Australia’s second-hand EV market has stopped being a curiosity. On October 25, 2026, The Driven reported that Carsales.com.au now carries more than 11,000 battery-electric vehicle (BEV) listings, and about 6,500 of them are marked used or demo. A year or two ago, shoppers hunting for a pre-owned electric car faced a thin, patchy shelf. Today the shelf has real depth.
The headline number for the second-hand EV market is small in relative terms. Carsales lists more than 160,000 used and demo vehicles overall, and BEVs make up roughly 4% of that pool. Yet the direction matters more than the share. Supply is building, prices are shifting, and the buyers who once dismissed used EVs as a gamble now have choice, comparison data and dealer competition.
This analysis breaks down what the figures confirm, what they leave open, and where the market could head next. Australia is not alone in this shift. Our coverage of Tesla’s 78.6% September jump in EU registrations shows how fast the new-car side is moving across other regions, and every new EV sold today becomes a used EV tomorrow.
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What The Driven Reported on October 25
The Driven’s story, headlined “Australia’s second-hand EV market is starting to hit its straps,” focuses on battery-electric vehicles and uses Carsales.com.au as its measuring stick. Carsales is a major car classifieds platform, so its inventory works as a rough proxy for what a shopper sees when they search online. The article carries a simple message: the used EV segment now has enough stock to behave like a real market.
Three details stand out. First, the 11,000-plus BEV listings include new, demo and used stock, so the total is not a pure second-hand count. Second, roughly 6,500 of those are used or demo. Third, The Driven notes that most used BEVs on offer are less than five years old, which tells you the supply comes from recent purchases and not from a long-aged fleet.
The report also points out that new BEVs can be had from under $20,000 on-road. That single line reshapes the whole conversation, because it means a used EV no longer competes only with used petrol cars. It competes with brand-new electric cars that carry full warranties.
Carsales Listings by the Numbers
The table below collects every figure The Driven attributes to the Carsales snapshot. Where we derive a number ourselves, we label it as our own arithmetic so you can tell reported data from calculation.
| Metric | Figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Total BEV listings on Carsales.com.au | More than 11,000 | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| BEV listings marked used or demo | About 6,500 | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| All used and demo vehicles on Carsales | More than 160,000 | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| BEV share of used and demo stock | About 4% | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| Entry price for new BEVs | Under $20,000 on-road | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| Typical age of used BEVs | Less than five years | The Driven, Oct. 25, 2026 |
| BEV listings that are used or demo, as a share of all BEV listings | Roughly 59% | Our arithmetic (6,500 / 11,000) |
| BEV listings that are new | Roughly 4,500 | Our arithmetic (11,000 minus 6,500) |
The 59% figure is the one to watch. It says that on Carsales, used and demo vehicles already outnumber new ones within the BEV category. That is a sign of maturity. In a young segment, new stock usually dominates because few cars have changed hands yet. When the used share passes half, the segment has entered its second life.
Why a 4% Share of Used Stock Still Matters
Four percent sounds modest, and it is. About 1 in 25 used and demo vehicles on Carsales is now a BEV. Our arithmetic puts the non-BEV remainder at roughly 153,500 vehicles, which shows how large the petrol and diesel pool remains.
Still, the share is not the story. The story is the slope. Used markets lag new-car markets by years, because a car must first be sold new, driven, then traded. A 4% share today reflects EV purchases from several years back, when new EV sales were a fraction of what they are now. As those later, larger cohorts come off lease and finance, the used share has a clear path upward.
For sellers, 4% also means thin liquidity in specific models. A buyer who wants one particular EV in one colour within one state may still find only a handful of cars. That scarcity can prop up prices for popular models, a point we return to in the pricing sections below.
Sub-$20,000 New EVs Reset the Used Price Floor
The Driven says new BEVs are available from under $20,000 on-road. The report does not name the models in the material we can verify, so we will not guess. The principle holds regardless of badge. When a new electric car costs less than many five-year-old petrol SUVs, used EV owners cannot expect to hold inflated resale values.
