The rate of increase in wholesale values for used electric vehicles slowed in August compared with recent months, but EV values are still on the rise versus a year ago, and still outperforming used gasoline vehicles, according to the latest Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, published Sept. 8.
Jeremy Robb, chief economist for Cox Automotive, the parent company of Manheim, said that in addition to EV buyers considering used instead of new, other budget-minded consumers are looking at older used cars, including 9- and 10-year-old vehicles.
“These older vehicles are less expensive, and those trends highlight the increasing demand for affordable used products,” Robb said in a press release.
For the wholesale used-vehicle market overall, including all drivetrains, the index for August was almost flat, at 208.2, an increase of 0.4% compared with August 2025. That corresponds to a seasonally adjusted average price of $19,042, up just $68 vs. a year ago.
The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index is a single measure designed to track used-vehicle wholesale price changes, weighted for a changing mix of product segments and mileage, and seasonally adjusted. The index is calculated relative to a starting point, where January 1997 equals 100.
To break out EV used-car values, Cox Automotive created separate indices for EVs and non-EVs. The EV index for August was 201.8, an increase of 4.5% vs. a year ago. The Non-EV index was 148.4, down 0.9%.
The 4.5% August increase in the EV index was a small one by recent standards. In June, the EV index was 216.1, up 12% vs. a year ago.
A wave of off-lease EVs enter the market
The context for used EVs is that a big wave of EVs leases that were originated three years ago has started to show up at used-car auctions. A big increase in internal-combustion lease maturities is also arriving, reflecting the comeback in leasing around three years ago.
Cox Automotive estimates lease maturities overall in 2026 of about 2.4 million, an increase of 6.2% vs. a year ago. Within that number, EVs represent about 301,000 — almost triple the EV off-lease units in 2025.
Total lease maturities jump in 2027 to 3.1 million, an increase of 29.3% compared with 2026. That includes an estimated 588,688 off-lease EVs in 2027, almost double the number in 2026.
Meanwhile, demand for used EVs has grown since last year, when the federal government phased out a $7,500 federal tax break applying to new EVs. Higher gas prices are probably also stimulating demand for EVs, said Jonathan Gregory, senior director of economic and industry insights at Cox Automotive, in an Aug. 7 press release announcing the July Manheim Index. A longer-term question remains how used EV values will perform in 2027, the first full year of a surge of off-lease used EVs.
Robb said in the August report EVs values are strong, even though the rate of increase in the EV Index has slowed compared with the year-ago month, and the EV Index is down from its recent peak in June 2026.
“EVs continue to show relative strength despite values declining over the past two months,” he said.
