Business
Used EV sales charge up on high gas prices, even as new EV demand declines
As gas prices soared in California last month, Irvine resident Marc Tan realized his Mercedes SUV was getting too expensive to refuel.
He decided to save money at the pump and purchased a used Tesla last month.
“I had to trade in my SUV, “ said Tan, who works as a nurse. “It was just too expensive.”
Tan has bought two electric vehicles this year to avoid relying on gas while driving his kids to school and activities.
As the war in Iran squeezes the global oil supply, fuel prices have increased sharply across the U.S. Average prices in California climbed to nearly $6 per gallon, according to AAA, while national prices were slightly above $4. Gas prices in California have risen 30% since the start of the year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The trend has driven renewed interest in electric vehicles, and those looking to save money on gas are also trying to save money on their cars by buying pre-owned vehicles.
New EV sales are still declining following blows to the industry from the Trump administration, but used EVs are bucking that trend because they look more affordable now relative to new cars and used gas-powered cars.
Used EV sales increased more than 20% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from Cox Automotive.
Used electric vehicles now cost around the same as used traditional cars and often offer better value, experts said.
“The high gas prices are getting people to look at what their options are, and the wheels are starting to spin,” said Jessica Caldwell, an auto analyst at Edmunds. “You can get a pretty nice used EV for under $25,000, which is not easy to do on the market at large,” including electric and gas cars.
Electric vehicles depreciate in value faster than traditional cars, meaning buyers can get a good deal on a used EV that hasn’t been on the road for long.
Used EVs are typically less than four years old and equipped with modern technology such as driver assistance, heated seats and Apple CarPlay. A wave of them is hitting the market as they come off lease from 2023, a year of heightened EV enthusiasm and new models.
While former President Biden was in office in 2023, the federal government heavily incentivized the transition to electric vehicles.
A Tesla dealership with cars lined up in the lot in Long Beach.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s not surprising that the used EV market is starting to accelerate, because it was about three or four years ago that the new one started accelerating,” said Mark Schirmer, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive. “We’re starting to get a better variety, better choice and better price points.”
Used EVs also tend to have lower mileage than their gas counterparts and therefore better value, Schirmer said, because EV drivers don’t use them for long road trips to avoid having to stop and charge.
Used electric vehicle sales increased 25% in the first quarter this year, according to Cox. New electric vehicle sales were down 26% in February from a year earlier.
The EV industry has faced setbacks recently as the Trump administration pares back EV incentives and dealership requirements, including eliminating a California ban on new gas-powered car sales by 2035.
In response, major automakers such as Ford, Hyundai and Stellantis have cut their EV offerings.
EV sales crashed following the September expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and a $4,000 credit for used ones.
“There’s no premium you have to pay for an EV in the used market,” said iSeeCars.com analyst Karl Brauer. “Value is huge for used buyers, and when gas prices are going up, that becomes a focus.”
On social media, car shoppers and recent EV buyers are sharing their reasons for making the switch to electric.
“Not having to deal with the ups and downs of gas prices is one of the benefits of owning an EV,” one Reddit user wrote last month.
Another Reddit user said it cost them $1.59 total to charge their Ford Mustang Mach-E for six hours, reaching a battery level of 90%.
In California, the appeal of a new or used EV is twofold — gas prices are especially high, and charging infrastructure is more developed than in many other states. Although electricity rates are increasing in the state, many residents are turning to solar power to source their own energy for their cars and homes.
Data show that more people are shopping for EVs even if they haven’t made purchases yet.
Cars.com saw a 25% increase in searches for used EVs from the end of February to the end of March, and a 23% increase in searches for new EVs.
“I don’t see how else you can get a vehicle that’s as new, as reliable, as safe and as affordable as used electric vehicle,” auto analyst Brian Moody said. “Add to that the current gas prices, and it’s a no-brainer.”
Tesla’s were the most commonly searched for vehicle among used EVs on the site, according to Cars.com data.
Tesla sales have stumbled over the past year, hurt by industry challenges and reputation damage after Elon Musk involved himself in politics. Many alienated Tesla owners sold their vehicles in protest, leading to an influx of them on the used market, and therefore lower prices.
Tesla was dethroned early this year by Chinese automaker BYD as the largest EV seller in the world, but for many Californians, Musk’s signature vehicles are still an obvious choice. They come with an extensive super charging network and widespread service centers. They also offer “Full Self-Drive” mode, which appeals to many shoppers despite coming under regulatory scrutiny.
Tan, who bought two Teslas this year as gas prices have shot up, said he’s satisfied with his purchases.
“To me, Teslas are the most safe and reliable,” Tan said. “Gas has been absolutely too expensive.”
A big rig crossed the center divider on the 210 Freeway in Irwindale on Saturday morning, killing one and injuring 30, authorities said.
The mass accident took place before 9 a.m. west of Irwindale Avenue, where emergency personnel arrived to find the truck had collided with several vehicles, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a social media post.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene and two were critically injured. Eight minors were taken to the hospital and 22 other crash victims declined treatment, the department said.
The California Highway Patrol temporarily shut down all westbound lanes of the freeway, diverting traffic onto Irwindale Avenue, before opening up one lane.
