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It’s finally time. You’ve decided to make the switch and join the zero-emission club. Buying your first electric car comes with a whole new experience. Once you feel the instant torque, upgraded technology, and smoother drive, you will never go back. Now the question becomes how do you choose which electric car to buy? Here are a few factors to consider.

How to choose your first electric car

Like with any major purchase, it’s good to know your options and what to look for. You wouldn’t blindly buy a house without knowing how the inside looks or feels. The same holds true when purchasing an electric car.

Americans are buying electric vehicles (EVs) at a record pace as new electric models appear in showrooms. According to Cox Automotive, electric cars accounted for 5.6% of the total auto market this past quarter, more than doubling from 2.7% in 2021.

Tesla remains the dominant brand, yet most major automakers at this point have introduced their own electric models and are beginning to scale production.

With more options than ever, where do you start? It’s not as complicated as it may seem for first-time buyers. However, there are a few things you should consider before choosing the right EV for you. Here are a few tips and considerations for selecting your first electric car.

first-electric-car
Hyundai IONIQ 5 Source: Hyundai

Price and incentives

Yes, there are incentives to buy electric cars. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, extends the up to $7,500 tax credit for new electric car purchases and provides a $4,000 credit for used ones.

For an EV to be eligible, though, it must meet strict battery sourcing and assembly requirements. You can find a list of electric cars eligible for the tax credit here.

Several popular EV models make the list, including:

  • Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV
  • Ford F-150 Lightning
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E
  • Nissan Leaf
  • Tesla Model 3
  • Tesla Model Y

The average price for an electric vehicle in September 2022 is just over $65,000. However, that doesn’t mean that all EVs cost that much. For example, here are a few of the most affordable electric cars on the market and their starting prices:

Starting price
2023 Chevy Bolt EV $25,600
2023 Chevy Bolt EUV $27,200
2023 Nissan Leaf $28,040
2023 Hyundai Kona Electric $33,550
2023 Volkswagen ID.4 $37,495
Most affordable electric cars list
first-electric-car
2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Source: Chevrolet

Driving range

Another huge consideration when buying your first electric car is how far it will travel on a full charge. The range is one of the most critical factors for drivers. Do you mostly commute to work? How often do you travel long distances? Do you live in a house or an apartment?

These are a few questions you may want to ask before deciding which EV is right for you. Here are the electric cars with the highest range and their starting prices to make it easy for you.

Range (est.) Starting Price
Lucid Air Dream Edition 520 $169,000
Tesla Model S 375 $109,490
Tesla Model 3 Long Range 358 $62,990
Mercedes Benz EQS 350 $102,310
Tesla Model X 333 $120,990
Tesla Model Y 330 $67,990
EVs with the longest range in 2022
first-electric-car-1
Tesla Model S Source: Tesla

Vehicle type

Why not choose a car you love driving? Electric cars offer a driving experience that’s superior to their gas-powered counterparts. With instant torque, you can feel the power behind the wheel. Furthermore, because they have no internal combustion engine and fewer moving parts, EVs are quieter and offer a smoother ride.

At the same time, you don’t have to give up your favorite type of vehicle by switching to electric cars. Automakers have introduced an EV in every category to fit all driver styles. Below are a few examples in each category.

Electric car model
Sedan Tesla Model 3
Crossover/
compact
Kia EV6
Tesla Model Y
Hyundai Kona EV
Chevy Bolt EV
Chevy Bolt EUV
Ford Mustang Mach-E
Polestar 2
Volvo C40
SUV Hyundai IONIQ 5
Volkswagen ID.4
Rivian R1S
Jaguar I-Pace
Chevrolet Blazer EV
Audi e-tron
Kia Niro EV
Mercedes EQS
Truck Ford F-150 Lightning
GMC Hummer EV
Rivian R1T
Luxury Tesla Model X
Lucid Air
Types of electric cars
Kia Niro EV Source: KIA

Charging considerations

Last and certainly not least is charging availability. If you own a home, it’s ideal to have a charging option at home. This way, every morning you wake up, you will have a fully charged electric car ready to take on the day. It’s common for about 80% of charging to be done at home.

To state the obvious, it’s best to place the charger where you typically park. However, not all EV models will have the charging point in the same location (some are near the back, while others can be in the grille).

The next thing you will want to factor in is the charging speed. Most new EVs will come with a level 1 charger, the slowest equipment using the standard 120-volt connection. Level 1 can take ten or more hours to charge your EV.

You can upgrade to a level 2 charger, but it will require a 240-volt power source. Meanwhile, Level 2 charging units can fully charge an electric car in around 3 to 8 hours.

For those who don’t own a home, it’s okay. There are charging options for you, too. You can always talk to your apartment manager to see if EV charging installation is viable (it makes a good investment)

If that’s not an option, plenty of public options are available. Automakers like Tesla are building their own Supercharging network, allowing drivers the freedom to go anywhere. Meanwhile, federal funding is contributing to the rollout of a national EV charging network.

Other companies, such as ChargePoint and EVgo, provide chargers to private businesses and for public use, expanding access further.

Most electric vehicles use the latest in connected technology, letting you know when and where to charge so you know exactly how far you can travel.

Which electric car will you choose first?

Your ideal first electric car will depend on several factors, including your budget, travel habits, and lifestyle. To get you started, here are a few of my top electric vehicle choices for first-time buyers:

Top electric cars for first-time buyers

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Tesla tops 36 car Autopilot test, affordable Model Y spied, and a $5,000 EV

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Tesla tops 36 car Autopilot test, affordable Model Y spied, and a ,000 EV

Credit where credit is due: in a massive, 32-car multinational independent test, Tesla’s Autopilot ADAS came out on top, the new affordable Tesla turns out to be a corner-cutting Model Y, and one of the company’s original founders compares the Cybertruck to a dumpster. All this and more on today’s episode of Quick Charge!

