Within my original budget of $10-15k I could really only afford an old Nissan Leaf, so that would have been that. The battery would have probably degraded enough that it would have just been for in-town use and we would have kept borrowing a car or bought a cheap gas car for longer trips. However, with a bigger budget I was able to consider several other options, including some new cars. 

I still wasn’t ready to go all-in on an EV, not knowing what it was going to be like to live with. Plug-in hybrids are one option in that situation, but the only ones really in my price range were the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Kia Niro – both of which were not very highly rated. Since we needed two cars anyway I just decided to get a do-it-all gas car and an affordable EV. 

Not being familiar with the charging infrastructure, but knowing that it was the source of most trouble for EV drivers, I did not plan on charging much on the road. However, we often drive to Houston, which is about 200 miles, one way. I wanted to get something that could do that trip without charging on the way. From what I remember, in mid-2021 that meant a Tesla, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV, Chevrolet Bolt EV, Audi e-tron, or Jaguar I-Pace. The VW ID.4 was also coming out around that time, as well as the Volvo XC40 Recharge & Polestar 2. 

Even with a bigger budget, most of those were quickly eliminated due to price. In mid-2021 the car market was rapidly changing. Used car prices were rapidly rising due to COVID, but the new car market had not really been affected yet. Under normal circumstances I would have bought used. However, when I compared new versus used I saw that used cars were in some cases selling for more than new ones and to get a used car for cheaper it had to be at least 3-4 years old. The used EV market varied a bit more, but it was still not a good deal, generally speaking. Despite the high price of buying new it just seemed foolish to buy used at the time. 

To sum it up: the Jaguar and Audi were immediately eliminated due to price. Tesla as well. Even though the Model 3 was pitched as THE affordable EV (and I don’t dispute its value) it was well out of my price range, especially since they didn’t qualify for a tax credit at the time. Polestar and Volvo, if they were available, were not on my radar at the time. The Kona was (is?) not sold in Texas so that was out. That left the Niro EV, Bolt EV, ID.4…and an odd outlier – the BMW i3.