The CHP issued a SigAlert warning of traffic delays on the westbound lanes, with two lanes on the eastbound side of the freeway also temporarily closed.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Ford Motor Co. is suing a prominent Los Angeles lemon law firm for allegedly inflating their fees by as much as 7,000%, the company’s latest attempt to crack down on California attorneys who it says are exploiting the state’s unique law to protect consumers from defective cars.
Quill & Arrow, a personal injury firm that represents drivers suing over so-called “lemons” — vehicles with significant, unfixable manufacturing flaws — has long been a thorn in the side of Ford. Since 2021, Ford said its has paid them more than $100 million, roughly half in attorney fees.
That profit, Ford alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, came from billing records that were “utter fabrications.”
Quill & Arrow used an overseas “army” of low-paid, non-lawyers to help file thousands of lemon lawsuits and then pretended the work was done by California attorneys, who billed as much as $950 per hour, Ford alleged in its complaint.
Ford claims that the bulk of the work was actually done by non-lawyers in countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, who got paid as little as $13 per hour.
Quill & Arrow was founded in 2019 by attorneys Kevin Jacobson and Jonathan Shirian, according to the firm’s website, which touts recovering $500 million in lemon law payouts. The partners called Ford’s lawsuit “nothing more than an attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”
“It grossly mischaracterizes the facts and the claim that Quill & Arrow created fabricated attorney billing records is absurd,” the firm said in a statement.
California’s lemon law, considered one of the strongest consumer protections in the nation, allows drivers to get a refund or replacement of a broken car if the manufacturer can’t fix it. If the driver is not satisfied, they can sue.
If the driver wins, the law allows attorneys to collect their fees from the car maker — rather than take a percentage of the client’s winnings, as is common in personal injury cases. This fee structure, Ford argues, has turned the law into a bonanza for plaintiff attorneys. The longer the case drags on, the company argues, the more the law firm can reap in profit.
Ford alleges the firm intentionally slowed down its clients’ cases to drive up their billable hours, instructing drivers not to communicate with Ford and pushing them toward filing a lawsuit.
“California’s Lemon Laws are in need of reform and the courts need to exercise more oversight, given the fraud we continue to expose,” said Doug Lampe, counsel at Ford, in a statement. The law is “being blatantly abused by the lemon law plaintiffs lawyers, the bar is not policing its own and the courts need to monitor fee awards with far more skepticism and scrutiny.”
The cases, he said, “have become about the lawyers for the lawyers.”
Lemon law cases have exploded in California in the last decade from about 4,500 cases in 2015 to roughly 30,000 in 2024, according to an analysis from the Assembly Judiciary. These cases, officials warned, “are poised to cripple the entirety of California’s civil justice system.”
In 2024, the legislature tightened the state’s lemon law, requiring additional steps before a driver could sue. The bill seems to have put little dent in the caseload: Lemon lawsuits surged to record levels the following year.
Ford’s lawsuit marks the second attempt by one of America’s largest car manufacturers to go on the offense against lemon law attorneys in Southern California.
Ford sued a cohort of local lemon law firms in May 2025, accusing attorneys of collecting at least $100 million in “phantom legal fees” by billing for hours they never worked. The case, which was brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, alleged lawyers worked together to file a flurry of fraudulent cases with billable hours that defied logic.
A partner at Knight Law Group, an L.A.-based lemon law firm, once billed an “ostensibly heroic but physically impossible” 57.5-hour workday, Ford alleged.
Knight Law Group denied inflating their billing, calling the suit a “thinly veiled attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”
A judge threw out the suit in March on the grounds that lawyers were protected under the 1st Amendment from being sued for the content of their lawsuits unless the case was proved fraudulent. Ford says it plans to appeal.
After Quill found about the Knight Law Group case, Ford alleged, Quill dedicated a team to “scrubbing” their own timesheets of “impossible time entries.”
Ranch dressing is having a moment thanks to the World Cup and Kraft is ready to meet it.
The company said Thursday that it is working on a “TSA Compliant Ranch” for those looking to travel with the quintessentially American condiment. The announcement follows the influx of social media videos showing international soccer fans sampling the dressing for the first time.
“Some visitors leave with souvenirs. Others leave with America’s favorite dressing,” Kraft wrote in a caption accompanying an AI image of a TSA-approved clear bag packed with ranch dressing packets posted to social media. The image showed the bag — complete with a luggage tag resembling a ranch dressing bottle — placed in an airport security screening bin along with other travel essentials.
Additional details will be announced later, the company said.
TSA has also leaned into ranch’s apparent newfound popularity among international travelers, providing some helpful tips (and warnings) on social media.
“If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on your way home,” the agency posted on Instagram Tuesday. It also asked travelers to “avoid chugging your ranch outside security” lines.
“Who knew dip-lomacy could be achieved through addressing the obvious: ranch is the king of condiments,” TSA wrote in the caption accompanying its carousel of humorous ranch-related quips. “If you’re traveling within the U.S., make sure to keep your carry-on sauces to 3.4 oz or less and place any larger containers in your checked bags.”
“Some heroes wear capes. Others bring ranch,” it added.
According to 1987 Times reports, ranch dressing was invented by Steve Henson, who opened the Hidden Valley Guest Ranch in Santa Barbara in the mid-1950s with his wife, Gayle. The unnamed condiment originally mixed herbs and spices with buttermilk and mayonnaise and its popularity with guests led to it being jarred so they could take some home. The more travel-friendly powdered form followed.
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