This is the same pressure our Zeekr 7X first-drive coverage describes at the premium end, where new Chinese-built EVs undercut established rivals on price. Cheaper new supply drags the used market down with it. Early adopters who paid a premium for a first-generation EV feel this most, because their cars now sit beside newer, cheaper and often better-equipped alternatives.
For used-car shoppers, the implication is practical. A used EV must beat the new-car price on a total-cost basis, not just the sticker. A three-year-old model with remaining factory warranty can still win. A seven-year-old model with an unknown battery history faces a harder sell against a new budget EV.
A Young Fleet: Most Used EVs Are Under Five Years Old
The Driven’s observation that most used BEVs are less than five years old is good news for buyers. Newer cars generally mean more remaining battery warranty, more current software and fewer surprises. It also means the used EV pool has not yet been tested by the kind of high-mileage, long-tenure ownership that petrol-car buyers can reference.
Durability evidence is accumulating, though. We covered one owner whose Tesla Model 3 reached 250,000 miles with a single part replaced. One car is an anecdote, not a dataset. Even so, high-mileage stories like that help dissolve the fear that a battery pack will fail early and leave the owner with a worthless car.
A national dataset on used-EV battery health was not part of the verified material for this report. Buyers should treat any generic battery-health claim with caution and ask for a vehicle-specific state-of-health reading before they pay.
Auction Houses Set the Wholesale Tone
Retail listings show asking prices. Auctions show what dealers will actually pay. According to reports on the auction channel, Pickles and Manheim are the two largest auction houses for second-hand BEVs, and together they auction well over 100 BEVs per week. That is a steady, visible stream of wholesale supply feeding dealer forecourts and online listings.
Pickles executive Brendon Green, General Manager of Automotive Solutions at Pickles Auctions, has described the swings in plain terms. Speaking in an SBS interview about the surge in the second-hand market, he said that “the used electric vehicle market jumped by about 20 to 30% just depending on the different vehicles across the month of March in particular.” He tied part of that demand to buyers in their thirties and forties stretched by mortgage costs and looking to cut living expenses.
Price Volatility at the Hammer
Green’s comments at the AfMA Summit, reported by Fleet Auto News, show how jumpy the segment has been. “We started to see used EV prices and the competition on those prices really spike,” he said. He also described a stretch where EV clearance rates “went to 100% clearance rates. First time we’d seen it.”
His clearest illustration involved a single model. “I remember watching an auction seeing a Model 3 sell for $28,000 one week, $42,000 the next week for the same car,” Green said. A $14,000 swing in seven days is rare in any used segment. It signals a market still learning how to price its own product.
Dealers Join the Bidding
Dealer participation is the second sign of maturity. Green told the same summit, “Now we’ve in the last quarter had about 50% of used EVs sold to dealers, so we’ve finally seen that competition come through.” More dealers bidding means more dealers stocking, which in turn means more listings, more warranties on offer and more finance options for retail buyers. The loop reinforces itself.
Market Impact: Used Petrol and Diesel Values Feel the Pressure
The EV surge does not sit in isolation. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a consumer-affairs piece on October 17 headlined “EV boom erodes prices for used petrol and diesel vehicles.” The headline alone captures the knock-on effect. As electric options multiply and get cheaper, internal-combustion cars lose some of their resale strength.
That matters to anyone holding a petrol or diesel car as an asset. Trade-in values, finance residuals and fleet remarketing all rest on assumptions about what buyers want in three to five years. If buyers increasingly want electric, those assumptions need revision. Lenders and fleet managers already watch this closely.
For consumers, the effect cuts both ways. A seller of a used diesel ute may get less than they hoped. A buyer shopping for the same ute may find bargains. The sharpest winners are buyers who are flexible on powertrain and willing to run the numbers on fuel, servicing and registration.
