Explosion of used EV sales signifies “strong appetite”, says UK motor industry

Sales of used electric cars have recently exploded by over 50 per cent, with industry officials pointing to a “strong appetite” for cheap EVs, but warning that such a positive trajectory won’t continue without “meaningful fiscal incentives to stimulate consumer demand”.

Figures from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that over the course of last year, more than 188,000 used EVs were bought and sold, marking a significant 57.4 per cent increase year-on-year compared with 2023.

As a result, electric cars now make up around 2.5 per cent of all used car sales; that might not seem like a lot, but if you consider the fact that EVs only really exploded in popularity in the last few years and thus very few are on the second-hand market compared with petrol and diesel cars, then these figures instead look quite promising in terms of the electrification of British roads.

This surge in sales comes as part of a 25-month growth in the number of used car transactions, with 7,643,180 vehicles changing hands in 2024 – a 5.5 per cent uplift over the previous year. Sales of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars saw similar, if not quite as substantial, spikes in sales, rising 39 per cent and 32 per cent respectively.

The SMMT’s chairman, Mike Hawes, said the figures were “good news for fleet renewal and for consumers benefitting from the greater choice filtering through from the new market. Record sales of second-hand EVs also demonstrates strong appetite for these cutting-edge cars at lower price points.”

However, Hawes was keen to point out that “ensuring ongoing growth means maintaining that affordability, along with supply, which requires meaningful fiscal incentives to stimulate consumer demand”.

Cash incentives, like the now-discontinued EV grant, and a cut in VED for all EVs (including used ones) are the main measures the SMMT is calling for. However, Professor of Business and Sustainability at Cardiff University, Peter Wells, told Auto Express, that such concepts are “very unlikely in the current climate”.

Wells explained that the latest raft of used EV sales are down to “a cohort of cars coming off lease in the three to five-year-old range” and that increasing consumer confidence will help steer buyers towards electric cars, alongside low emissions zones in cities and “increasing the density, reliability, and ease of use of charge point networks in the more challenging locations where households are unable to charge at home”. 

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