Sales Data Shows Growing Demand for Used EVs in US, Europe

Depending on where in the world you’re looking, you might conclude that the state of electric vehicles has never been better or that the industry is in crisis. In the United States, the Trump administration nixing an EV tax credit has led many drivers to opt for a gasoline-powered or hybrid vehicle. That’s also prompted several automakers to cancel planned EVs for the U.S. market. EV sales in China and Europe, meanwhile, have been much more encouraging.

Two recent windows into the auto industry show an interesting wrinkle in EV sales trends. The first comes from Cox Automotive, who held a conference call earlier this week with insights into the first quarter of 2026. One data point wasn’t surprising: Sales of new electric vehicles in the United States were down by 28% compared to the same time last year.

Here’s where things get interesting. Sales of used electric vehicles were actually up by 12% compared to the first quarter of 2025. This isn’t the only case where used EV sales are on the rise. This week at Reuters, Gilles Guillaume and Marie Mannes reported that used EV sales were on the rise all over Europe. Analyst Terje Dahlgren called the situation “an electric car bonanza in the used market” in comments made to Reuters.

What is behind the rise in sales? Reuters’s reporting points to a fairly understandable factor. Because of the war in Iran, gas prices have gone up, and that’s led plenty of drivers to firmly decide that an electric vehicle is the wisest purchase.

Cox’s analysis also cited rising gas prices in the United States as one of the factors that could be driving up demand for used EVs. “With growing used EV supply, the market may smell opportunity,” the report states. It’s also worth mentioning that with improvements to battery technology, used EVs hitting the resale market have a longer range than their counterparts from just a few years ago. With a rising number of EV charging sites across the country, it isn’t surprising that some drivers would decide that the grass really is greener on the other side — both metaphorically and literally.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal.

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