Greener Living

Bargain Car Hunters Drive Next Wave of US EV Sales

Used electric cars and lower-priced models see big sales gains as new EVs stall.

A used 2022 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle, right, for sale at a CarMax location in Fremont, California. 

Photographer: Amy Osborne/Bloomberg

Sales of new electric vehicles continued to slump in the first three months of the year. But there’s one growth segment: A new batch of relatively cheap and used battery-powered vehicles are enticing buyers looking for bargains.

US drivers bought 216,399 battery-powered cars and trucks from January through March, a 27% decline from the year-earlier period, as buyers continued to balk at purchasing electric machines without federal purchase incentives worth up to $7,500, which expired in September.