Electric vehicles exist in a weird limbo between mainstream and back-of-mind. Most people I’ve talked to still have the mindset that these vehicles are just not ready yet because they “don’t have enough range” or “charge too slow.” This general dismissal is annoying because people seem to have formed these ideas when the Nissan Leaf came out and never thought about it again. The situation is getting better, as I see many more electric vehicles on the road now, but plenty of people still just don’t know. Now, if you are one of those people, then I’m not saying that you’re a fool for believing that, I’m just here to bring some education.
Now if you’re one of those people who don’t believe climate change is real or hate electric vehicles from some obscene reason like “They’re turning all the kids gay,” “They’re chinese” or “I love my big diesel” then go back into your cave and call me when the deep state kills us all.
Anyways, if you’re sane, and especially if you live in a sort-of suburban environment, there’s really no better option than an EV. Now, if you’re worried about range, then don’t be. Do you drive 500 miles every day? No? Then modern electric vehicle range is of no concern to you. Three hundred miles is the median right now for new electric vehicles. The occasional road trip won’t phase most modern electric vehicles either. I should now, I’ve been on several 500 mile road trips in a 2022 KIA EV6.
One advantage the EV6 has is its charging speed. The KIA EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Genesis GV60 all are made on the same platform and therefore have the same 800v charging architecture that allows them to go from 10% to 80% on a 350 kw Charger in 18 minutes according to Kia, and I can attest to that. That’s one of, if not the fastest charging on an electric vehicles right now.
If your concern is the charging network, then here’s the thing: to most owners of electric vehicles, it would make no difference if there were 1 million chargers or one. That’s because you just charge your car at home. It just sits in the garage and charges, waiting for when you need it. If you ever do need to go on a road trip, I’ll admit the public charging network for non-tesla electric vehicles is not incredibly reliable, and I’ve experienced that firsthand. Of course, the cost saving alone is huge compared to gas.
Now, gas is no longer that expensive, but it could easily be in the future. Even at current rates compared to charging at home, the price difference is huge. Home electricity is cheap and clean and most of our power around here comes from solar or hydro. Heck, a ton of people could charge their cars for free from the solar on their house. There also is basically zero maintenance cost. You never really have to service it (despite what dealers may say) because the number of moving parts is the number of motors you have on the car. Our EV6 has had no problems in the around a year and 14,000 miles we’ve had the car for, we’ve had no issues at all. We brought our EV6 in for a “service” yesterday, which the car demanded we do every time we started it in the past month or so. We gave it to the dealer, and nothing. Everything works, they told us, so basically all that happened is they topped up our washer fluid. Your mileage may vary on whatever model you buy in terms of reliability. That’s because even though the most reliable cars according to Consumer Reports, are the Tesla Model 3 and Nissan Leaf, other electric vehicles are a bit more scattered, so do your research, though most likely a software bug will be your problem if you have one.
Now, there is the ugly question of upfront cost. Yes, generally, electric vehicles are more expensive than their gas-using counterparts, but it’s worth it. Don’t forget the aforementioned dirt-cheap running costs as well as federal and state electric tax credits. They also apply (in a smaller capacity) to used EVs as well. Those credits, according to the state of Oregon, aren’t actually claimed by most people. Those could knock off as much as 10 grand off the purchase price. But everyone just leases new cars anyways, and those tax credits apply to leases as well. If you’re a High Schooler like me, any car at all is too expensive and like me, you’re just getting whatever old car from your parents. But, if you got the money, you know how to spend it.
If you’re more automotively literate, then you may have heard the argument that the environmental cost of electric vehicle production nullifies its green credentials. MIT did a study to find out how long it takes for an electric vehicle to overcome its production costs, and the average they came up with is six to 18 months. Your time may be longer, but it’s going to be about a year or so generally. That’s a blink of an eye in the lifespan of most cars. On average, Americans keep their cars for 11.5 years. As well, you can be pretty sure most battery components are sourced ethically (as much as mining can be) because of the inflation reduction act. It requires cars to have most of their battery components sourced from North America or U.S. free trade partners if they want to qualify for the electric vehicle tax credit. It’s more complicated than that, but you get the idea.
So, now we move on to our bonus round: recommendations. There’s plenty of material out there that’ll give you recommendations on what specific cars to buy. But here’s an abridged list sorted by price: (Prices come from places like Autotrader.com).
Around $10,000:
Old Nissan leafs. Won’t take you that far, but as previously mentioned, it doesn’t really matter.
Crica $15,000:
Better Nissan leafs, and VW E-golf. Get an E-golf with the DC fast charging package. Plenty of good options.
$20,000 to $25,000
2-4 year old chevy bolts are a smokin’ deal. So are old Teslas.
$30,000 to $35,000
On the lower end, you’ve got new and nearly new Chevy Bolt evs and EUVs. Hyundai Konas, and used Teslas. Tons of great stuff, just go with the one that fits your needs the best.
$40,000 to $45,000
Great quality used Teslas. But you can treat yourself to something new like a VW ID.4. That’s the best one you can get in this price bracket for new cars.
$50,000 to $60,000
Get the Kia EV6 or Hyundai Ioniq 5. You could also get a Model y or Model 3, delivery times be damned!
$70,000
Dude, knock yourself out.
