EV Influencers Remind Us That Used Cars Are Essential for Adoption

The dozens of flashy new model releases in 2023 can make it easy to forget that the first car sale is only the beginning. Any given car will have multiple owners over its life. In fact, new cars are only one third of transactions in the US. Most personal vehicles are bought and sold with miles on the odometer, meaning that “used cars” represent an outsized share of potential EV adoption.

Custom surveys by Recurrent reinforce that a used EV market must be built on confidence.

1. A seller who has monitored their EV and its battery can share that information with the buyer.
2. The buyer will confidently pay more — early studies show $1,400 more — knowing that the EV and its range will meet expectations.
3. Making more money on the sale of their current EV, the seller will feel safer about resale values when investing in their next EV.

In short, knowing that a used EV holds its value is better for the original owner, the used-car buyer, and the planet. Recurrent partnered with four EV influencers to help drivers understand this: confidence in used EVs helps the entire electric car segment build momentum and support widespread adoption. 

Andy Slye, Kobra Toldya, EddieX and Robert Rosenfeld met in Nashville to record a promotional video. Each one starred in their own version with the others playing a supporting role — for example, in Kobra’s video Andy, Eddie and Robert are visible in the background.

We’re so thankful to Andy, Keenan, Eddie and Robert for contributing to this project. It was a long day of filming, and they all traveled away from home to be there, but we hope the cause is worth it: if people have confidence buying used EVs, we can get more drivers in preowned - and new - ones. The first step is knowing how to do it.