Used Teslas Sell Faster Than Any Other EV Available

As the overall demand for used cars slows due to the coronavirus pandemic, used Teslas are selling faster than other electric cars.

According to a new analysis from iSeeCars.com, the Tesla Model 3, Model X, and Model S were the top three fastest-selling electric cars, while Model 3 was the fastest-selling used car overall—including both electric and internal-combustion models.

That’s based on the analysis of vehicles from model years 2015 through 2019 listed on that website, which used two datasets for this analysis. One from November 2019 to February 2020 represent pre-coronavirus sales trends, and another from March 2020 to June 2020 gave a tally of sales during the pandemic.

The sales trend is in part a classic case of supply and demand.

The Model 3 from Tesla, which was the automaker’s cheapest vehicle, had the highest amount of preorders of any car ever produced, and the long wait time helped further drive the high demand for the vehicle which has been sustained in the secondary marketplace, iSeeCars.com CEO Phong Ly said in a statement.

The Model X is also in relatively short supply, having only started deliveries at the end of 2015, the analysis noted. Despite a larger supply owing to its long production run, the Model S also remains in demand due to competitive pricing, according to the analysis.

This is not a new phenomenon, as prices on used Tesla models have been tracking high for many years.

Partly, it’s because with all the improvement through over-the-air updates, plus relatively low battery degradation, older cars fare surprisingly well.

That doesn’t mean used Tesla electric cars are without faults. As with all used cars, it’s important to thoroughly check the condition of a potential purchase, and know the individual foibles of a given model. Certain Tesla features, such as Autopilot, are also tied to the original owner, and maybe deactivated by Tesla when the car is sold.

But among EVs, Tesla is an anomaly in this area. Other electric cars tend to lose value much faster than comparable internal-combustion models.