’t need to charge every time we take out the EV, to say it in another way.

Regenerative braking: For optimum range, always choose an eco mode that maximizes regenerative braking. As our CleanTechnica colleague Jake Richardson describes, by recapturing energy from the vehicle’s momentum as the EV slows, regenerative braking stores that energy for future use. It also reduces wear on the brake pads and rotors, which saves money. It also lessens one of the worst forms of air pollution: particulate matter in the form of brake dust.

An interesting note is that the reduction in brake usage due to regenerative braking was so significant on the Chevy Volt that GM ended up installing rust-resistant brake rotors.

Charging connector: Check out the charging connector as you look at the used EV up-front-and-personal. The once-popular CHAdeMO connector has become a thing of the past, largely overshadowed by the CSS (Combined Charging System). The premier charging connector is the NACS (North American Charging Standard Connector), a Tesla product that has now become available on many other manufacturers’ EVs. (Note: It’s less likely that a really affordable used electric vehicle is going to have the NACS built in — it’s too new.)

When I found the Bolt online and visited the local dealership where it was for sale, I learned that there was no fast charging with my original vehicle choice. I switched to an electric blue Bolt with a fast charging connector. It has made all the difference on long road trips, even with its maximum 55 kW charging speed. PS. Did you know that some EVs charge much faster than others?

Mileage: A used electric vehicle will likely have fewer miles on it than a comparable year’s gas-powered vehicle. That’s because EV drivers often stick to shorter routes or think of an EV as a second vehicle. And there’s another advantage to an EV, even if it has higher miles than you might want — EVs don’t need much maintenance. There’s no routine oil change or engine parts that wear out due to friction. Your EV miles go a lot farther than you might first realize.

Final Thoughts About Purchasing A Used EV

When October rolls around, the $4,000 federal tax credit for a used electric vehicle won’t be available, thanks to the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Abysmal Bill. Plan to take extra time at the dealership to self-advocate for the tax incentive, even if the salesperson feigns ignorance. Yes, it’s difficult to get sales people to break free from a comfortable internal combustion engine car culture. High tech, clean energy mobility is ready for us now, and can be very appealing to new EV drivers.

That means timing is all. If you’re interested in seeing the actual thought process I went through when deciding to buy my 2017 Chevy Bolt, read here. It was definitely a learning experience, but it’s a decision I’ve felt good about since.

Just so you have all the available facts on hand, here are the specs for purchasing a used electric vehicle, via the IRS.

Beginning January 1, 2023, if you buy a qualified used electric vehicle (EV) or fuel cell vehicle (FCV) from a licensed dealer for $25,000 or less, you may be eligible for a used clean vehicle tax credit. The credit equals 30% of the sale price up to a maximum credit of $4,000. If you do not transfer the credit, it is nonrefundable when you file your taxes, so you can’t get back more on the credit than you owe in taxes. You can’t apply any excess credit to future tax years.

At the time of sale, a seller must give you information about your vehicle’s qualifications. Sellers must also register online and report the same information to the IRS. If they don’t, your vehicle won’t be eligible for the credit.Purchases made before 2023 don’t qualify.

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