You Can Still Get A Used EV With Supercar Acceleration For Less Than A Camry

The EV tax credits may be gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some deals to be had in the electric market, especially if you have a need for speed. There are numerous pre-owned, high-performance EVs available for under $35,000, and they are often only marginally more expensive than their non-performance counterparts.

In addition to reducing fuel costs, electric vehicles, with their instant power delivery, have brought supercar-level acceleration to the masses. While no one really needs to hit 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, the fact that you can access that level of power and not spend a fortune refilling the car is pretty awesome. What is really interesting about the market dynamics of used EVs, is that these ridiculously quick cars aren’t commanding a huge premium over their “normal” trim versions.

The Kia EV6 GT boasts 576 horsepower and a claimed 0-60 time of about 3.5 seconds. Cars.com lists about thirty of these for sale under $35,000. Many of these units have low miles, and some are Kia Certified with the extended warranty. However, what is wild is that some of these GT versions are actually cheaper than the aesthetically similar but slower GT-Line cars when you compare something with the same year and similar miles. Here are two 2023 Kia Certified cars with fewer than 9,000 miles.

First up is the “regular” GT-Line version – 

Cars.com

Next is the high-performance GT which is retailing for about $1,000 cheaper

Cars.com

We found the EV6 GT to be an overall fantastic car, but this may not be the vehicle to get if you don’t have a home charger and are often using it for extended drives. Unfortunately, the EV6 GT’s Korean cousin, the Ioniq 5 N, hasn’t depreciated below the $35,000 threshold yet. Those are still relatively new, but it’s only a matter of time until the N joins the cheap speed club. 

Moving on to the Mustang Mach-E, while it may annoy purists with its name, it’s hard to argue against having a thirsty 5.0 V8 when an electric 480 hp powerplant in the GT trim can sprint to 60 in as low as 3.3 seconds with the $1000 software upgrade. Even the standard GT will do the run in 3.8 seconds.  The Mustang Mach-E has outsold its muscle car counterpart two to one.

Inventory for the MachE GT is plentiful, with over 330 listings under $35,000 nationwide, and if you don’t mind a slightly older car with a bit of miles on it, you can score one of these in the mid $20,000 range.

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These aren’t that much more than the more pedestrian Premium trim models.

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You will have to wait just a little bit longer for the super cool Mach-E Rally to get into the cheaper EV territory.  In the meantime, you can score an electrified fast Ford for what was once the price of a fully-loaded Focus. 

Tesla was the first EV maker to really bring wicked EV acceleration to a mass-market audience. With a claimed 0-60 in a staggering 2.9 seconds for four door sedan, you could make the argument that the Model 3 Performance offered too much speed to your average buyer.

There are well over 350 Model 3 Performance cars available for sale nationwide. Most of your lower mile examples are going to hover in the low $30,000 range, but there are several compelling options around $25,000.

Cars.com

This is just a sampling, and potential buyers could also explore super quick EVs like the Polestar 2 Long Range or Tesla Model S and Model Y. However, If you were aiming for a fast EV with a luxury badge, you will need to spend a bit more. There are only a handful of BMW i4 M50s under $35,000. Porsche Taycans and Audi E-tron GTs are still in the $50,000 and up range, though all three are still fantastic performance values when you consider their original starting price.

Naturally, the tradeoff to having a car that can give a Ferrari a run for the money in a drag race is that you are going to sacrifice some usable range, but all of these cars will still get you at least 200 miles, so unless you have a super long commute, you might as well enjoy the power.

Tom McParland is a contributing writer for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He takes the hassle out of buying or leasing a car. Got a car buying question? Send it to [email protected]