Canary Media’s “Electrified Life” column shares real-world tales, tips, and insights to demystify what individuals can do to shift their homes and lives to clean electric power.
A year ago, Crystal Bright was freaking out. The Charlotte, North Carolina–based interior designer had just separated from her partner and needed to figure out how to stay afloat financially.
She could have taken on more work, Bright said, but that would have meant spending less time with her son, who’s now 8 years old. So she reasoned, “Let me just save money instead of figure out how to make money.”
A used electric vehicle turned out to be the key to solving her financial woes.
Last May, she bought a 2013 Nissan Leaf for $3,000 outright. That let her cut her $400 monthly payment on her previous car and liberated her from the $200 a month she used to pay for gas. The lower maintenance cost of owning an EV has also put another $200 back in her pocket each month. With $800 total per month in savings, Bright has been able to move with her son from an apartment in which she didn’t feel safe to a “beautiful townhouse.”
Across the U.S., gasoline prices have spiked to $4.50 per gallon on average because of the war in the Middle East. But Bright is able to recharge mostly using the copious free public charging available locally, and she can top off at home with her 100-foot extension cord if she needs to. “I have no idea what gas costs, thank goodness,” she said.
More drivers want to be insulated like that. The market for used EVs is surging; their average cost of $35,895 is now competitive with that of used gas cars (average $34,799).
If you’re interested in buying a used EV for the financial savings — not to mention reduced air and climate pollution — here’s how to make sure you get one that’s right for you.
What to research
Figure out what range you actually need, based on how much you typically drive and how frequently you’ll charge, recommends Desiree Moore, program manager at Drive Clean Colorado, a state program that aims to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles.
On average, Americans are on the road less than 30 miles a day. But Moore often drives long distances for work, so she’s eyeing a newer Leaf or Ford Mach-E to get at least 200 miles to 300 miles on a single charge, she said. InsideEVs, U.S. News & World Report, and Recurrent, a company that aggregates data on vehicle battery health, are a few of the sources that list their top used EV picks, which will give you a sense of the best range for your buck.
Also get familiar with the discounts available in your area. While the Trump administration vaporized federal tax credits for new and used EVs, nonprofits Veloz and Rewiring America have tools to help you look up local incentives.
But the most important EV research might be what you do in person. “Drive as many as you possibly can, because there’s such a difference in driving style and acceleration and turning radius — all of the things that you would expect from any used car,” said Andrew Garberson, Recurrent’s head of growth and research.
What you save by switching to an EV
Potentially hundreds of dollars a year or more, depending on several factors, including your current car, how much you drive, shifting gas prices, and whether you can charge on the cheap, like at home with a discounted EV rate from your utility — or, less commonly, for free like Bright does. Filling up at home in 2026 can be like buying gas at $1.60 per gallon.
You can play around with different online tools to get a sense of the savings that come with switching to an EV. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Cost Calculator lets you compare the total cost of ownership for specific vehicle makes and models. And while the AFLEET TCO Calculator from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory doesn’t have that capability, it allows you to toggle the cost of electricity. (The Vehicle Cost Calculator auto-sets power prices based on your state, though you may be able to get a better rate with your utility.) Both tools let you input the current price of gas.
Here’s an example from giving the AFLEET tool a spin: Under the assumptions of driving 12,400 miles per year, $3.50-per-gallon gas, and Xcel Energy Colorado’s best time-of-use rate of about $0.08 per kilowatt-hour, the calculator estimated that over 10 years an EV would save more than $11,000 in fuel costs and more than $8,000 in maintenance.
Where to get a used EV
Beyond running an Internet search for “used EVs near me,” look to local dealers, many of which have upped their EV game. Bright scoped out listings on Carvana, and ultimately went with a car she found on Facebook.
