Sales of used electric vehicles are surging in the US as models bought during a post-pandemic boom flood back on to the market, offering prospective buyers relief from a sharp rise in petrol prices. First-quarter used EV sales rose 12 per cent compared with the same period last year and 17 per cent on the previous quarter, according to Cox Automotive estimates. Sales of new EVs in the first quarter are estimated to have slumped by 28 per cent year on year following the Trump administration's withdrawal in 2025 of a $7,500 consumer tax credit.

Analysts attribute the surge to a glut of hundreds of thousands of cheap pre-owned EVs that were purchased on leases in the early 2020s and which are now returning to market as those leases expire. According to credit bureau Experian, EVs will account for 15 per cent of all off-lease vehicles at the end of this year, up from 7.7 per cent in the first quarter. The supply glut helped drive the average price of a used EV down by 8.5 per cent between February 2025 and February 2026, according to Cox, closing the average price gap between used EVs and used petrol-powered vehicles from $4,923 to $1,334.

Barclays analyst Dan Levy noted that following the Biden administration's introduction of the $7,500 credit in 2022, buyers accessed new electric models on leases with lower monthly payments than for less expensive combustion-engine models. The lease deals powered a surge in EV purchases, with their share of the overall US auto market doubling to 5.2 per cent between 2021 and 2022 and rising to 7.7 per cent in 2024, according to Edmunds, before falling back to around 6.5 per cent this year.