Right now, you can open up Craigslist or go to your local dealership and find a used EV. Not just compliant vehicles like the VW eGolf or Fiat 500e (both of which are actually great little cars), but vehicles with a range of over 150 miles. So how do you shop for a used EV?
The Worst Part of Buying a Used Electric Car is the Battery – How to Avoid Getting Scammed (Sponsored)
While some things have been carried over from the world of gas-powered vehicles, there are also some new things to consider. When I say new things, I mean the big thing. The biggest thing of all. The battery.
Traditionally, buying a used car meant starting the engine and listening very carefully. Are the valves pinging? Is that detonation? Why won’t this thing idle smoothly? Those problems are no longer, well, problems. Instead, you have to make sure the battery isn’t a degraded pile of electrons.
First, find out if the battery has been replaced. If it has, chances are the current owner will tell you, because a new battery is a selling point. I should point out that the age and mileage of the vehicle will likely determine how much capacity it has left. Keep that in mind. Don’t expect an electric car with 200,000+ miles on it to have the same range as when it was new. In other words, if you need a lot of range and the car has a lot of miles on it, it might not even be worth checking.
