Used EV prices are surging while used gas cars have barely budged in a year

A used electric car now costs more, on average, than a used gasoline car, a reversal that would have sounded absurd twelve months ago. In September 2025 the typical one-to-five-year-old EV on a dealer lot carried an asking price $2,227 below the typical gas model. By September 2026 it sat $579 above it.

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The swing comes from a single study of more than 1.5 million used vehicles, and it is lopsided: electric asking prices climbed 9.8% over the year while gasoline prices rose just 0.3%.

9.8% on one side, 0.3% on the other

The numbers come from the iSeeCars hybrid and electric car price study, which compares September 2026 with September 2025 across used vehicles one to five years old. According to Motor1’s breakdown by Jeff Perez, the average used EV went from $29,637 to $32,533, a gain of $2,896. Hybrids moved from $32,851 to $34,476, up 4.9%. Gasoline vehicles inched from $31,864 to $31,954, which is where the 0.3% comes from.

CarPro’s write-up dates the study to Oct. 28 and notes that hybrids now cost $1,943 more than EVs and $2,522 more than gas models, so the electric segment has overtaken the gasoline average but not the hybrid one.

The streak is recent. Used EV prices were falling year over year in the first three months of 2026, including a 3.4% drop in March, then turned positive in April. September marked the sixth straight monthly gain. Back in February, Electrek reported that used Tesla prices were rising 4.3% while the rest of the EV market dropped after the federal tax credit ended, so the current rally began with one brand and spread.

Days on the lot: 41.9 for EVs, 54.8 for gasoline

Pricing power tends to follow how fast cars sell, and here the order has flipped as well. Used EVs averaged 41.9 days on dealer lots in September, down from 46.6 a year earlier. Hybrids took 48.6 days. Gasoline cars needed 54.8 days, up from 45.7, so they went from slightly faster than EVs to nearly two weeks slower.

InsideEVs framed the same data as used EVs selling like hotcakes, and the model-level list shows how uneven the market is. The Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron (29.8 days), Toyota bZ4X (33.3) and Lexus RZ 300e (34.3) moved fastest. The Cadillac Escalade IQ sat 128.7 days, the GMC Sierra EV 93.2 and the Chevrolet Silverado EV 89.1, according to AutoGuide’s account of the study. Big, expensive electric trucks and SUVs are not part of the rally.

In percentage terms, EVs sold 10.1% faster than a year earlier while gasoline cars sold 19.9% slower, and hybrids barely changed, slipping from 49.2 to 48.6 days. A dealer holding a used EV for 41.9 days is carrying it roughly a month and a half; a gasoline car at 54.8 days sits nearly two months. The study measures average advertised prices, not final sale prices, and covers only vehicles one to five years old, so older used EVs fall outside its scope. Hybrids, at $34,476, remain the priciest of the three powertrains in the sample.

Fuel prices and the end of federal incentives

Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst, described the data as reflecting significantly different year-over-year trends across drivetrains, and he pointed to two causes: higher fuel prices, and an EV segment recovering from the loss of federal incentives a year earlier. AutoGuide’s Ross Ballot adds rising new-car prices and inflation to the list.

CarPro’s version adds that Brauer sees fuel costs helping appealing used EVs without being able to offset weak demand for specific models, which matches the long lot times for the Escalade IQ and Silverado EV. The study does not break out how much of the 9.8% each factor explains, so the split between gasoline prices and incentive aftershocks is Brauer’s judgment rather than a measured result.

Tesla’s three of the five biggest increases

Tesla supplied most of the sharpest individual moves. The Model S rose 22.5% to an average of $57,862, the Model X 18% to $61,309, and the Model 3 15.4% to $28,931. Between them they hold three of the five largest percentage increases among all vehicles in the study, gasoline and hybrid models included.

Across every used vehicle, average prices rose only 0.9%, so the EV figure stands out against a flat overall market. The BMW X2 posted the single biggest increase at 24.3%, while the Chrysler Voyager fell 17.3% to $22,466, the Lincoln Corsair hybrid 9% and the Jeep Wrangler 7.1%. Speed of sale ranged just as widely: the gasoline Lexus IS 500 averaged 24.3 days and the Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid 154.5 days.

The study ends with September data, so whether the six-month run of year-over-year gains in used EV prices continues into the final quarter of 2026 is not yet answered by any figure iSeeCars has published.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.