Here’s one of those strange quirks of the automotive business.
The most popular used electric vehicle, based on sales in the Jacksonville metropolitan area between 2019 and 2020, was the Fiat 500e, according to iSeeCars, an automotive search engine.
But new 500e's were never available for sale in Florida, although their gasoline-fueled twins, the 500, were.
The Fiat 500e was only sold in California and Oregon. Automakers sometimes offer electric or plug-in hybrid models that are only sold new in California and a few other states, due to higher demand there because of stricter emissions caps in those states.
iSeeCars looked at more than 54,000 used EV sales from 2019 to 2020 to determine the most popular used EVs in each metro area. The Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S were ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the Jacksonville metro area, while the Model S was the No. 1 in sales statewide with a 22.5% share of the used EV market.
Electric Fiats are making their way into Jacksonville as used car dealerships buy the cars as they come off their leases at auctions, and dealerships across the country list their inventories on the internet. The 500e can often be found listed for below $14,000, depending on the mileage and model year, although they sold new for more than $33,000 before incentives.
Fiat recently stopped selling new gas and electric versions of the 500 in the U.S. altogether, although the Italian automaker has introduced a next-generation electric-only 500 in Europe.
If the car you want isn’t in Jacksonville, chances are you can still find it with a few clicks of a mouse, and some dealerships offer nationwide shipping.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
