The Australian used electric vehicle market has entered a new phase of maturity, with stronger demand, rising prices, growing dealer participation and increasing confidence around battery health.
Speaking recently at the AfMA Summit, Brendon Green, General Manager, Automotive Solutions at Pickles Auctions, said the used EV market experienced a dramatic shift following fuel price increases earlier this year, but believes the underlying momentum is now much broader than short-term fuel cost concerns.
“We started to see used EV prices and the competition on those prices really spike,” Green said. “We also then started to see EV clearance rates — everything was selling — went to 100% clearance rates. First time we’d seen it.”
Fuel Prices Triggered a Surge in Demand
According to Pickles data, used EV prices had remained relatively stable for around 18 months before geopolitical events and rising fuel prices created a sudden surge in buyer interest.
The company recorded a 160% increase in EV searches on its website compared with February levels, while average used EV prices increased from approximately $36,000 to $41,000. At the same time, average days to sell halved from around 20 days to just 10 days.
Green said some vehicles experienced extraordinary price movements.
“I remember watching an auction seeing a Model 3 sell for $28,000 one week, $42,000 the next week for the same car,” he said.
While he expects prices to moderate from current highs, Green does not believe the market will return to previous levels.
“People’s eyes have been opened to the value in used EVs, the cost-of-living benefits, and so it’s not going to go back that way,” he said.
Dealer Confidence Finally Arrives
One of the most significant changes Pickles has observed is the growing confidence of dealers. Historically, around 70% of used EVs sold through Pickles were purchased directly by consumers, while only 30% were bought by dealers. Today, the split is approximately 50-50.
For Green, this shift is a critical sign that the market is maturing.
“When we sell an ICE car, 70% of the ICE cars are generally sold to dealers,” Green explained. “It was the reverse with EVs.”
“Dealers were quite confused as to potentially how to sell some of those cars. They had challenges about talking about battery health. They’d get questions from the consumer and couldn’t do it.”
The introduction of battery health certificates has helped address those concerns.
“Now we’ve in the last quarter had about 50% of used EVs sold to dealers, so we’ve finally seen that competition come through,” Green said.
“When I talk to dealers about why you’re now buying used EVs, they’re basically saying if I don’t have a used EV on the lot today, I’m not getting phone calls.”
Battery Health Myths Continue to Be Debunked
Since 2023, Pickles has tested more than 2,000 EV batteries using independent battery health assessments. The results have consistently challenged many of the myths that continue to circulate about electric vehicles.
“We quickly learned that there was a lot of health in these batteries,” Green said.
The average battery health score across all vehicles tested sits at around 96%, while five-year-old vehicles average approximately 93%. Even vehicles with more than 160,000 kilometres still average around 88% battery health.
“We’ve now done over 2,000 tests. Batteries on the main are very, very healthy,” Green said. “The average battery health is about 96%. On cars that have done 160-plus, it’s 88%. Really good scores.”
Perhaps most importantly for fleet operators, Pickles has found that high vehicle usage does not automatically lead to severe battery degradation.
“Mileage does not kill your battery,” Green said.
He highlighted examples of a Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2 that had each travelled more than 230,000 kilometres while still maintaining around 89% battery health.
Fast Charging Isn’t the Enemy
Another common concern among fleet operators is whether frequent DC fast charging damages batteries.
Green says the data does not support that belief.
“There’s been a long myth out there that if you fast charge, it’s going to hurt your battery, your battery is going to degrade faster,” he said. “It simply doesn’t.”
“The drop-off is less than 2%. DC charging is not going to kill your battery.”
The findings are particularly relevant for fleets operating vehicles in regional areas or businesses that rely heavily on public charging infrastructure.
Strong Residual Values Should Give Fleets Confidence
The presentation ended with a message likely to resonate with fleet managers considering EV adoption.
With used EV demand growing, battery health remaining strong and resale values improving, Green believes fleets can be increasingly confident about the end-of-life value of electric vehicles.
“We’ve got great opportunities to help you out of those at the end of the day,” he said.
For organisations transitioning to EVs, one of the biggest unknowns has always been residual value risk. The latest used market data suggests that concern may be starting to fade as buyers, dealers and financiers become more comfortable with electric vehicles and the realities of battery performance.
As Green concluded, “Most people, once they get into an EV, they don’t tend to opt back and go to an ICE car.”
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