Used electric vehicle values have risen 0.6% month on month to £32,203 so far in October as prices continue to show signs of stabilising.

Used EVs are taking just 23 days sell on average, the fastest since December 2018 and beating all other fuel types

The data, taken from Auto Trader’s Retail Price Index, shows the recovery in EV prices continues to gather pace due to increasing consumer demand for greener vehicles – fuelled by attractive prices – and the slowdown in the recent surge in supply of second-hand EVs entering the market.

October’s rise in EV values follows a plateau in September on the back of 12 consecutive months of decline. While prices are still down on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the stabilising market leaves prices 19.6% down YoY – the shallowest rate of YoY decline since June.

Auto Trader data also shows levels of consumer demand for EVs are outpacing supply levels on its online marketplace. Demand for used EVs is up 78.4% so far in October – far ahead of petrol (up 2%) and diesel (down 1.1%).

And used EVs are taking just 23 days sell on average, the fastest since December 2018 and beating all other fuel types.

Rising pump prices are helping to make EVs are more viable proposition for many drivers

Crucial to all of this is the slowdown in the overall rate of supply growth of used EVs, falling from an increase of 115% YoY in August, and 57% in September, to an increase of just 24.3% so far this month.

Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s data and insight director, said: “The continued realignment in used electric pricing is the real stand-out so far in October, with another month of improvement after a year of decline. For the moment we’re seeing the stars align for second-hand EVs; greater affordability and rising prices at the pumps is helping to make them a more viable alternative to their ICE counterparts which are still increasing in value.”

However, while the monthly 0.6% price growth for EVs is slightly ahead of the 0.2% MoM improvement for petrol values, it’s just below the 0.7% monthly increase for diesels.

On an annual basis, ICE vehicles remain well ahead of their electric counterparts, with current petrol and diesel prices up 1.3% YoY (£16,315) and 0.8% YoY (£16,000) respectively.

Across all fuel types, the average price of a used car is £17,774, down 0.9% year-on-year (YoY) but up 0.5% month-on-month (MoM), while the days to sell figure stands at 28 days on average – the fastest pace since May and ahead of last year, underlining robust consumer demand.