Today’s episode is brought to you by Retrospec – the makers of sleek, powerful e-bikes and outdoor gear built for everyday adventure! To that end, we’ve got a pair of Retrospec e-bike reviews followed up by a super cute, super affordable new EV from China with nearly 150 miles of range for less than $5,000 USD.

PLUS: listeners can get an extra 10% off by using code ELECTREK10 at retrospec.com!

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (most weeks, anyway). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Tesla teases new Roadster as ‘the last best driver’s car’

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Tesla teases new Roadster as 'the last best driver's car'

Tesla is again teasing the new Roadster, which is now five years late, as “the last driver’s car” before self-driving takes over.

The chicken or the egg. Is Tesla delaying the Roadster to match the development of self-driving technology, or is it delaying the development of self-driving technology to match the delayed release of the Roadster?

The prototype for the next-generation Tesla Roadster was first unveiled in 2017, and it was initially scheduled to enter production in 2020; however, it has been delayed every year since then.

It was supposed to achieve a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.

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It has become a sort of running joke, and there are doubts that it will ever come to market despite Tesla’s promise of dozens of free new Roadsters to Tesla owners who participated in its referral program years ago.

Tesla used the promise of free Roadsters to help generate billions of dollars worth of sales, which Tesla owners delivered; however, the automaker never delivered on its part of the agreement.

Furthermore, many people placed deposits ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to reserve the vehicle, which was initially scheduled to hit the market five years ago.

When unveiling the vehicle, CEO Elon Musk described it as a “halo car” that would deliver a “smack down” to gasoline vehicles.

That was almost eight years ago, and many electric hypercars have since launched and delivered this smackdown.

Tesla has partly blamed the delays on improving the next-gen Roadsters and added features like the “SpaceX package,” which is supposed to include cold air thrusters to enable the vehicle to fly – Musk has hinted.

Many people don’t believe any of it, as Tesla has said that it would launch the new Roadster every year for the last 5 years and never did.

Now, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s head of vehicle engineering, made a rare new comment about the next-generation Roadster during an interview at the X Takeover event, an annual gathering of Elon Musk cultists, last weekend.

He referred to Tesla’s next-gen Roadster as the “last best driver’s car” and said that the automaker did “some cool demos” for Musk last week:

We spent a lot of time in the last few years rethinking what we did, and why we did it, and what would make an awesome and exciting last best driver’s car. We’ve been making it better and better, and it is even a little bit more than a car. We showed Elon some cool demos last week and tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.

The timing matches Musk’s recent claim that Tesla is going to have ‘the most epic demo ever, ’ but we heard that one before.

We suspected that the comment might be about the Tesla Roadster, as the CEO made the exact same comment about Roadster demos in 2019 and 2024. You will not be shocked to hear that these demos never happen.

Electrek’s Take

The “last best driver’s car” before computers are going to drive us everywhere. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy if you continue to delay the car. It might literally be the last car ever made that way. How would we ever know?

The truth is that the Roadster was cool when it was unveiled in 2017, but that was a long time ago. Tesla would need to update the car quite a bit to make it cool in 2025, and I don’t know that cold air clusters are it. You will have extreme limitations using those.

The Roadster is almost entirely in the “put up or shut up” category for me at Tesla. They need to stop talking about it and make it happen; otherwise, I can’t believe a word.

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Kia’s electric van spotted in the US again, but will it ever launch?

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Kia's electric van spotted in the US again, but will it ever launch?

The PV5 is already available in several markets, but will Kia launch it in the US? After Kia’s electric van was spotted testing in the US again, a US debut could be in the works.

Is Kia’s electric van coming to the US?

Kia launched the PV5, the first dedicated electric van from its new Platform Beyond vehicle (PBV) business, in South Korea and Europe earlier this year, promising it will roll out in “other global markets” in 2026.

Will that include the US? Earlier this year, Kia’s electric van was caught charging at a station in Indiana. Photos and a video sent to Electrek by Alex Nguyen confirmed it was, in fact, the PV5.

Kia has yet to say if it will sell the PV5 in the US, likely due to the Trump Administration’s new auto tariffs. All electric vans, or PBVs, including the PV5, will be built at Kia’s Hwaseong plant in South Korea, which means they will face a stiff 25% tariff as imports.

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Following another sighting, a US debut cannot be ruled out. The PV5 Passenger model was spotted by Automotive Validation Engineer Chris Higa (@Chrisediting) while testing in Arizona.

There’s no denying that’s Kia’s electric van, but it doesn’t necessarily confirm it will launch in the US. But it could make sense.

Despite record first-half sales in the US, Kia’s EV sales have fallen significantly. Sales of the EV9 and EV6 are nearly 50% less than in the first half of 2024.

To be fair, part of it is due to the new model year changeover, but Kia is also doubling down on the US market by boosting local production. Earlier this year, Kia said the EV6 and EV9 are now in full-scale production at its West Point, GA, facility.

The PV5 Passenger (shown above) is available in Europe with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, rated with WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant has the same battery options but offers a WLTP range of either 181 miles or 247 miles.

During its PV5 Tech Day event last week, Kia revealed plans for seven PV5 body types, including an Open Bed (similar to a pickup), a Light Camper, and even a luxury “Prime” passenger model.

Kia's-electric-van-US
Kia PV5 tech day (Source: Kia)

Kia is set to begin deliveries of the PV5 Passenger and Cargo Long variants in South Korea next month, followed by Europe and other global markets, starting in Q4 2025. As for a US launch, we will have to wait for the official word from Kia.

Do you want Kia to bring its electric van to the US? Drop us a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

Source: Chris Higa, TheKoreanCarBlog

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