Used car sellers ‘optimistic’ about EVs but more variety is needed

The UK’s used car sector is increasingly positive about selling second-hand electric cars, according to the boss of a leading trade body.

Philip Nothard, chair of the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA), said the picture around used EVs was improving from a buyer’s and seller’s perspective as those in the industry grew more familiar with them.

Speaking at the September meeting of the VRA, he said: “The remarketing sector is in something of an odd position when it comes to EVs. As the recent SMMT figures showed, used EV sales have doubled year-on-year but still only account for around one in 40 sales. They still represent a relatively small percentage of sales.

“For this reason, many of our members don’t have wide experience of driving or processing EVs. There is a growing volume of EVs entering the used sector as company car fleets start to defleet an increasing number of units, and knowledge about this area is becoming more and more important.

“However, it does feel increasingly as though the situation around EVs has eased considerably, and there is much more optimism in the remarketing sector than even a few months ago.”

His view was echoed by Martin Miller, founder of Surrey-based specialist EV dealership, EV Experts. Speaking at the same industry summit, he said: “There is no doubt we have been through some considerable pain within the EV market but it really does feel as though things are changing for the better. For example, our unit profit has increased by 18% between June and September this year.

“The factors behind this are numerous but the kind of price parity that we are now seeing between comparable EVs and petrol cars is important and, every time there is an increase in petrol prices, we see increased interest for consumers. Especially, when petrol hits £1.50 per litre, it seems to be a tipping point, concentrating the minds of motorists on the kind of savings that are available from going electric.

“We classify the type of customer that we are seeing now as the ‘early majority.’ They are attracted to an EV for practical reasons, don’t overthink their purchase, and are much more numerous than the early adopters who characterised initial EV buyers.”

Despite the positive outlook, there was a warning that the sector needed a broader variety of models trickling in order to meet customer demand.

Andy Webb, head of sales from Brego explained that fleet dominance of the EV market meant there were too many medium and large EVs entering the used market and not enough smaller ones for what he called ‘everyday buyers’.

He said: “We’re seeing a skewing of the used EV market towards manufacturers and models for which there is limited demand in the market and this has been the primary reason for the collapse in EV values over the last few years. If there had been more ‘normal’ EVs around, the falls we have seen may have been much more limited.

“While the situation is improving slightly, with fleets beginning to buy some smaller, cheaper EVs, there is a very real possibility that the used market will not begin to function correctly until we see consumers buying more new EVs. They will eventually provide the kind of stock that the market needs, rather than what it is currently getting.”