South Africa’s used EV waiting list
Used electric cars. Thin on the ground. Not for long.
Dealers are only now landing their first second-hand EVs and hybrids. Put your name down and we WhatsApp you when one that fits turns up. No newsletter, no “exciting opportunity”. Just a message when there’s a car.
Free. Eleven quick questions. We have never sold a list in our lives.
used fully electric cars sold in SA, January to June 2026.
Hybrids did 3 915 in the same six months. Together, up 92% on a year before.
Source: AutoTrader Mid-Year Industry Report 2026
new electric and hybrid cars sold new, January to August 2026.
Already more than the whole of 2025. Those are the used EVs of 2029.
Source: naamsa
for a litre of 95 at the coast, since 7 October 2026.
Inland it went past R30. First time in the country’s history.
Source: Central Energy Fund
Most cars sold new come back as trade-ins three to five years later. The EVs sold in 2023 and 2024 are the first real wave, and they are only starting to show up on forecourts now.
Two-minute test
Is an electric car right for you?
Eleven questions about how you actually drive. You get a straight answer, even if the answer is “not yet”.
Your fuel light comes on. You…
Running costs
What charging at home actually costs, next to petrol.
Today’s coastal petrol price and this year’s eThekwini electricity tariff are already filled in. Change anything.
Home charging on a normal household tariff. Public fast chargers cost a good deal more per kWh. Every number above is editable, so it is your sums, not ours.
Before you pay
Nine things to check on a used EV that nobody checks on a Polo.
- 01
Battery health report
Ask for the state-of-health figure, not a shrug. Anything under about 90% on a five-year-old car deserves a price conversation.
- 02
Warranty left on the pack
Most makers cover the battery for around eight years with a kilometre cap. Check how much is left and that it moves to the next owner.
- 03
The charging kit
Granny cable, Type 2 cable, wall box. If they are not in the boot, you are buying them. Ask before, not after.
- 04
Where you will charge
Off-street parking plus a wall box is the whole game. Complex living? Sort the body corporate before the car.
- 05
Tyres and brakes
EVs are heavy and quick off the line, so they chew tyres. Brakes usually last longer thanks to regen. Look at both.
- 06
Software and the app
Make sure the previous owner is logged out of the car’s app, and that it still gets updates.
- 07
Service history still matters
Battery coolant, cabin filters, brake fluid. No oil changes is not the same as no services.
- 08
Insurance quote first
Some insurers price EVs higher. Get the quote before the deposit, not after.
- 09
Real-world range
Winter, aircon, N3 at 120. Real range is the brochure figure minus a chunk. Ask what the owner actually got.
Selling one?
The few used EVs that come up tend to move.
Tell us what you have. We put it in front of the dealers we work with and WhatsApp you when one bites. No listing fee, no tyre-kickers from the classifieds.
The list
Put your name down.
Buyers tell us what they want. Sellers tell us what they have. When the two line up through a dealer we work with, both get one WhatsApp.
Straight answers
Questions people ask.
Is usedev.co.za a dealership?+
No. It is a waiting list and a buyer's guide, run by The Dealers Edge, a Durban team that builds websites for car dealers, including usedcarsdurban.co.za. When a dealer we work with lands a used EV or hybrid, we point the right people on the list at it.
When will there actually be cars?+
Honestly, a trickle for now. New EV sales in South Africa only got going properly in 2024 and 2025, and trade-ins follow a few years behind. Expect the first real wave of used EVs from 2027. The list exists so you hear about each one before it hits the classifieds.
Do hybrids count?+
Yes. Plug-in hybrids and full hybrids are welcome on the list. Say which you are after and we match accordingly.
Will you spam me?+
One WhatsApp when there is a car that matches what you told us. No newsletter, no "exciting opportunities". Reply stop and we stop.
Does it cost anything?+
No. Not for buyers and not for sellers. If a sale happens, the dealer pays us, not you.