The scarcity of new electric vehicles coming into Australia has led some car dealers and EV owners to ask as much as $25,000 more for their “used” electric cars than the price of a new car.
In some cases, drivers are attempting to sell their vehicles before they’ve even taken delivery.
A number of private and dealership advertisements for electric cars have been sent into The Driven, including one by a would-be buyer frustrated at missing out on the 109 Ioniq 5 electric SUVs that went on sale in March sold out within just minutes.
One of these examples is a Hyundai customer who has listed their all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 – which sells from $75,900 new – on Carsguide for $94,300. According to the listing, they received the vehicle at the end of March after initially being told it would not arrive until June, and had bought another EV in the meantime.
It has just 1km on the odometer, according to the ad.
A second all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 has been listed by Lavender Bay showroom Classic Throttle Shop for just shy of $100,000. Its description waxes considerably more lyrical than the private advertisement: “As the newest player in the electro-mobility, a completely different and original EV has been created,” it reads.
“With looks that would get Marty McFly excited, it is powered by a 72.6kWh battery and twin-electric motors with HTrac AWD system producing just over 300hp and 605Nm of torque from ZERO rpm.”
The Driven contacted Classic Throttle Shop to inquire about their view on the value of the vehicle in question, but as of the time of publishing the showroom’s spokesperson had not returned our call. Hyundai declined to comment on the asking prices of the vehicles above.
The new advertisement comes just weeks since The Driven reported that some Tesla Model 3s were selling for not much less than their new price, even with 60,000km on the clock.
Another Model 3 that recently sold at auction for far more than its original price was labeled a “stunning failure of policy” by the Electric Vehicle Council CEO Behyad Jafari.
He said it was the result ofAustralia’s weak regulations on vehicle emissions means carmakers have to prioritise inventory for markets where they will be fined if they don’t reduce their fleet average emissions.
And while Australia’s auto industry has implemented its own voluntary emissions standards, most carmakers are missing the mark.
Self-reported figures released last Tuesday show that two out of three carmakers did not achieve stipulated targets, with Hyundai topping the list as it missed its mark by a disappointing 12%.
As RenewEconomy’s David Leitch argues, it is average Australians that are paying the price for Australia’s vehicle emissions policy vacuum, and it is absolutely no surprise that enterprising players are seeking to zero in on profits.
Take for instance one advertisement on Facebook Marketplace, in which a Tesla customer is looking to sell their Model 3 Performance – which Tesla sells for just under $100,000 driveaway depending on your state or territory – for $115,000. And it hasn’t even been delivered yet.
The now 8-week old advertisement was accompanied simply by the account page from their Tesla app, with a stated delivery date of March 10-24.
While the vehicle doesn’t appear to be sold as yet, you can hardly blame them for trying. They might want to check Tesla’s reseller clause, however, which bans customers from selling profiting from such sales.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.