7:26 am, May 12, 2026
Used electric car prices rose faster than any other fuel type in April, new data shows.
Latest figures from Cazana shows dealers raised prices of used EVs in response to growing demand for the fuel type, as soaring petrol and diesel costs pushed more buyers towards cars with plugs.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, automotive consultant Derren Martin said the Cazana data showed the used car market to be in ‘a very good place’.
Cazana data – shown to Car Dealer ahead of general publication – showed used EV values increased by 1.1% during April, outperforming hybrids (+0.9%), diesels (+0.3%) and petrol cars, which dipped by 0.5%.
Speaking about the shift – in the video posted at the top of this story – Martin said: ‘I think we’ve all been expecting it to happen at some point.’
He admitted he had been surprised used EV prices failed to rise in March, especially given soaring fuel prices.
‘You just look at the global situation with the war in the Middle East and what that’s done to fuel prices of petrol and diesel and diesel being nearly £2 a litre,’ he said.
‘It just makes people consider EVs. And obviously, EVs have now come down generally to a much more reasonable level in the used car market.’
Martin added that stronger affordability and lower running costs were now helping more buyers seriously consider making the switch from petrol to electric.
‘If you look at the total cost of ownership of having an EV and then the cost of filling up at a petrol station, it just makes perfect sense,’ he said.
‘And people will browse and look.’
Cazana also revealed that used EVs are currently among the fastest-selling vehicles on dealer forecourts.
Martin said the strongest demand was currently centred around more affordable used EVs priced between £10,000 and £15,000.
‘That cheaper end will be where the demand is because that’s where the majority of consumers are,’ he said.
‘So if you’re looking at £10k to £15k and you’ve got a lot of cars in that area, that’s where they’ll consider it. So that’s where dealers should be looking to stock.’
However, Martin warned that the used EV market remains ‘nuanced’, with some models continuing to lose value despite the overall market improvement.
He said examples such as the Volkswagen ID.3 and Jaguar I-Pace had strengthened recently, while cars including the Audi e-tron GT, Nissan Ariya and MG ZS EV had softened.
‘It’s not all that all EVs are going up in price,’ he explained. ‘It remains nuanced. But overall, on the average side, they are going up in value.’
Martin also suggested dealers were regaining confidence in used EV stock after heavy value corrections over the past two years.
‘A lot of dealers were scarred by what happened over the past two or three years when values dropped quite considerably,’ he said.
‘Now values are a lot more stable, so there can be a lot more faith in the product.’
Overall, April proved another resilient month for the used car market despite the usual Easter and plate-change pressures.
Cazana’s retail price data showed average three-year-old used car prices rose by 0.3% during the month, while one-year-old cars climbed by 0.9%.
Toyota and Volvo emerged as the month’s strongest performers at the three-year age point, seeing price increases of 3.6% and 3.1% respectively.
The market is also currently favouring more traditional, lower-volume model types such as estates and saloons – these increased by 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively, following similar gains in March.