Lease Expiries and the Supply Pipeline
Supply is the next lever. News.com.au published a piece with the headline “Exact date EV prices set to implode as novated leases end, triggering bargains for second-hand buyers.” The framing is dramatic, but the mechanism is sound. Novated leases run for fixed terms. When they end, the vehicles return to the market in clusters.
Clustered returns create temporary gluts. Auction houses see more of the same model on the same day, and prices soften. Dealers who planned ahead buy at a discount. Buyers who watch the calendar can benefit too. The risk for owners is the reverse: selling into a glut instead of waiting a month or two.
We cannot confirm the specific date or the scale of the lease wave from the verified material, so treat the headline as a direction signal and not a forecast. What the mechanism does confirm is that the used EV pipeline is not a trickle. It is a scheduled flow tied to financing structures that ensure regular new arrivals.
Demand Side: Fuel Prices and Household Budgets
Supply only matters if buyers show up. AAP’s headline, “Used electric cars drive records as fuel prices bite,” points to running costs as a driver. The NRMA, the motoring club, published a report titled “Used EV sales surge as buyers turn electric.” Both outlets describe the same pattern from different angles.
Green’s remarks fit that picture. He pointed to buyers aged 31 to 40 who carry heavy mortgages and want to trim cost-of-living pressure. For a household already stretched, a used EV with cheap electricity and low servicing costs can offset a higher purchase price over time. That logic is stronger when the purchase price itself is falling.
Regional and rural buyers face a different calculation, since charging access and driving distances vary. We cannot quantify regional demand from the verified record, so we leave it as an open question rather than a claim.
Competitive Comparison: Used EV vs New EV vs Used Petrol
Shoppers now face a three-way choice. The table below summarizes how each path stacks up on the factors buyers raise most often. The entries are our qualitative read of the reported context, not measured data.
| Factor | Used BEV | New BEV | Used petrol or diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price signal | Falling as supply grows | From under $20,000 on-road (The Driven) | Under pressure per SMH |
| Typical age | Mostly under five years (The Driven) | Zero | Wide range |
| Listings on Carsales | About 6,500 used or demo | Roughly 4,500 (our arithmetic) | About 153,500 (our arithmetic, all non-BEV used and demo) |
| Resale risk | Moderate, volatile at auction | Highest early depreciation exposure | Softening as EVs spread |
| Warranty cover | Often partial, check battery term | Full factory cover | Varies widely |
| Running cost angle | Strong where home charging exists | Strong where home charging exists | Exposed to fuel prices |
The takeaway: used EVs win on upfront cost against new EVs, and they win on running cost against petrol cars. They lose on certainty. A buyer who values a clean warranty and a known history may still prefer new. A buyer who values value may find the used route compelling, provided they do the homework.
Historical Context: From Rarity to Routine
Not long ago, used EVs were a niche within a niche. Choice was narrow, dealers had little experience with them and buyers had few price benchmarks to lean on. The sources for this report do not give a year-by-year breakdown, so we keep the history general.
That history explains why 4% feels both small and significant. The base was far smaller not long ago, and cheaper new models have since widened the pool. The market still has product gaps. Our report on Tesla scrapping Cybertruck plans for Australia with an A$150 refund is a reminder that not every headline vehicle reaches local buyers.
Used markets follow new markets with a delay, and the delay is now ending. Cars sold during the first real sales surge are hitting their first, second and third owners. That is how every vehicle segment matures, and electric cars are following the same arc on a compressed timeline.
What the Data Cannot Tell Us
Good analysis flags its blind spots. The Driven’s report gives headline numbers, but the available record leaves several questions unanswered. We list them here so readers do not mistake inference for fact.
| Open question | Status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Which models dominate used listings | Not confirmed | Model mix drives average price and risk |
| Average asking or sale price | Not confirmed | Needed to judge affordability |
| Battery capacities and range figures | Not confirmed | Core to value for any used EV |
| Methodology and snapshot date of Carsales counts | Not confirmed | Listing counts shift daily |
| Exact Manheim and Pickles split | Not confirmed | Only the combined “well over 100 per week” is reported |
| National battery state-of-health average | Not confirmed | Drives buyer confidence |
Listings are also not sales. A car on Carsales may sit unsold for weeks, and the same car can appear on several platforms. The 6,500 figure counts adverts, not transactions. Until sales-completion data joins the picture, the best reading is that supply is up and demand appears healthy, with the exact balance unclear.
