Used EVs spark greater interest among CarMax shoppers
Consumers are showing greater interest in used electric vehicles, which is evident in their key strokes and in their tire kicking.
In a report published last week, CarMax examined used EV search volume on its website and its own test-drive numbers, with each data set going back to January of last year.
The EV Test Drives & CarMax.com EV Search Volume Index was set at 100 in January 2021 for both measures. By March 2022, EV search volume index had risen to just under 400 and the EV test drive index was approaching 600.
And in March of this year, there were 1.5 times as many searches for the term “electric” on CarMax.com as there were in February, the company said in this post detailing the study, also noting that this largely coincided with the Ukraine war-impacted gas-price increase. The last time searches for that term grew that much was January 2021, CarMax said.
“Not only was there an increase in search volume for used EVs on CarMax.com, but the number of customers test driving used electric cars also saw a jump,” the company added. “From February 2022 to March 2022, CarMax saw a little over 1.5 times the number of electric vehicle test drives, about the same increase as search volume.”
So, what are these shoppers ultimately buying when go they go for a used EV at CarMax?
According to the study, the Tesla Model 3 was the top-selling used EV at CarMax from Oct. 1 through March 31, followed by the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3, respectively.
The Chevrolet Bolt was fourth, with the Tesla Model X at No. 5.
Interestingly enough, the Model 3 had the strongest resale value increase of any 2018-2021 model-year used-vehicle — EV or otherwise — between March and April, as it climbed 12%, according to this report from Cars.com.
Another one of the CarMax best-selling EVs, the Bolt, was 10th on the Cars.com rankings, as its resale value was up 8%.
“Interest in electric and hybrid vehicles has skyrocketed due to the recent rise in gas prices, and the resale values for these categories are also trending up,” Jane Ulitskaya wrote in the Cars.com post. “Used EVs like the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y and Chevrolet Bolt EV, along with hybrids and plug-in hybrids like Hyundai Ioniq, Toyota Prius and Toyota RAV4 Prime, saw the highest jump in resale value from March to April.”
What about the vehicles these EV buyers are getting out of when they make a purchase? The lion’s share was SUVs: 41% of vehicles traded in for an EV at CarMax from October through March were SUVs.
Sedans/coupes were second (29%), followed by luxury vehicles (15%), pickup trucks (9%), sports cars (4%) and minivans/vans (2%), according to CarMax.