Photo: What Car? via Youtube
EV and ICE car owners make fun of each other after both sides were faced with increased times spent in line to charge or fill up. They might not know it, but there are other areas where owning an EV or an ICE vehicle really does not matter. One of them is how hard is to buy a new (or used) vehicle these days.
Chip shortages and other production glitches have pushed back delivery delays for both electric vehicles and gas-powered cars. Today, the waiting times for popular models stretch for months and, in some cases, even more than a year. This has encouraged automakers and dealers to charge more for the privilege of letting you buy their cars. The customers understandably tried to mitigate this problem by turning to the used-car market.
In some cases, people discovered that the vehicles sold on the used-car market were even more irrationally expensive. This is because, unlike new cars, which have huge waiting times, used vehicles can be driven off as soon as you make the payment. This is the context where electric vehicles’ prices went through the roof. The trend was exacerbated by the EV price increase because raw materials used to build batteries skyrocketed.
But other factors contributed too, among them being the fuel prices and the very tight supply of electric vehicles. There are now many models on the market compared to years ago, but many of them only exist in theory. This has raised expectations for customers and made the offer on the market look scarce. Also, faced with insane gas bills, people increasingly considered buying an EV, which put more pressure on the market.
This has led to the crazy situation that used vehicles sell for more than their original MSRP. This has become the norm for both electric vehicles and ICE cars in the U.S., but in Australia, it is still a novel thing and people are in shock. This has made Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council believe it is a sign of a deeply dysfunctional market.
“This is a stunning reflection of how the Australian government has allowed demand to totally outstrip supply on EVs, leaving Australian consumers with the choice between a massive wait or paying above-retail for a used car,” said EVC chief Behyad Jafari for The Driven.
Interest in electric vehicles has grown exponentially in Australia in the past year, according to Lloyds Auctions, an Australian auction house specializing in electric vehicle auctions, cited by Mirage News. As opposed to a year ago, the problem is not convincing people that electric vehicles are a viable alternative to ICE cars, but actually finding the electric vehicles to resell.
This has led to the unusual situation (for Australia) where a 2022 Tesla Model 3 has the highest bid of 71,000 AUD (more than 53,000 USD), whereas a new one costs 63,900 AUD (47,825 USD). Even though more expensive, the used one is instantly available, while a new one takes between six and nine months to be delivered, according to the Tesla website.
Electric vehicles are still a novel thing in the Land Down Under, and people have only just begun to realize the savings potential of owning an EV. Some even consider Australia a “hostile market to EVs” and call this “a stunning failure of policy” on the government’s part.
In some cases, people discovered that the vehicles sold on the used-car market were even more irrationally expensive. This is because, unlike new cars, which have huge waiting times, used vehicles can be driven off as soon as you make the payment. This is the context where electric vehicles’ prices went through the roof. The trend was exacerbated by the EV price increase because raw materials used to build batteries skyrocketed.
But other factors contributed too, among them being the fuel prices and the very tight supply of electric vehicles. There are now many models on the market compared to years ago, but many of them only exist in theory. This has raised expectations for customers and made the offer on the market look scarce. Also, faced with insane gas bills, people increasingly considered buying an EV, which put more pressure on the market.
This has led to the crazy situation that used vehicles sell for more than their original MSRP. This has become the norm for both electric vehicles and ICE cars in the U.S., but in Australia, it is still a novel thing and people are in shock. This has made Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council believe it is a sign of a deeply dysfunctional market.
“This is a stunning reflection of how the Australian government has allowed demand to totally outstrip supply on EVs, leaving Australian consumers with the choice between a massive wait or paying above-retail for a used car,” said EVC chief Behyad Jafari for The Driven.
Interest in electric vehicles has grown exponentially in Australia in the past year, according to Lloyds Auctions, an Australian auction house specializing in electric vehicle auctions, cited by Mirage News. As opposed to a year ago, the problem is not convincing people that electric vehicles are a viable alternative to ICE cars, but actually finding the electric vehicles to resell.
This has led to the unusual situation (for Australia) where a 2022 Tesla Model 3 has the highest bid of 71,000 AUD (more than 53,000 USD), whereas a new one costs 63,900 AUD (47,825 USD). Even though more expensive, the used one is instantly available, while a new one takes between six and nine months to be delivered, according to the Tesla website.
Electric vehicles are still a novel thing in the Land Down Under, and people have only just begun to realize the savings potential of owning an EV. Some even consider Australia a “hostile market to EVs” and call this “a stunning failure of policy” on the government’s part.
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