Buyer Checklist for a Used EV
Buyers entering the second-hand EV market in Australia can reduce risk with a short list of checks. None requires special equipment, though some need a seller’s cooperation.
- Ask for a battery state-of-health report from the manufacturer’s service network or a trusted independent tester.
- Confirm how much battery warranty remains and whether it transfers to a second owner.
- Check the charging port, cable set and any home-charger hardware included in the sale.
- Compare the car with new EV pricing, since new BEVs start under $20,000 on-road according to The Driven.
- Test real-world range at highway speed, because rated range and highway range often differ.
- Review software update history and any open recall work.
The highway-range point deserves emphasis. Our 2027 Chevy Bolt test at 75 mph logged 197 miles against a 262-mile EPA rating, a gap of 65 miles. The same effect applies to older EVs, so a used car’s brochure range is a ceiling, not a promise. Ask the seller how the car performs on the roads you drive most.
Predictions: Where the Second-Hand EV Market Goes Next
These forecasts are our analysis, built on the reported trends. They are not facts, and we attach no numeric targets because the verified record does not support them.
- BEV share of used stock keeps climbing. With over half of Carsales BEV listings already used or demo, the used share of the 160,000-plus pool should rise as newer cohorts age into resale.
- Auction prices stay volatile before settling. Green’s $28,000 to $42,000 swing shows how unsettled pricing has been. More dealer bidding should narrow the swings over time.
- Budget new EVs squeeze older used EVs. With new cars starting under $20,000 on-road, owners of early-generation models face the weakest resale.
- Lease expiries create buying windows. Clustered returns from novated leases should produce periods of softer prices that informed buyers can target.
- Verified battery reporting becomes a selling point. Dealers who attach a state-of-health certificate to listings should win trust and faster sales. The category belongs in the hardware coverage we track closely, since battery packs are the core asset.
The common thread is normalisation. A segment that swung from scarcity to spikes to supply is heading toward the boring, predictable pricing that defines mature used-car categories. For buyers, boring is good.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many used EVs are listed on Carsales in Australia?
The Driven reported on October 25, 2026 that Carsales.com.au carries more than 11,000 BEV listings, with about 6,500 marked used or demo. The counts cover adverts, not completed sales, and the snapshot date is not specified.
What share of used cars in Australia are electric?
On Carsales, BEVs make up roughly 4% of more than 160,000 used and demo vehicles, according to The Driven. That works out to about 1 in 25 listings.
How old are most used EVs for sale?
The Driven says most used BEVs on offer are less than five years old. That reflects how recently EV sales took off in Australia.
Which auction houses sell the most used EVs?
Reports identify Pickles and Manheim as the two largest auction houses for second-hand BEVs. Together they auction well over 100 BEVs per week, though the split between them is not confirmed.
Are used EV prices going up or down?
Both, depending on timing and model. Pickles’ Brendon Green described a Model 3 selling for $28,000 one week and $42,000 the next. Cheaper new EVs and rising supply push the other way, and the SMH reports that EV growth is also eroding used petrol and diesel values.
Can I buy a new EV for less than a used one?
In some cases, yes. The Driven notes new BEVs are available from under $20,000 on-road, which overlaps with prices of many used cars. Compare total cost, warranty and battery condition before you decide.
How do I check a used EV’s battery health?
Ask for a state-of-health report from the manufacturer’s service network or a qualified independent tester. No verified national average exists in the sources for this report, so rely on the specific car’s reading and remaining battery warranty.
