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Used EVs are not cheaper in Germany than in France
Electric: German asking prices average 2.6% higher than French ones (95% CI +0.2% to +5.5%; 118 cells, 1,510 French and 1,524 German adverts).
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The 2026 fuel shock sent French used-EV demand soaring, and import guides promise "8 to 15%", even "up to 30%", savings on used EVs bought in Germany. We tested that.
Abstract of the French study: https://www.carlytics.eu/fr/research/used-car-prices-france-germany
- Data: 34,561 adverts from the dealer networks of four car groups (BMW, Stellantis brands, Toyota/Lexus, Kia) in both countries.
- Window: 1 September – 3 October 2026.
- Matching: same network, model, fuel, registration year and 10,000-km band.
- Pre-registered before the data pull.
Findings:
- Electric: German asking prices average 2.6% higher than French ones (95% CI +0.2% to +5.5%; 118 cells, 1,510 French and 1,524 German adverts). No robustness variant shows a German discount (+0.6% to +7.4%).
- Combustion and non-plug-in hybrids: −5.6% in Germany (95% CI −6.7% to −4.6%).
- The discount sits almost entirely in BMW petrol and diesel cars: −16.1% (95% CI −17.0% to −15.2%).
- Toyota, Kia and Stellantis: about the same in both countries (−0.8% to +1.9%).
- Plug-in hybrids: −9.7% (95% CI −10.9% to −8.4%).
- Same VIN, two countries: of 47 cars matched by exact VIN between French and other European adverts with usable mileage, 12 (26%, 95% CI 15–40%) showed mileages more than 5,000 km apart. France's official HistoVec report shows an import's first foreign registration date, nothing else from abroad.
Limits: dealer-network stock, mostly under four years old; asking prices; one month of data.