If you've ever sold a used car, you know that service records are one of the best ways to assure buyers of its value. But for EV owners, one of the major perks compared to gas cars — the fact that EVs need significantly less maintenance — can also make it difficult to show records of the vehicle's health when it's time to resell. That's the void Recurrent is looking to fill.
The scoop
As more drivers upgrade to electric vehicles, the used EV marketplace is also growing. According to Cox Automotive, January 2025 saw used EV sales increasing by 3.5% as compared to the prior month, representing a jaw-dropping year-over-year growth rate of 30.5%. Recurrent also reported that 2024's year-end numbers represented a 62.6% growth rate from 2023.
And for owners eager to cash in on the rising demand for secondhand EVs, using a free service like Recurrent is an excellent way to make sure you're getting the best possible sale.
When you register your EV with Recurrent, it monitors your vehicle's battery health for free, acting as an excellent guarantee of quality in lieu of oil changes and other maintenance reports. It does this by reading data using your vehicle identification number several times a day in order to collect records on range and vehicle performance.Â
"It's not creepy data," CEO Scott Case explained to TCD. "We don't collect your location information or driving behavior. It's just battery data."
Recurrent also connects sellers with buyers directly, as well as with a network of dealers, to make the process as smooth as possible. All in all, an independent study found that EV owners who use Recurrent make $1,400 more on average from their sales.
How it's helping
For car owners, the chance to recoup the cost of an EV by reselling it is just one of several economic advantages of making the switch to electric.
While electric vehicles generally have higher purchase prices, they beat out conventional gas-powered cars in nearly every other category. They require less maintenance, they have better fuel economies, and they obviously don't require gasoline.
Additionally, new developments — including improvements to batteries, HVAC technology, and charging infrastructure — have also made EV ownership attractive and affordable to a growing segment of the population. Many people also opt to make the switch in order to lower their own pollutive, planet-warming impact.
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Cost 💰 What everyone's saying
Recurrent's service is growing in popularity as more buyers and sellers enter the used EV market.
"What we're trying to do is provide transparent information to the seller and the buyer of each car, and that builds confidence and makes the used EV market function better," Case told TCD. "The used car market is more than twice the size of the new car market. Every car can be sold new once, but gets sold used typically two more times, and so in a lot of ways, it's a more important market than the new EV market."
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