Electric vehicle owners in Israel are facing a new reality: EV sales are on a downward trend. The reasons behind the decline are well known—consumer confusion, an influx of brands, rising licensing and insurance costs and a market that appears to have reached saturation after EVs accounted for nearly 25% of all new car sales last year.
Israel’s automotive market is volatile, and while recent months have seen a decline, this does not necessarily indicate the long-term outlook. The transition to electric mobility remains inevitable. However, in the coming months, the market is expected to experience a drop in used EV prices, driven by aggressive sales campaigns from importers. Just last week, Geo Mobility, the importer of Geely and Zeekr, joined the wave of promotions, offering sector-specific discounts worth thousands of shekels on various models.
One reason for the market “cooling” is a shift in consumer mindset. Buyers have moved past the early excitement of flashy tech features—such as large screens—and are now prioritizing practical, value-retaining vehicles.
With Israeli consumers constantly bombarded by marketing messages about “luxury” and “innovation” from brands that were virtually unknown in the country a year ago, navigating the flood of information has become increasingly difficult. Many of these brands are newcomers, lacking the established reputation of having been in Israel for decades. So how can buyers ensure their EV will hold its value?
The answer lies in both technical and market-related factors. Unlike gasoline or hybrid vehicles, EVs require a different set of features to maintain strong resale value. Here’s what to look for in a new electric car to ensure it retains its worth in the used car market.
When it comes to charging, not all electric vehicles are created equal. EVs rely on two types of charging: DC fast charging, typically used at public stations, and AC charging, which occurs at home or standard public chargers. Fast charging is less critical—it’s mainly for emergencies on long road trips.
AC charging, however, is what owners use daily, and it comes in two types: single-phase and three-phase. Single-phase charging is painfully slow, often taking over 10 hours to fully charge a battery—sometimes even longer. Most public chargers and new residential buildings offer three-phase charging, which is much faster. No EV owner wants to discover their car takes an entire night to fully charge. Vehicles with single-phase charging, like the Forthing S7 and Leapmotor 10C, are likely to struggle in the used car market.
Sharp-eyed Geely customers may have noticed that the entry-level version of the popular Geely Geometry C, which offered less than 400 km (250 miles) of range, is no longer sold in Israel. Last year, major trade-in networks announced they would no longer accept EVs with a range under 400 km—and for good reason.
Just like slow charging, driving range is a key factor in EV practicality. True, most Israeli drivers travel less than 100 km a day, but that rare long-distance trip—300 km or more—can turn into a stressful ordeal of constantly checking the battery gauge. Public chargers are expensive, wait times are long and no one enjoys standing around at a charging station. As a result, EVs that don’t offer at least 400 km of official range are expected to see a sharp drop in resale value.
“Our EVs are the most innovative,” “We’re a premium brand,” “A celebrity chef drives our car”—when importers market little-known brands to Israeli consumers, anything goes. But in reality, what determines a brand’s success in Israel is hard sales data—especially for new brands.
In 2024, Israel saw an influx of new EV brands, but some are already struggling. For many, it’s clear they won’t be major success stories. The only way to gauge whether a brand is truly succeeding is to track monthly sales reports published by the Israel Vehicle Importers Association.
That said, even sales data comes with a fair share of manipulation. Importers register cars under their own names, push vehicles into fleet markets without them ever hitting the road and more. But at the end of the day, what sells matters—and the numbers don’t lie.
In 2024, tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles flooded the Israeli market ahead of an expected tax increase. Many importers were left with excess stock, offloading large numbers of cars to used car dealerships, where they are now being sold as “zero-mile, first-owner” vehicles.
Unlike the sleek showrooms of official dealerships, these used car lots operate in a different reality—no sharply dressed sales reps, no air-conditioned lounges, just aggressive pricing, online promotions, financing deals and trade-in offers.
For buyers, this means one thing: purchasing a popular EV as a “zero-mile, first-owner” car means entering direct competition with these dealers when it comes time to resell. Anyone trying to sell a six-month or one-year-old EV will quickly realize that dealerships are offering the same models at significantly reduced prices, driving down resale value.
How can buyers protect themselves? A simple Google search of the desired model along with the term “zero-mile, first-owner” can reveal whether an importer is struggling with excess inventory. If the market is oversaturated with a particular model, anyone purchasing it brand-new from the dealership could face serious resale challenges down the line.
Recent weeks have seen massive EV discounts: up to 15,000 shekels off Changan models, thousands in incentives for Maxus from UMI, exclusive deals for Zeekr through the “Hever” program for security forces and aggressive sales campaigns from MG.
These discounts don’t appear because the cars are selling well. On the contrary, importers are slashing prices because they’re struggling to move inventory.
Shoppers dazzled by steep discounts should ask themselves: What do these price cuts signal? Why is the importer offering them? How will this impact the vehicle’s future value? In many cases, buyers must recognize that a car struggling in the new market won’t magically become a sought-after model in the used car market. Quite the opposite—the secondhand market is a reflection of new car sales. Models that are hard to sell when new will likely struggle just as much when resold.
Israel’s EV market is flooded with brands that rely on a single model—often a Chinese-made electric crossover—without a broader lineup of sedans, compacts or other vehicle types.
When buyers realize that a car manufacturer has no significant presence beyond a single model, they often lose interest. This leads to frequent discount campaigns, “special edition” releases boasting slightly longer range or extra features and other marketing gimmicks that erode resale value.
Israel’s automotive market follows regulatory standards set by Europe, the U.S. and Canada. In simple terms, if a vehicle is approved for sale in those regions, it can be imported to Israel. However, there are exceptions—certain vehicles can be imported under Europe’s “small series” regulation, which allows up to 400 units per year of a model that does not meet full European safety and quality standards.
This means some of these cars come with partial safety systems or other compromises that importers may prefer to keep under wraps. Since these models are inherently less common—and often less safe—they are unlikely to gain widespread popularity in Israel and will suffer greater depreciation.
How can buyers identify these vehicles? Simply ask the importer whether the car falls under the “small series” classification. Currently, several models in Israel meet this definition, including the older-generation Leapmotor T03, the previous-generation Forthing Friday, and the JAC 30. If a car is classified as a “small series” import, its resale value is likely to decline significantly.
