According to recent data assembled by Cox Automotive, the market for used electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. is beginning to accelerate rapidly as more used EVs become available.

Retail used electric vehicle sales – EVs sold through a licensed dealership – increased significantly in Q1, according to Cox Automotive data, up 32% year over year, to 42,753 units (Sales volume estimates do not include private-party, consumer-to-consumer sales). Used EV sales in Q1 2023 represent twice the volume sold in Q1 2021.

The volume of EV transactions at Manheim, a wholesale vehicle marketplace in the U.S., is still relatively low but rapidly increasing, Cox says. Through Q1, Manheim operating locations across the U.S. processed nearly 9,800 used EVs, an increase of 40% from the same period in 2022. (For comparison, Manheim facilitated more than 900,000 wholesale transactions in Q1). Through March 2023, according to the Manheim index, wholesale values of used EVs have increased by 3.7% year over year, compared to the overall index decline of 2.4%.

Last quarter, the average retail listing price for a used EV was around $43,400, a decrease of approximately 4% from Q1 2022 and well below the average new EV price, which is closer to $59,000, Cox says.

Cox Automotive says it is forecasting that sales of new EVs in the U.S. will surpass 1 million units for the first time in 2023. In Q1, EV share of the new-vehicle sales is expected to reach close to 7%, a record high. In the first quarter of 2022, 167,000 new EVs were sold, according to estimates by Kelley Blue Book. In Q1 2023, initial estimates from KBB suggest EV sales jumped to more than 225,000, with EVs accounting for approximately 7% of new-vehicle sales.