Used EV survey, Spring 2024

As the skis get put away, it is time for another used car survey. Last fall, we found over 200 EVs looking for a new home. A gently used Nissan Leaf, or a Model 3, plenty of these abound. We also see a few “older-flagships” cruising around looking for new owners. We find a whopping 177 used Tesla Model 3s, which catapults Tesla to our number 1 spot in our used EV survey, past 61 used Nissan Leafs. My dear reader, we have never had it this good, with 417 used EVs looking for a new home in the Toronto area.

A word on methodology. We use autotrader.ca mostly as its the one I know, it does filters for both electric cars, price, and location. Although you must be careful as sometimes hybrids sneak through the filter. There are many other sites that help people trade used cars, Clutch, Car gurus and Kajiji to name a few, some of those might work better for you. For each model we find, we need at least three entries in order to make the list, mostly as a way to discourage one offs (say a vehicle that has been driven to the ends of the earth and back several times over, or crash damage). We also limit our geographical search to 100 km away from Toronto. As before we set a hard price limit of $35 000 CAD. Mostly as if your budget is higher, it makes a lot of sense to buy new. You get a new shiny shiny, and thanks to incentives the price is not too different. In fact, with an manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of $44 596, and a Canadian federal incentive of $5 000, a new 2024 40 kWh Nissan leaf is $39,596 just $4,596 more than our budget limit.

Note the trunk dimensions for the Tesla Model 3 indicate both the main cargo area behind the back seats, as well as a + 3.1 cubic feet for the frunk. Kia E-niro is a new entry in our used EV survey, offering SUV like qualities in an electric form. Also new is the Nissan Leaf plus, which offers a slightly larger battery pack 62 kWh, and thus longer range than the standard 40 kWh. There was also a lone Hyundai Ioniq 5, although with some crash damage and 85k km, it did not make our list as we require at least three samples. Also, among the 27 Mk1 Nissan Leafs, is a 2012 sample, that for only $6 800 can be yours. Albeit with some battery degradation, only “9” battery bars, instead of 150 km EPA range, you would experience something closer to 100 km. You would be hard pressed to find a better deal.