How to buy a used electric car
Unless you’ve got a charger at work, the alternative is more complicated. Public charging costs are upwards of nine times pricier than those cheap-rate home tariffs, and you’ll need to find opportunities to top up during the week, such as plugging in at a supermarket while doing your shopping.
And yes, that also applies to PHEVs. If you’re relying on pricey public charging or never plugging in at all (which is an option), then you’ll be paying extra for technology that won’t deliver any useful reduction in running costs.
BEVs and PHEVs (including range-extenders) are both fine for longer-haul work, too, but they have slightly different pros and cons.
A BEV will go further on a full charge, so there’s more chance you’ll get to wherever you’re going using nothing but cheap home electricity, and you’ll get most of that range back in half an hour if you need to stop en route. Most can now go far enough, and charge quickly enough, that you can plug in while you stop instead of stopping to plug in.
PHEVs take longer to charge and don’t go as far on battery power, but they have the advantage of much shorter refuelling stops if you’re going any distance. Again, it’s pricier than using electricity from home, but running in hybrid mode is potentially cheaper per mile than using the fastest rapid chargers.
How much does a used EV cost?
The UK’s EV market has boomed over the past few years, largely off the back of cheap company car tax rates introduced in 2020. Company car drivers can save around 80% on their tax bills by going electric (slightly less if they opt for a PHEV), and it has led to a resurgence in demand.
Three quarters of company cars were BEVs or PHEVs in 2024/25, and businesses account for three out of every four plug-in registrations. Most are on three-year lease contracts, which means there’s a healthy supply entering the used market today.
Unfortunately, the incentives for second owners are much less generous. All EVs attract the same vehicle excise duty (VED, or ‘road tax’) rates as petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, and there’s an Expensive Car Supplement for the most expensive models. This is an additional £440 (plus inflation each year) added on top of the first five VED renewals for PHEVs worth more than £40,000 and BEVs over £50,000 (if they were registered after 1 April 2026).
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments