I don’t count my announcement of the EV Revolution group (always accepting new members!) as part of the #RbPi series, so today is #15.
With all the rhetorical wars around new EVs, fueled by oil-lobby-astroturf talking points often lamentably parroted on the left (“EVs are toys for the rich! Who can afford them?” etc.), as well as by intra-EV family feuds (“To Tesla or not to Tesla?!”), the existence of a vibrant, immensely affordable used EV market, especially in the US, has been largely ignored. Now many American value buyers are discovering it.
I used cars.com as well as myEV.com, but of course you can also find them on, e.g., Craigslist. In the interest of brevity, today only features my self-declared-expert-opinion list of the best value options. Next diary will feature the cheapies, and following that (or perhaps in the same diary) the pricier but still good-value models.
See below the fold, which is below green blurb and the resource lists.
*The term “EV” covers both “pure” battery-electric (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). IOW: if it has an externally-rechargeable battery, it’s an EV.
(ICE stands for Internal Combustion Engine: the outdated technology still driving >99% of vehicles)
Action Resource TableHere’s Sierra Club. Here’s Union of Concerned Scientists. Here’s Friends of the Earth. Here’s Greenpeace. Here’s the EU position. Here’s my own perspective. |
Maybe you are not in a position to get an EV that meets your needs yet. But you surely know someone who is. Find them and help them get it. |
Note the potentially bad news under YRWV (tl;dr, in very cold winters range can easily be 30-40% below average), and the good news under Don’t Panic I/II. See this diary for recommended EV model lists. |
New EV purchase deals. AND New EV lease deals (that’s how we got our Leaf!) Some used EV deals; for more see your local Craigslist, etc. |
Don’t nickel and dime your own personal footprint of buying an EV. Every transition has its costs. We’re playing the long game here. It is long, but urgent: we need YOU to join. |
| EVs consumed ~10% of mined cobalt in 2018. And one-third of EVs have no cobalt at all (e.g., Gen 1 Nissan Leafs, most e-buses). But we must do more to curb “artisanal mines” where child labor/slavery is widespread. DRC’s children deserve better. |
My favorite EV site. Used to be independent, now bought by a media company. Still the best. Home of the monthly US plug-in sales scorecard — which has become the standard source for US EV numbers. I write there occasionally ;) |
| Current/historical numbers from most global EV markets. The main resource for my annual Top 10 Countries in the EV Revolution series. |
| EV website and Youtube channel with weekly episodes, by tireless EV pioneer Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield. |
| Newer than insideevs, flashier, but very Tesla-dominated. |
| Often takes a deeper dive into technical and academic articles. |
| This Youtube channel has been created and hosted since 2010 by English actor Robert Llewellyn. Specializes in reviews of new EVs, from a pro-EV angle. |
| Pretty similar to insideevs, but not limited to EVs only. |
| Daily digest in plain-text format, plus a podcast if you like those. |
Used EVs tend to get sold more quickly than used ICE cars; people have started recognizing their value.
When you look at prices, remember that you will save not only ~$500-$1000/year on the cost of gas vs. the juice required to run your EV. You are also likely to save a couple grand/year on maintenance. EVs generally require almost no major shop visits. The main caveat is battery depletion on used Leafs. See more below on that.
Generally, it’s best to consult with people in the know on the car you’re looking at (in model-specific forums, in local EV groups, etc.).
I am listing only EVs that are relatively widely available (hundreds or more for sale across the country). Also, this list is designed for the US market.
The order does signify my order of recommendation. The price is roughly what I recommend you’d pay, based on the price ranges I’ve seen. A car for sale at a price several grand above what’s written here, is probably not the best deal. But in smaller more remote markets you might have no choice, so take everything as a recommendation rather than as a commandment ;)
But never forget to bargain! Used car prices are *asking* prices, not final till you agree to them.
| PHEV | 6-13 | 30-40 | 4 |
| BEV | 11-16 | 95-120 | 5 |
| BEV | 8-12 | 70-90 | 5 |
| BEV | 12-15 | 85-90 | 5 |
| Compliance BEV | 8-12 | 65-75 | 5 |
| PHEV | 6-14 | 15-20 | 5 |
Whew! I never put together a used-EV list that long. But yes, all these are great value and fairly widely available. Prices are generally low vs. their age, because
You benefit indirectly from the thousands of $$ the original buyer got in incentives, All BEVs in the list already have longer-range successors, and all PHEVs except the Fusion are not being made anymore. There’s still a name/tech recognition effect that depresses prices, although they are (relative to age) higher than last year as the market wakes up. Model-Specific Tips and CommentsDisclaimer: my only first-hand experience is with the two Leaf options. If you do have experience with another model on the list, please chime in.
Throughout its 8+ year production history, the Volt was a superbly engineered yet atrociously marketed car. Gen I (2011-2015) was nearly flawless right out the gate. The only downside repeatedly mentioned (besides the 4 seats) is an interior and driver position that many find too cramped for their comfort. Our very own peregrine kate tried a Volt, didn’t like the driver space/position, and ended up getting a used Cmax Energi.
The reason I’m leaving 2015 Volts out is that per advertised prices, you might as well add a couple grand tops, and land a Gen II 2016 with 15 more miles of range, a more efficient and powerful hybrid ICE engine, and a sort-of fifth seat. The Gen II will be featured in my pricier-yet-good list diary.
