Used EVs from $8000 to $40,000: Electric tempters you should consider
Is now a good time to buy a used EV?
It’s a question I’m constantly asked, and as such, I always pay close attention to the second-hand electric car market.
Plunging EV resale values – especially prestige, six-figure models – may make headlines, but what about the everyday EVs Aussie mums and dads are seeking? The sub-$40,000 cars, and what’s available for under $20k right now?
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Trawling the classifieds we see EV asking prices, not what they sell for. Regardless, sellers eventually drop prices to meet the market, so it’s a good indication of what you can expect to pay for a pre-loved electric chariot.
Here’s the state of the used market in August 2026.
EVs under $10,000:
Love the idea of a first-generation Nissan Leaf? You’re in luck!
There are plenty available for under $10k. If you were after something else, you’ll need to boost your budget.
Cheapest available is $8400 for a 2012 Queensland example, but its already tiny 24kWh battery is down to almost 50% SOH (State of Health), meaning a range of 80km at best.
Not many use cases will tolerate that, so it’s a tough car to recommend.
A 2017 Leaf AZE0 with larger 30kWh battery and only 52,000km on the clock for $8800 looks a much better buy, but the owner’s photo shows a full charge only offers 125km.
Others around the $10k mark also suggest a range of roughly 120km. The battery SOH is a core question when looking at the Leafs (Leaves?), and ask yourself can you really embrace EV life with such short range?
EVs between $10-20,000:
Gen 2 Nissan Leafs (2017+) start at around $14,000. Their larger battery (30kWh or 40kWh) means real-world range around 200-250km, as used versions are often showing battery State of Health around 90 per cent.
Examples under 100,000km are worth considering, but any more and these Leafs just feel too expensive at a time where EVs (albeit smaller city sized ones like the BYD Atto 1) cost from $23,990.
Cheapest vehicles away from the trailblazing Nissans are 2020 MG ZS SUVs, from around $17,000. They’re not a great EV and we found their 265km range claim to be highly optimistic.
For better range, $18k gets you in a high-kilometre 2023 GWM Ora Extended Range with 420km range.
If you’ve almost $20,000 to spend, options really start opening up. The not-pretty, not-exciting but perfectly pleasing 2019-21 Hyundai Ioniq Electric offers 311km range; while there’s an ex-demo MY25 BYD Atto 1 (220km range) with 2000km showing at a NSW dealer for $19,990.
You may also snare the not flash but impressive-to-drive 2023 MG4 Excite 51 for around $20k, with its 350km (again, optimistic) range.
Most appealing, although riskiest purchase due to its age and instances of failing batteries, is a 2016 BMW i3. As in the old, suicide-door, ahead-of-its-time BMW i3.
A Victorian seller has his 36,000km example up for $18,500. It started life with 190km range, but with 76 per cent SOH, he suggests 115km is now the maximum.
EVs between $20-30,000:
From $21,000 an appealing choice is a high-kilometre (140,000km) 2020 Hyundai Kona SUV with excellent, and reliable, 449km range.
We also find the earliest Tesla Model 3s – current cheapest is $23,990 for a Standard Range Plus with 166,000km showing and 415km range.
Same for the 2022 BYD Atto 3. An Extended with 420km range and showing 105,000km is up for $24,900.
Lots more style, but worse range (a woeful 222km) is yours for $25,000 with a 2021 Mini Cooper EV, with under 50,000km on the clock.
While for more grace, space and pace, how about a one-owner $25k 2014 Tesla Model S with 150,000km travelled?
It now offers 340km range (89 per cent SOH) down from the original 500km, but as one of the earliest Teslas in the country, the seller promises the car has lifetime free Supercharging which transfers to the new owner (SC01). Damn appealing if you’re planning heavy use.
If you’ve got $25k in the wallet, how about a Polestar 2? A 2022 single-motor, standard range with Plus Pack has a 92 per cent SOH (380km range) and is up for $25,500, before the haggling starts.
Something smaller, perhaps? The ultra cute Fiat 500e can be had from $26k: a 2023 Rose Gold example shows only 17,000km and promises 311km range. There’s a 90,000km (how!?) 2025 Abarth 500e up for $26,000 too, if you fancy a compromised little pocket rocket.
