- As new electric car sales in the UK have grown year-on-year, this trend has also been followed by the number of EVs hitting the country’s used car market.
- While barely run-in used electric cars under five years old are representing remarkable value for money, the first mainstream generation of EVs can now be regularly picked up for under £5,000 – making electric car ownership accessible for an even wider cohort of drivers.
- Recent price drops have now seen even premium EVs such as the BMW i3 make their way under the £5,000 mark.
UK drivers can now go electric for under £5,000
UK online automotive marketplace, Auto Trader, currently shows 235 used electric cars available at £5,000 and below. The sub-£5,000 category is largely made up by two key models – the first generation Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, with the duo accounting for 208 of the 235 vehicles listed on Auto Trader’s site at £5,000 or under. That hasn’t stopped more premium options from finding themselves in the mix however, as prices continue to drop – with the BMW i3 now also found. This particular example is £4,995, with 108,000 miles on the clock. Expect to see more i3s start dropping under this price throughout 2025, however.
Plus, with an increasing number of car dealers now utilising battery testing services such as Generational, judging the reliability of an older or high mileage EV has become much easier for consumers. Even this £3,495 Nissan Leaf, with over 92,000 miles on the odometer, is still showing a battery state of health of 70% – enough, the dealer claims, to give it a real world battery range of 80 miles. As a zero-emission city runaround, something like this offers remarkable value.
2025 is primed to be the busiest year yet for the used electric car market. This month, used EVs have sold quicker than used petrol models, according to Auto Trader – with used EVs selling in an average of 29 days. Used electric car sales were already up 57.4% in 2024 compared to 2023, and with more EVs set to reach the end of their initial personal/business leases this year, we can expect that used car surge to continue.
