What is the market like for second-hand EVS right now, and have you ever considered buying one?
November 11, 2025
If you've thought of buying one, how did you assess the battery health? If you thought of buying a new one, was depreciation a significant consideration? Or didn't that matter, because of the finance deal?
7 comments
I’d love a ev, I only do journeys in my car of less than 25 miles at a time and never more than 50 in a day but like you have brought up, how do you assess battery health
Battery health can generally be checked via an OBD dongle.
BUT, unless you’re buying a very early model like the LEAF, a car that has old battery chemistry and no active thermal management for the pack, degradation of the battery isn’t really a concern. Batteries now are so good they’ll degrade very slowly and generally outlive the car they are placed inside of.
I’ve got two EVs. One is a LEAF that’s over a decade old now. I checked closely for battery health. Found one nice and cheap, and that only had 14% degradation from 80k miles when buying. That was a good buy.
My other EV is a Hyundai Ioniq. Didn’t even bother checking the health of that one, having seen them used as taxis, with 200k+ miles on them, constantly being rapid charged, and still showing close to 100% health. I also work with a fleet of rental EVs from various brands and most of these batteries are close to perfect too.
Buying new doesn’t make sense given the depreciation especially in the EV world. You can get really good examples of EVs really cheap by buying used. Leasing can be a good value for new, but paying cash or even financing one if you’re intending to keep it after is rarely cost effective.
I’m looking at used Tesla’s right now, primarily the ones with free supercharging. I don’t mind the idea of charging every couple of hundred miles so the only thing putting me off is the price of insurance.
Isn’t the battery leased sometimes?
With new battery tech (solid state) on the horizon, I wonder how much used prices, of existing models, will be impacted ? Anyone got insight or views ?
I wouldn’t purchase one. Only lease one.
Got a Hyundai Kona 22 luxury trim with 18k miles on the clock a couple of months ago. Paying 230 quid a month and our fuel bill has gone from 200 a month to just less than 30 quid. Note that’s with a charger at home on octopus intelligent go. Been a game changer for us and it’s so good to drive. Automatic and instant response it’s a pleasure to drive. Would not go back to an ice car.
7 comments
I’d love a ev, I only do journeys in my car of less than 25 miles at a time and never more than 50 in a day but like you have brought up, how do you assess battery health
Battery health can generally be checked via an OBD dongle.
BUT, unless you’re buying a very early model like the LEAF, a car that has old battery chemistry and no active thermal management for the pack, degradation of the battery isn’t really a concern. Batteries now are so good they’ll degrade very slowly and generally outlive the car they are placed inside of.
I’ve got two EVs. One is a LEAF that’s over a decade old now. I checked closely for battery health. Found one nice and cheap, and that only had 14% degradation from 80k miles when buying. That was a good buy.
My other EV is a Hyundai Ioniq. Didn’t even bother checking the health of that one, having seen them used as taxis, with 200k+ miles on them, constantly being rapid charged, and still showing close to 100% health. I also work with a fleet of rental EVs from various brands and most of these batteries are close to perfect too.
Buying new doesn’t make sense given the depreciation especially in the EV world. You can get really good examples of EVs really cheap by buying used. Leasing can be a good value for new, but paying cash or even financing one if you’re intending to keep it after is rarely cost effective.
I’m looking at used Tesla’s right now, primarily the ones with free supercharging. I don’t mind the idea of charging every couple of hundred miles so the only thing putting me off is the price of insurance.
Isn’t the battery leased sometimes?
With new battery tech (solid state) on the horizon, I wonder how much used prices, of existing models, will be impacted ? Anyone got insight or views ?
I wouldn’t purchase one. Only lease one.
Got a Hyundai Kona 22 luxury trim with 18k miles on the clock a couple of months ago. Paying 230 quid a month and our fuel bill has gone from 200 a month to just less than 30 quid. Note that’s with a charger at home on octopus intelligent go. Been a game changer for us and it’s so good to drive. Automatic and instant response it’s a pleasure to drive. Would not go back to an ice car.