Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE motorists fuelling demand for second-hand EVs

By Gavin Gibbon
second-hand EV Tesla Pixabay/Murray Lee
A second-hand Tesla 2020 Model 3 could cost around AED122,000 against a new version of the same car at almost AED205,000
  • Used EV share up 250% in 2023
  • 70% more EVs on Dubai’s roads
  • But EVs still only 1% of total

Demand for second-hand electric vehicles in the UAE may be in its infancy but it is accelerating fast as more people turn to the environmentally friendly option.

Electric vehicles (EVs) now account for around 1 percent of the UAE’s used car market and a little over 1 percent of all cars in the country, according to Dubai automotive data company AlgoDriven. 

Glenn Harwood, AlgoDriven’s CEO, said its data showed the share of used EVs traded in the UAE’s market increased by around 250 percent in 2023 and that this trajectory would continue.

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

Harwood said the UAE’s approach to second-hand EVs was leading the way in the region. AlgoDriven’s data shows that Saudi Arabia has just 0.1 percent of used EVs, he said, and that they are a “negligible” proportion of used vehicles in other GCC countries.

Cost-conscious consumers can save themselves thousands by scouring the second-hand market. A pre-owned Tesla 2020 Model 3 long-range all-wheel-drive vehicle will cost AED122,000 ($33,000), while a brand new version of the same car is priced at AED204,990.

The UAE government has shown a strong commitment to promoting the use of electric vehicles as part of its efforts to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The UAE government has shown a strong commitment to promoting the use of electric vehicles as part of its efforts to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

There were almost 26,000 EVs in Dubai at the end of last year, according to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, up 70 percent from a year earlier. And in Abu Dhabi there were 2,400 EVs and over 4,000 hybrids (cars combining a petrol engine with a battery and electric motor).

Demand for EVs in the UAE market is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 30 percent between 2022 and 2028, according to the Global Electric Mobility Readiness Index published in 2022 by consultants Arthur D. Little.

Latest articles

A subsidiary of Banque Misr will open the first digital-only bank in Egypt this year

Egypt to open first digital bank later this year

Misr Digital Innovation will open Egypt’s first digital bank towards the end of the year, as it looks to appeal to the North African’s country’s younger and unbanked demographic. MTI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, is the first bank to have received approval to establish a digital bank by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) […]

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries which will receive the investment from AIDA and US-based KKR

Abu Dhabi’s ADIA invests in Indian warehouses

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the US-based private equity firm KKR have invested INR 12,000 crore ($1.5 billion) in India’s Reliance Retail Ventures’ warehousing assets.  Both companies have invested equal amounts in Reliance Logistics and Warehouse Holdings (RLWH), The Economic Times, an Indian financial daily, reported, citing informed sources.  RLWH was established in […]

Saudi Arabia’s industry and mineral resources minister Bandar Al-Khorayef. The country is struggling to meet an FDI target of $100bn a year by 2030

Saudi industry minister tempts investors with funding incentives

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of investments and mineral resources is prepared to finance up to 75 percent of industrial projects in the country, as the kingdom tries to boost its low foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers.  Bandar Al-Khorayef, the minister of industry and mineral resourcespointed to well-developed infrastructure across 36 industrial cities, prefabricated factories ready to […]