Customer Experience: EV Retail Study 2025 – Used Cars

Target group / segmentation criteria:

• Annual mileage
• Relevant usage situations for the purchase decision
• (Shopper) current car brand
• Company car
• Demographics of electric car drivers
• Living situation
• Planned charging behaviour
• EV experience (year of purchase of first EV)
• EV as first or second vehicle, drive system of the other vehicle

Brand loyalty:

• Brand interest
• (Shopper) intended loyalty
• (Driver) actual loyalty

General interest in Chinese and used electric cars:

• (New car buyers) Reasons against buying a used car
• (Used car buyers) Reasons for buying a used car
• (from the 2024 EV Retail Study) Chinese electric cars: Interest in Chinese electric cars, reasons for interest/reasons for rejection, relevant aspects for assessing when a car is ‘Chinese’, assessment of selected brands as to whether they are perceived as ‘Chinese’

Online vs. retailer purchase

• Preference for online vs. offline purchases
• Reasons for buying online
• Reasons for buying from retailers

Information phase:

• Information needs regarding e-mobility in general and charging technology in particular
• Sources of information, evaluation of the information obtained
• Drill-down: purchasing and comparison portals used
• Interest in EV-specific features (artificial engine sound, simulated manual transmission, drift mode)

Purchase phase:

• Relevant aspects when purchasing used electric cars (battery SoH, warranty, service log, monitoring and replacement options for defective battery cells, etc.)
• Battery check performed, reasons against battery check
• Trust in different used car dealers
• Purchase: Contacting the dealer, purchase advice, vehicle-related features decisive for the purchase, brand-related features decisive for the purchase, relevance of cost types, relevance of Google ratings for the purchase decision, sale of the previous vehicle
• Contracts: Number of visits to different dealers before purchase, number of visits to the dealer where the purchase was ultimately made, online/offline contract conclusion, financing, place of contract conclusion, banks selected, insurance, interest in additional contracts, e.g. charging current, customer loyalty through the contract process, recommendations to manufacturers, customer loyalty achieved

Reasons for not buying used cars:

• Vehicle-related reasons: range, charging speed, model selection
• Financial reasons: vehicle price, cost of charging technology, charging costs at home, charging costs on the road
• Infrastructure-related reasons: no charging option at home, ‘charging jungle’, number of public chargers, payment methods
• Future-related reasons: resale value/residual value development, spare parts supply, confidence in technology, battery wear/degradation

Measures to overcome consumer reluctance:

• Vehicle-related measures/requirements: range, charging time
• Financial reasons: vehicle price, charging technology costs, charging costs at home, charging costs on the road
• Infrastructure-related reasons: improved charging infrastructure, payment options, tariff elements, support from employer
• Dealer-related measures: expanded information offerings, individual needs analysis, range calculator, battery warranty extension, longer test drives, leasing conditions, support with private charging infrastructure and PV systems

Summary:

• Willingness to repurchase a used electric car

The study is aimed at sales organizations, car dealers, and dealer developers who want to professionally tap into and further develop the market for used electric vehicles.

The retail study on used electric vehicles provides comprehensive insights into the expectations and experiences of buyers throughout the entire purchasing process. The focus is on purchasing motives, perceived obstacles, and the factors that can increase trust and willingness to buy in the used car segment. Based on this, the study highlights areas for action and measures that manufacturers, importers, and dealers can take to optimize their sales strategies, reduce barriers, and better reach new customer groups. In doing so, the study offers a solid foundation for the further development of processes, digital platforms, and training programs tailored to the specific requirements of the used car market in electromobility.

Many exciting findings only become apparent when the results are evaluated separately according to important customer groups. This allows providers to target their offers to different user segments in a differentiated way. Thanks to the high sample size, subscribers to the study can split the results in the interactive dashboard as they wish and analyse them in detail.

Since 2018, USCALE has been systematically surveying EV drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. You can find an overview of all USCALE focus studies HERE.

We show extracts from other studies in the LinkedIn articles by USCALE and Axel Sprenger, our company founder.

If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.