On to… sigh,
the Leaf and its wilting Bars. So, two Leafs walk into a Bar… No, not that kind of bar. Note on the right-hand side, next to the wide bars with the 72-miles number, there’s an arc of much smaller bars, the bottom two of them red? These are the capacity bars. Leafs come from the factory full to the top (12 bars). This 2011 Leaf dashboard was taken by its owner after losing its 3rd bar in 2015. He was already beyond the 60k warranty miles at this point, so I doubt that he was covered for a free replacement when the 4th went out.Renault-Nissan is hands down, the most EV-committed among the world’s large legacy auto companies. We must remember that. But they have their own way of going about things. Nissan in particular, has been trying to develop its Leaf technology on the cheap (relatively speaking; it has still cost them billions).
All other major EV makers put the battery pack inside a comfy, liquid-cool, climate-controlled compartment, abbreviated as TMS. The Leaf, starting from the 73-mile 2011 all the way to the 2019, 225-mile S-Plus, does not. Obviously, because it costs more.
Well, it does cost them endless online outrage and derision among EV insiders. If you read typical EV site threads, you’d think that weak US Leaf sales since 2015 are mostly the fault of no TMS. That’s like saying that Trumpers voted for Trump in 2016, because Hillary promoted only a $12/hour Federal minimum wage, rather than $15.
Jokes aside, Nissan’s no-TMS strategy doesn’t matter much in day-to-day driving; for example, in the cold there’s a tradeoff between energy spent keeping the battery happy, and energy lost because the battery is too cold to retrieve it. However, where things started costing a lot, first to EV drivers and then to Nissan itself, is longer-term with battery depletion.
Thanks to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, all batteries deplete. What matters is how fast. If an EV’s battery loses <1% capacity over 10 years, who cares? Conversely, if it loses 50% in 1 year, you don’t really have a product to sell. But that’s precisely what happened shortly after the first Leafs arrived in beautiful Phoenix, AZ. Having been bred and built in milder-climate Japan, they were not ready for this. At first Nissan denied, balked, stonewalled, etc., like most corporate entities do. Eventually after some class-action lawsuits and settlements, many batteries were replaced for free, and a general warranty policy was set to all Leafs: if you lose 4 bars by 60k miles or 5 years, you get a free replacement. If not, you can still replace for a cool $6k+labor or so (originally it was $7k). Many Leafs not just in AZ but in places like southern CA, also got their battery replaced under warranty.
Besides that, Nissan ferociously set to work on battery-chemistry fixes. Still committed to no TMS — and they have a point, if they can pull this off then it’s an economic and environmental win-win — by the 2015 model they have officially declared the Leaf battery to be “Lizard” (I kid you not), passively resilient to any climate. Leaf-driver lore strongly maintains that these Lizards actually started popping into new Leafs quite a while before that, surely with most 2014s and possibly some 2013s.
Thus far, 4-5 years later, the Lizards indeed seem to behave far better than their predecessors. But… in 2016 Nissan increased battery capacity and range by 25% without changing the car’s overall shape, meaning more capacity crammed into the same space. Last year, analysts in New Zealand, a place where Leafs are sold only used from Japan, published a report showing that with these newer 2016-2017 models battery depletion is back with a vengeance. Nissan responded once again... as corporates do. Sigh. Our own personal experience with a leased 2017 was not as good relatively speaking, as with the 2014 leased before it; although we haven’t noticed substantial depletion yet.
So why am I recommending the 2016-2017 over the 2014-2015? Because starting in 2016, whether forced by California or boosted by their own confidence, Nissan bumped up the 4-bar warranty to 100k miles or 8 years. So if you get a 2016 now, you have many years of worry-free driving ahead of you. If your battery is a relative lemon, you can usually accelerate its demise by driving more, etc., and reach the point where you get a brand-new free replacement. If not, then you have no depletion and you’re fine. This, besides the 20-40 miles added range and newer parts overall, at the cost of only a few grand more. Still, the 2014-2015 is also an excellent buy.
Bottom line, if shopping for a used Leaf, don’t just trust the capacity bar display. These are very crude, and they can be — and have been — manipulated in the past. Instead, find someone local in the know, and go there with a LeafSpy app and the required “dongle” plug to connect it to the car. Also, if this is going to be your main/only car, you want to make sure it has a quick-charge port. Most 2014-2017 Leafs have it, but some don’t.
Yes, there was an actual Chipmunk TV ad for the Soul EV. Or were these chipmunks? on to the minor leaguesThe Soul EV and the Focus Electric both offer the pleasure of driving an EV that looks just like its popular ICE sibling, rather than, e.g., the eye-popping Leaf design (which I love, personally). The Soul has range between the 2014-5 and 2016-7 Leafs, but is about “1 year more expensive” apples-to-apples, and due to its boxy shape the highway range is substantially shorter than in-city. But it has TMS and its drivers love it.
The 2012-2016 Focus Electric is far cheaper, with a range comparable to the 2011-2012 Leaf (which is not even on the list here; wait for my Cheapies Diary). It too has TMS, but unlike most Leafs and all Soul EVs, no 2012-2016 Focus has a quick-charging port. If that is your second car, not a big deal. Another caveat is that Ford lazily stuck the entire battery-pack into the hatch, leaving precious little space for… you know, your stuff should you want to carry any while driving 5 passengers.
These two BEVs are not very common. By contrast, the Ford Energi twins are far more prevalent with fairly balanced national distribution. I prefer the Cmax which is also a bit cheaper, but to each their own. Both follow Ford’s annoying stick-battery-in-back habit, but the batteries are smaller than the Focus Electric’s.
Ok, enough for now… till next time, #resist.