There are many advantages to owning a fully electric-powered car. For starters, they’re the greenest rides on the road, generating zero tailpipe emissions. Since an electric motor delivers all of its torque immediately, EVs are quicker than many motorists might expect. It’s cheaper to run a car on electricity than petroleum, and you can charge the vehicle at home and spare yourself a weekly trip to the gas station. They’re less costly to maintain and are eligible for federal tax credits (and perhaps state incentives) to help subsidize the cost. In some areas, electric cars are eligible for free street-parking, and specially reserved spots in municipal and/or airport lots.
You might be sold on the technology, but there’s still the matter of deciding which EV is right for you.
To that end, we looked at all of the full-electric cars sold in the U.S. for the 2018 model year and narrowed the list to what we feel are the five entries most worthy of your EV dollars. We’re featuring them with commentary and key specs in the accompanying slideshow.
We’re basing our picks on an amalgam of critical considerations. Being able to run for the most miles on a charge is arguably the most important item on an EV buyer’s shopping list, with perhaps the vehicle’s sticker price coming in a close second. Aside from those critical factors we looked at each model’s equivalent fuel economy (“MPGe”), whether or not it’s offered in all 50 states, its projected reliability, and of course, the vehicle’s overall performance, utility, and styling.
Though the current crop of full electric vehicles is limited to just 13 models, the competition is expected to heat up to the boiling point for 2019 and beyond, with a long list of new battery-powered cars and crossovers headed for dealers’ showrooms. Expect ground-breaking new models next year from the likes of Audi, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo.
As they say, stay tuned.
Operating range and energy consumption estimates noted in the slideshow come from the Environmental Protection Agency’s fueleconomy.gov website; the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices (MSRPs) are for base models and include the destination charge, but not options, taxes. or fees.