Used electric vehicles are leaving dealer forecourts faster than petrol or hybrid cars, according to a study by the used-car analytics firm iSeeCars. The report, covering more than 1.5 million vehicles aged between one and five years old, found used EVs averaged 41.9 days on the market in September 2026, around 13 days fewer than petrol cars.
The finding comes despite used EV prices climbing sharply over the same period. Used EVs averaged $32,533 in September 2026, up 9.8 percent year on year, while hybrid prices rose 4.9 percent and petrol vehicle prices moved less than half a percent.
How the three powertrains compare on price and speed
Hybrids were the most expensive of the three categories on average at $34,476, with petrol cars the cheapest at $31,954. Hybrids also sat in the middle on selling time at about 48.6 days.
The direction of travel differs sharply by powertrain. Compared with September 2025, used EVs sold 10.1 percent faster, while petrol cars took 19.9 percent longer to move. That gap is the more telling number: buyers are not simply paying more for electric cars, they are choosing them over the alternative at a faster rate even as the price advantage disappears.
iSeeCars traces the price run to April 2026, when used EV values began rising steadily, peaking in August. The firm links the shift to soaring petrol prices in the United States.
The fastest-selling models overall are still petrol
Petrol cars hold the top two places on the overall fastest-selling list. The Lexus IS500, which ended production in 2025, leads, followed by the Audi A4 Allroad.
The first EV on that list is the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback in third, at an average of 29.8 days on the market. Among EVs specifically, the fastest sellers were the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, the Toyota bZ4X and the Lexus RZ 300e.
Tesla did not place on the top-ten fastest-selling list, but its models posted some of the largest price gains of the year. The Model S averaged $10,636 more than in September 2025, the Model X rose by $9,336 and the Model 3 by about $3,870.
Luxury models more broadly outsold mainstream ones among used-car shoppers not looking at electric vehicles.
What the figures do and do not show
The study is a snapshot of dealer stock and selling times rather than a measure of total EV demand, and iSeeCars' figures are its own analysis rather than an official industry statistic. The data also covers the US market only, so it says nothing directly about used EV trends in Australia or elsewhere.
For buyers, the practical read is that the used EV market is tightening: cars are moving quickly and prices are climbing, so the bargains that characterised the segment in earlier years are thinning out. Shoppers weighing a used electric car against a petrol equivalent now face a smaller price gap than a year ago, but a much smaller choice of stock sitting still on forecourts.
