Top Tips for Buying a Used Electric Vehicle (EV)

For many the high initial cost of EVs has stalled them in making the transition, however, the secondary market will help to remedy this. To nurture this market, multiple franchise dealerships have approved used EV schemes. For businesses, used EVs could still be viable choices for fleet or pool cars.

For businesses looking to transition to an EV fleet, there are some key things to know before purchasing a second-hand EV.

What you need to know about your used EV’s battery

Rather than traditional internal combustion engines (ICE), EVs rely on an internal battery to provide power. This means that you will need to pay close attention to the overall health of the prospective car’s battery.

Firstly, check if the battery is under warranty, most have either 8-10 years of support or up to 100,000 miles as industry standard. As a rule of thumb, you should not need to replace the battery of an EV for the lifetime of the vehicle. Other than a few very early models, EV batteries do not degrade over time from charging and recharging as mobile phones tend to. However, if the car has been left on for long periods of time on a rapid charger, this could wear down the battery considerably, so while this is unlikely it is best still to check the battery health.

How to check the battery’s health:

• Most EVs have a companion app, which the dealership will show you how to use it and check the battery health. A legitimate dealer will also provide a vehicle health report before purchase.
• Check the estimated range the car provides and see if those line up with the manufacturer’s estimated range. If one of your drivers notices abnormal drops in charge while they’re using the vehicle, it could point to a serious battery issue, this will quickly let you know if the car is faulty.

One thing to note is that there is a separate 12V battery in most EVs that powers all the other electronics such as lights, air conditioning etc. This battery has a much lower lifespan (around five years) than the main battery, but it is not as expensive to replace.

What are battery lease agreements?

While uncommon, it is important to check whether or not there is a battery lease agreement (BLA) on the car. Certain older models fall under a BLA, whereby you purchase the car as you normally would, but the battery is rented from the manufacturer. This normally takes the form of a monthly fee of around £50-100, although it does mean the initial price of the vehicle is cheaper and the manufacturer will provide a replacement if anything goes wrong.

BLAs have largely fallen out of favour, with the initial implementation of them being a way to assuage the fears of early adopters about the long-term health of batteries. These fears turned out to be unfounded, hence why most EV warranties nowadays are a decade long. Do still check with the seller first whether the vehicle has one, it could be a nasty surprise to find out you do not own your vehicle in its totality. Luckily, a lot of manufacturers do offer ways to buy out the lease.

However, for organisations that rely on their fleet vehicles, this could still prove to be helfpul to keep business operations running.

Charging a used EV

Before you transition to an EV fleet, you must consider how and when you plan on charging the vehicles to ensure they’re always available when needed, without disrupting normal operations.

Some older models of EV do not support rapid charging which could become an issue if you plan on installing rapid or ultra-rapid chargers at your premises. There is a difference between fast and rapid charging, with fast charging on average taking three hours to go from empty to 80% charge, meanwhile, rapid chargers take 35 minutes for the same charge. If you need a quick turnaround of vehicles, rapid and ultra-rapid charging might be a necessity, but if you can charge your vehicles overnight, fast charging alone should be enough. However, most newer vehicles tend to support both, so this is not an issue.

General things to consider

For businesses considering a used EV, older models can lack the technological advancements in battery range that have occurred in the last few years. Therefore, it’s best to look for EVs that are still relatively new.

Brand reputation, as with all cars, is important to consider. Doing your research on manufacturers and their products’ reliability is vital. The EV market, despite reaching maturity, still has a lot of new players entering the market. As these newcomer cars enter the second-hand market their long-term reliability has still not been properly tested.

Finally, just like fossil fuel vehicles, check the MOT, service and accident records of any car or van. While accidents are less impactful on EVs due to there being fewer moving parts the potential to the battery and internal systems is less visible and worth considering.

Overall, the second-hand EV market is in an exciting place with a healthy ecosystem emerging, even for businesses and fleet operators. This will help to encourage more motorists to transition to zero-emissions driving and meet the government’s 2030 targets.