Growth in EV pre-registration activity is causing challenges for the used car market, according to the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA).
The organisation said data it had received from Auto Trader showed that because manufacturers were heavily incentivising new EVs, equivalent nearly new stock was becoming more difficult to sell quickly.
VRA board member and Auto Trader senior manager for strategy and insights Louis Maxwell said: “The figures show that general pre-registration activity is now up by 23% year-on-year for 2025, based on stock with less than 100 miles. It’s quite a rise but still some way behind pre-pandemic levels.
“EVs account for around 23% of these, which is in line with their share of the new car market but they’re taking much longer to sell second-hand because manufacturers are heavily incentivising the purchase of brand new EVs to stimulate demand.
“While three to five-year-old EVs are selling fastest in the market at 26 days, having reached a general point of price parity with petrol, pre-registered EVs are turning every 37 days, which is three days slower than petrol. It’s a big difference.”
Maxwell added that three to five-year old vehicles were seeing price rises and selling more quickly because they dated from the period when the Covid-19 pandemic hampered vehicle production.
He said: “Supply of vehicles in this age range is 3% lower year-on-year and 28% below 2019 levels. As a result, their retail prices are rising quickly, up 1.4% compared to last year against an overall market fall of -0.6% so far in 2025.
“They’re also turning every 24 days on average, four days faster than in 2019. There is every sign of general short supply and dealers are finding it difficult to locate good quality stock in this part of the market.”