Speaking of compromised, Mazda’s first EV effort, the 2021 MX-30 E35 Astina, now starts from $27k. It may have comical 224km range, but it’s luxurious, neat to drive and rather lovely to behold. A Victoria dealer has a 19,000km Soul Red example up for $27,990.
Facelifted Hyundai Konas (from 2021) are in the mid-$20s too; these are the smaller battery 305km range examples, but they’re impressive all-rounder EVs and potentially still under five-year factory warranty. Spend $28k and you can snare a 2021 luxo Highlander version with 484km range – solid buying there.
Others are the not-great Chery Omoda E5 from $27k; 2023 BYD Dolphins looking very over-priced from $29k; the under-rated 2022 Kia Niro GT-Line (460km range) from $29k; and Euro-style 328km-range Peugeot e-2008 EV also from $29k.
EVs between $30-40,000:
Barely-used Hyundai Insters (327km range) start popping up at $30k, as do the sizeable but flawed Leapmotor C10 SUVs with 420km range, or mega-range (560km) Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWDs.
For you 3.3-sec to 100km/h thrill-seekers, the cheapest listed Model 3 Performance lands at dead-on $30k for a 150,000km 2021 model. For $35k you’ve a decent choice of M3Ps with far fewer kilometres. Looks to be a buyer’s market.
For family buyers, you can now get into a Tesla Model Y from $31,000 for a high-kilometre (93,000km) example: the rear-drive version with 455km range. As Australia’s best-selling EV there’s a glut of three-year-old Model Ys up for grabs: With $36k to spend you’ve a big choice if you don’t mind 100,000km+ on the clock. Many, one expects, have seen Uber service.
Need three rows of seats? Tesla’s mad wing-doored Model Xs are rare, but there from $35k.
A 2025 Jaecoo J5 EV with its Chinese Range Rover looks and 400km range is yours from $33,500, or some Spanish flair’s available for the same money in a lesser-spotted 2023 Cupra Born (511km range).
The excellent Kia EV6 is another rare one worth a look; a 120,000km GT-Line example (484km range) is listed privately in QLD for a tempting $32,500.
Or for some prestige, a not-brilliant but luxurious Lexus UX 300e Sports Luxury EV (360km range) lands from $33,000.
How’s this for taking a bath on resale? There are two barely-used 2023 LDV eT60 EV dual cab utes listed for $33,000. Each was $93k new, and absolutely not worth that sort of coin.
Other potentials are 2024 Jeep Avengers, but look too dear at from $35k (dealers had brand new ones drive-away for the same money a year ago); while a 2024 Renault Megane E-Tech, leggy (113,000km) 2021 Mercedes-Benz EQA250 and lovely-but-risky 2019 Jaguar I-Pace EV400 HSE are also up for $35k.
Once you get over $35k, you can consider a 2024 Toyota bZ4X, 2023 MG4 XPower, Gen 2 Hyundai Kona EVs (the ones that look like RoboCop), or, from $36,000, the excellent Hyundai Ioniq 5.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6s – great sedan, shame about the styling – are up from $38,000, as are the cheapest Volvo C40 and XC40 Recharges, and 2023 BYD Seals.
At $40k, you can hop into a 2024 Volvo EX30 single motor (480km range), a 2025 Deepal S07 (475km range), Geely EX5 (410km range), 2024 Kia EV5 or 2025 Kia EV3.
Bargains over $40k?
I know it’s an under-$40,000 EV article, but who can resist looking at some of the big dollar used EVs, especially if they’ve endured shocking (and therefore tempting-to-buy) resale falls?
CollectingCars.com has just sold a basically unused 2025 Porsche Macan Turbo EV (520km on the clock) for $147,888: roughly $40k off a new one. Oh dear, and not great for the chap trying to sell a 2024 example with 14,000km for $163k.
BMW’s mega i7 EV limo cost $300,000 before on-roads back in 2022. There’s an elderly private seller in Victoria listing one with only 7600km travelled for just $137,490. Ouch.
Another tempter that’s shed half its value in three years is the ballistic and gorgeous Audi RS e-tron GT. A 2023 version with 36,000km showing is offered at $118,900: this thing was $248,200 when new.
German rival 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS53 was $328,400 when new, but cheapest I’ve found is a 17,000km example for $130,000. Lots of performance limo for your dollars.
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