Oh, look. Another tech publication has peered into its silicon crystal ball and decided that the “Electric Vehicle Revolution” is finally coming to the masses, not through innovation or altruism, but through the glorious, grease-stained miracle of the used car lot. According to a recent piece from The Verge, we are about to be submerged in a tidal wave of pre-owned EVs—over a million by 2028, if you believe Cox Automotive’s math—and this is supposed to be the “Great Equalizer” for the average commuter.

Grab your charging cables and your sense of skepticism, because we need to talk about why this “influx” might look less like a consumer paradise and more like a high-voltage garage sale.

First, let’s address the sheer optimism regarding the “lease-to-used” pipeline. The article excitedly notes that lease expirations are jumping from 123,000 in 2025 to a staggering 660,000 by 2028. In the world of basic economics, more supply equals lower prices. Groundbreaking stuff. But in the world of actual reality, a 3-year-old EV isn’t just a “used car”—it’s a piece of consumer electronics. Imagine being told in 2026 that you can finally afford a flagship smartphone, provided it’s a 2023 model with a degraded battery, outdated software, and a charging port that’s already being phased out. Groundbreaking? More like “grounded.”

The claim is that because 76 percent of Americans buy used, these million-odd EVs will find homes easily. That assumes a used EV is a direct substitute for a used Honda Civic. Spoiler alert: it isn’t. When you buy a ten-year-old gas car, you’re worried about a timing belt or a transmission. When you buy a used EV from the first mass-market lease wave, you’re essentially playing a high-stakes game of “Will the Battery Cost More Than the Car?” A “dramatically lower price” on a used EV is usually just the market’s way of saying, “Good luck with that $15,000 replacement cell in three years.”

Then there’s the “accessibility” argument. The article suggests that as prices drop, EVs become accessible to everyone. How thoughtful. We’re going to dump hundreds of thousands of used EVs into the hands of people who, statistically, are more likely to live in apartments, park on the street, or rent homes where the landlord’s idea of “infrastructure” is a flickering porch light. Giving someone a cheap EV without a place to charge it is like giving a desert nomad a discount on a jet ski. It’s “accessible,” sure, but it’s mostly just a very heavy paperweight that requires a three-hour trip to a suburban Target parking lot once a week.

Let’s also have a moment of silence for the “residual value” of the people currently buying new EVs. The article frames this price collapse as a win. If you’re the person who bought a new EV in 2024, only to watch the market get flooded with half-priced clones of your car by 2027, you haven’t “participated in a revolution.” You’ve participated in a wealth-shredding event. Nothing builds brand loyalty like watching your $50,000 investment depreciate faster than a bag of open avocados.

And can we talk about the “660,000 leases expiring” figure for 2028? That’s not just a supply statistic; it’s a report card. If a massive number of people are handing their keys back to the dealership instead of buying out their leases, it might just mean they’ve spent three years realizing that the “charging lifestyle” involves a lot more staring at a dull infotainment screen in a Walmart parking lot than they anticipated. A surge in used supply is often just a polite way of saying “mass rejection by the original owners.”

The Verge is right about one thing: prices will go down. But they aren’t going down because of some benevolent shift in the winds of trade. They’re going down because EVs are evolving so fast that last year’s model looks like a steam engine, and the infrastructure to support them is still a tragic comedy of “Out of Order” signs and broken apps.

The used EV market isn’t going to save the world by 2028; it’s just going to provide a very affordable way for people to learn exactly why the original lessees gave the cars back. But hey, at least your “accessible” 2025 crossover will look great sitting in your driveway while you wait for a charging station that actually works.