A new study shows that used Tesla prices have climbed 4.3% since the federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, while nearly every other used electric vehicle has dropped an average of 3.6%. Used EV market share has plunged 20% over the same period.
The data, from iSeeCars’ analysis of over 1.7 million used cars, paints a stark picture of a two-tier EV market emerging in the wake of the credit’s elimination, one where Tesla holds pricing power and everyone else scrambles to compensate.
However, it appears to be a correction after Tesla’s used car prices were in free fall last year.
Tesla vs. everyone else in the used EV market
The headline number, that average used EV prices are actually up 3.5% since September, is misleading. Because Tesla still makes up the bulk of the used EV market in the US, its 4.3% price increase (from $30,040 to $31,329) has masked what’s happening to every other brand.
Strip out Tesla and the Porsche Taycan (a low-volume outlier, which also saw its used prices crash until recently), and the rest of the used EV market dropped 3.6%, from $24,629 to $23,738. That’s a nearly 8-percentage-point gap in price trajectory between Tesla and the rest of the market.
The divergence is even clearer at the model level. The Hyundai Kona Electric fell 6.4%, the Volkswagen ID.4 dropped 6.2%, the Kia Niro EV declined 5.2%, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E lost 5.1%. Meanwhile, every Tesla model went the other direction: the Model Y rose 1.3%, the Model 3 climbed 2.6%, the Model S jumped 8.5%, and the Model X surged 10.3%.
| Used EV Models Pricing – iSeeCars Study | |||
| Model | Avg Price Sept. 2025 | Avg Price Jan. 2026 | % Change |
| Hyundai Kona Electric | $21,020 | $19,678 | -6.4% |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | $23,307 | $21,860 | -6.2% |
| Kia Niro EV | $21,128 | $20,024 | -5.2% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | $30,575 | $29,014 | -5.1% |
| Nissan LEAF | $16,360 | $15,606 | -4.6% |
| Polestar 2 | $26,006 | $25,508 | -1.9% |
| Tesla Model Y | $29,603 | $29,989 | +1.3% |
| Tesla Model 3 | $25,061 | $25,701 | +2.6% |
| EV Average | $29,637 | $30,666 | +3.5% |
| Porsche Taycan | $74,465 | $77,552 | +4.1% |
| Tesla Model S | $47,226 | $51,249 | +8.5% |
| Tesla Model X | $51,973 | $57,306 | +10.3% |
This is a notable reversal. Earlier in 2025, used Tesla prices were plummeting, dropping below the average used car price for the first time, as the brand dealt with significant backlash. But since the tax credit expired, used Teslas have rebounded while competitors have not.
Used EV market share down 20%
The pricing trends coincide with a significant drop in used EV market share. EVs accounted for 3.5% of 1- to 5-year-old used cars sold in September 2025, but that figure fell to 2.8% by January 2026, a 20% decline.
For context, during the same September-to-January period a year earlier, used EV market share increased 19.5%, from 1.8% to 2.1%. That’s a nearly 40-percentage-point swing in the market share trajectory, directly correlating with the loss of the $4,000 used EV tax credit.
iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said the data shows a clear shift in consumer interest for used EVs since the credit ended.
Electrek’s Take
Top comment by Kiril Sinkel
Though the percentage improvement in used prices is small, I hope this means that Teslas are finally being judged for the cars they are rather than all kinds of extraneous factors. IMHO Tesla coverage and coverage of EVs in general is very thin on the practicalities of car ownership and high on hype. Teslas are actually very well made, efficient cars, offer great performance and free its owners from constant maintenance and visits to filling stations. And they help clean up our air. I wish this was emphaszed much more so that people who have not yet discovered the pleasure of owning an electric car would be made aware of what they are missing.
Good news for Tesla owners. It looks like the insane depreciation of the last year has bottomed.
There was an overcorrection, and it is now easing.
Regardless of how much people hate Elon Musk, Tesla vehicles are still amongst the best-value EVs on the market right now, and it makes sense that the used prices have found the bottom.
We also see Model S/X contributing the most to the used prices bouncing back, which is unsurprising considering Tesla just killed the models. By the end of the second quarter, there will be no more new Model S/X, meaning the total fleet will only go down from there.
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