As the market for electric vehicles matures in the United States, sales of used EVs are climbing. They grew 39% year-over-year in March, according to data from Cox Automotive, and for the first time, EVs made up a full 2% of all used vehicle sales.

For one dealership in New Hampshire that sells only used EVs, that market growth has come with some unpredictable swings. 

On the lot of Green Wave Electric Vehicles in North Hampton, New Hampshire, Jesse Lore mostly stocks cars under $40,000. Many are a good bit less than that.

“So now we get to this section, and this is almost entirely under-$25,000 cars,” he said, walking through the lot. “You'll notice a lot of Kia Niros, Tesla Model 3s, Chevy Bolts, more Chevy Bolts.”

Like many car dealers, he doesn’t have the cash to buy this inventory. He uses lines of credit with local banks. Their relatively high interest rates mean every one of the cars on his lot cost him money every day.

“Just sitting on our lot today, we say these cars eat hay at a rate of anywhere between $8 and $12 per day.”

So, it’s in Lore’s interest to turn over his inventory pretty quickly. 

When he started the business in early 2023, that wasn’t happening. Then, in 2024, sales picked up, thanks largely to a change allowing buyers to receive a federal tax credit for used EVs upfront.

But last October, Lore said, business slowed way down.

“And then on November 6th, the day after the election, it was almost like somebody had flipped a switch,” he said. “We all of a sudden got really busy with so many people saying, ‘I want to get my EV before the tax credit goes away.’”

That burst of sales only lasted through Inauguration Day, even though the tax credit is still available. Then in the last few weeks, business has picked back up again.

“We have definitely heard from people that they're afraid of tariffs increasing the prices on new, as well as used, vehicles,” Lore said. “And they're not wrong. It is already happening at the wholesale level, which will come down to the retail level as well.”

With the exception of one brand: Tesla.

Jesse Lore’s dad, Mark, buys much of the dealership’s inventory at online wholesale auctions and said those auctions are flooded with used Teslas.

“Right now, I have to tell you that if I look at 100 cars today, 65 to 70 of them are Teslas,” Mark Lore said.

He started noticing the flood after Tesla CEO Elon Musk became a major force in the Trump administration. It showed up at their doorstep too.

“As of January, we stopped buying all Teslas at the auction,” Mark Lore said, “because then we started getting, you know, three to five calls a day of people saying, ‘How much will you give me for my 2021 Tesla?’”

They’ve bought some of them at low prices, he said, and they’ve managed to resell a few.

Dmitry Dragilev of Portsmouth, New Hampshire bought a used Tesla Model Y from Green Wave a year ago.

“The only reason I got the Tesla is because they have the network for the chargers,” he said outside of an environmental fair in Portsmouth. He wanted a car that didn’t burn fossil fuels. His choice had nothing to do with Elon Musk.

“I just like the car,” he said. “I don't really like, you know — I'm like ugh.”

He said he has no plans to sell his car. But if he changes his mind, there is a used EV dealership nearby that might buy it back from him.