Australia’s growing electric vehicle market is beginning to create a more substantial used-EV sector, with a group of late-model XPENG G6 electric SUVs heading to auction with strong battery health results and factory-backed warranty coverage.
Fourteen 2025 XPENG G6s will be offered through Pickles’ Major Event Electric Vehicle Sale from 31 August, including near-new and demonstrator vehicles already located in Australia. All have recorded battery State of Health readings of at least 98.6 per cent and will be covered by XPENG Australia’s recently announced seven-year factory-backed warranty.
The combination highlights two issues that will become increasingly important as more EVs move from first owners and fleets into the secondary market: confidence in battery condition and certainty around manufacturer support.
Pickles General Manager, Automotive Solutions, Brendon Green, said those factors were becoming increasingly important as buyers considered electric vehicles.
“Buyer confidence is critical as the EV market develops, particularly as more brands and models enter Australia,” Green said.
“Knowing you have factory backing after you purchase the vehicle, together with independent information about battery condition before you buy, provides an important level of reassurance.”
Used EV demand continues to build
The auction comes as EVs take a larger share of Australia’s new-vehicle market and increasing numbers begin flowing into used-car channels.
According to Pickles, battery electric vehicles accounted for 21.7 per cent of Australia’s new-vehicle market in July, with 23,510 sold during the month. Chinese-built vehicles accounted for more than one in three new vehicles sold.
Green said Pickles had also seen a significant shift in buyer behaviour.
“The conversation around electric vehicles has changed incredibly quickly,” he said.
“Earlier this year we saw searches for EVs on the Pickles website more than double as fuel prices climbed, while EV auction clearance rates reached 100 per cent.”
“What we’re seeing now suggests this isn’t simply a short-term reaction. EVs are becoming a much bigger part of the Australian vehicle market and we’re seeing that increasingly flow through to the secondary market.”
For fleets considering EVs, growth in the used market is significant because residual values and remarketing performance remain important elements of whole-of-life cost calculations.
A deeper secondary market, supported by clearer battery information and continued manufacturer backing, could help reduce some of the uncertainty surrounding EV disposal values.
Battery health becomes part of remarketing
Battery condition remains one of the biggest questions surrounding used electric vehicles, particularly because the battery represents one of the vehicle’s most valuable components.
Pickles has been using independent battery testing technology from European diagnostics specialist AVILOO, providing buyers with battery certificates before bidding.
Across the 14 XPENG G6s being prepared for the auction, the lowest recorded battery State of Health was 98.6 per cent. Pickles said that compared with an average of approximately 96 per cent across EVs it had previously tested, which included substantially older and higher-mileage vehicles.
“Battery condition remains one of the first questions people ask when they consider buying a used EV, so providing buyers with independent data is incredibly important,” Green said.
“A State of Health result of at least 98.6 per cent across these vehicles gives buyers meaningful information about the condition of what is arguably the most important and expensive component of an electric vehicle.”
“Rather than asking buyers to make assumptions about battery condition, we can give them independent information before they bid.”
For fleet operators, the development of standardised and independent battery reporting could eventually become an important part of EV remarketing, giving prospective buyers greater visibility while helping sellers demonstrate vehicle condition.
More choice in the secondary market
The Australian EV market has expanded rapidly as new brands and models arrive, and Pickles expects that diversity to increasingly be reflected in the used market.
“We’ve gone from a used EV market dominated by a handful of models to one where buyers are starting to see a much broader range of vehicles, technology and price points,” Green said.
“Greater choice, manufacturer backing, better information about battery condition, and more vehicles flowing into the secondary market all help remove some of the barriers that have traditionally made buyers hesitant about used EVs.”
