MotorTrend is a 75-year-old automotive magazine that has recently expanded into online ventures and e-commerce. Next is the used car business.
The auto publication, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), launched its MotorTrend Marketplace this week, with more than 1 million listings to date. In reality, about 10% of the vehicles listed are hybrids and EVs, but less than 1% of all vehicles on the road are electric. It turns out that buyers still want them, despite concerns such as range anxiety and generally high prices.
Motor Trend CEO Alex Wellen said search interest in EVs has surged due to lower prices and other improvements to the vehicles. “I think across all the searches on MotorTrend.com, the most popular search is pure EV, followed by SUV, then hybrid.”
Interestingly, the MotorTrend marketplace has a number of older EVs and hybrids for sale. We have a 22+ year old Toyota Prius and his 13+ year old Tesla Roadster EV.
Tesla's landscape is also interesting. According to MotorTrend, the company has sold about 1,800 used Model S sedans. Digging deeper, market sales data shows that Model S sedans take an average of 45 days to sell, are listed for a starting price of $14,000, and have a whopping 300,000 miles on the clock. A model is also available for sale.
In fact, MotorTrend says it has sold more than 8,000 EVs with more than 75,000 miles and more than 800 EVs with more than 100,000 miles. This is notable considering that long-range EVs were considered rare, or at least phased out due to fears of battery degradation. . It turns out that's not actually the case, and the old EV is still functional and ready for a new owner.
One of the big problems plaguing EV owners these days is the drastic drop in prices on the secondary market. What may be good for the buyer is terrifying for the owner. The latest example: Hertz had to liquidate some of its Tesla vehicle inventory and write down the value of the cars following deep price cuts that Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk implemented last year.
Despite the current situation, Wellen believes that EV sales will continue to grow.
“The EV story surrounding Hertz has gotten a lot of attention, and rightly so. They have committed to buying so many EVs, and by reducing their EV holdings now, [it] In reality, it was the cost of repairing the damage and transporting the EV that was important,” Wellen said. “But in general, I think there are signs that we're seeing more and more EV sales. Even if the growth rate is slowing a little, we're still going to see double-digit sales.”
MotorTrend and Wellen believe EV sales will continue to grow, but the question is, at what rate? After all, there are still many unsatisfied buyers.
Of course, Wellen offers solutions from the MotorTrend Marketplace. “For people who don't want to go into a pure EV right now, a car like the Prius is the right car at the right time,” he said. Also, coincidentally, the Toyota Prius was named his 2024 Car of the Year by MotorTrend.
So while it's not a surprising recommendation, it's the kind of endorsement you'd get from a 75-year-old magazine.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.you can follow him twitter And even more Instagram.
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