Turns Out People Do Want To Buy Hybrids And Electric Cars

They just don't want to pay so much to buy them.

Automotive research site iSeeCars has published an interesting study looking at the fastest-selling late-model used cars in America after analyzing over four million one- to three-year old used cars sold from January through July 2018. The biggest surprise is that not a single SUV, crossover, or pickup truck made the list.

Topping the list is the Toyota Prius C, which only stays on the used car market for an average of 29.6 days. In second place is the Tesla Model S, spending an average of 32.4 days on used car dealer lots. Since it’s in high demand, buying a new Model S means waiting at least a month for delivery, but buying a used model cuts out the wait time.

The BMW i3 plug-in hybrid ranks third at 33.4 days, which iSeeCars attributes to its affordable price. A used late-model i3 usually sells for $23,964 on average compared to a new model that costs an average of $53,503. Rounding off the top five fastest-selling used cars is the Toyota Prius (33.4 days) and Chevrolet Volt (34.3 days). You may have noticed a trend here – all five of the best-selling used cars are either hybrid or fully electric, despite the strong demand for new SUVs and trucks and slow sales of electrified models on the new car market. It suggests consumers are interested in hybrid and electric cars but can’t afford to buy a new one.

“When buying a new car, hybrids on average are 20 percent more expensive than conventional gasoline-fuel cars, so buying them used is an effective way to offset that added cost,” said iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly. “The performance of hybrid and electric cars, especially the Prius, has helped consumers abandon their initial concerns about battery life, and this perception change has contributed to the rising popularity of these vehicles.”

According to iSeeCars, the average late model used vehicle takes 46.4 days to sell, but some take a lot longer. The slowest-selling late-model used car is the Porsche Cayenne, which typically stays on the market for 67.8 days before being sold.

Turns Out The New F90 BMW M5 Isn't Much More Powerful Than The F10

But it's still far more usable.

A few months ago, some curious BMW enthusiasts put the new F90 M5 on a dyno to find out how much power it really produces. BMW claims the car has 600 horsepower and can sprint from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds. As it turns out, this claim was highly conservative because the dyno test showed an output of 626 hp (around 690 hp before drivetrain loss), while Car and Driver claims it took them just 2.8 seconds to reach 60 mph. Now a new video from Evolve Automotive shows that the M5 could produce even more power and a very special torque curve.

After putting the M5 on the dyno, Evolve discovered that it produced 631 hp at around 5,800 rpm (around 694 hp before drivetrain loss). This may not be a huge amount more than the last time the car was tested, but we imagine that the 625 hp M5 Competition could easily break the 700 hp figure on the dyno.

The more interesting part of the test was the torque figure, which wasn't too much more than BMW's rating of 553 lb-ft rating. Though the number isn't underrated like the power figure, the torque curve is extremely linear, with peak torque available from 2,200 rpm all the way up to 5,800 rpm.

This means that no matter where you are in the rev range, the M5 will deliver peak torque on demand. Interestingly, the old F10 M5 also produced a similarly underrated 630 hp, but couldn't come close to the F90's torque curve. On paper, the two cars seem extremely similar, as the F90 uses an upgraded version of the F10's 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8. However, this dyno test proves that the F90 is far more usable in the real world and has a huge advantage thanks to its linear torque curve and all-wheel-drive system.