High gas prices are pumping up used EV sales: these are FLYING off the lot
A new car affordability crisis and punishing gas prices are driving an unprecedented number of used car buyers to consider going electric, and that increased demand without a corresponding increase in supply means these used EVs are flying off dealer lots.
Days on the lot. That’s dealer-speak for the average number of days a given vehicle typically sits in inventory before finding a buyer. That’s critically important to dealers, since the vehicles on their lots are commonly financed through something called floorplan credit, and every additional day a car spends on a dealer’s lot can mean another day of interest payments and another day closer to a curtailment. Days on the lot can be even more important to dealers when it comes to cars owned outright, as well, as the dealers can have significant cash tied up in vehicles they’ve purchased outright, and every day those cars sit is another day that money isn’t working for them elsewhere.
That’s what makes this month’s fastest-selling used EVs particularly interesting, because these used EVs aren’t just selling fast for electric vehicles – they’re selling fast, period.
Powered up, makin’ progress
Dealer news sources Automotive News and Cox Automotive report that the average new car spent 82 days on the lot in October, with a 75-day target being an industry-wide benchmark. At the same time, the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron Quattro with its 258-mile EPA-estimated range is turning in just 29.8 days. (!)
That Audi’s not alone. In a recently-released vehicle pricing study, iSeeCars reported that the Toyota BZ4x, Lexus RZ300e, Honda Prologue, and Borrás-family favorite Polestar 2 are all turning in an average of 35 days or less, with the BMW i4, iX, Kia EV6, and Chevrolet Equinox EV just a day or two behind.
“The results reveal a market where EVs are appreciating in average asking price much faster than other drivetrains, while also spending less time waiting for buyers,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer, who found that average transaction prices for EVs rose 9.8% last month as ICE-powered vehicles stayed steady, rising just 0.3%. “Hybrids are experiencing moderate improvements in price and selling speed, while gasoline-powered vehicles have seen their selling times increase,” he adds, “despite relatively stable prices.”
Used electric vehicles averaged a price of $32,533 in September 2026, up $2,896 from the $29,637 ATP recorded a year earlier.
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