I just created a brand new Car Answers / EV Facts resource page. The page will be continually updated, so make sure to bookmark it for future referencing. (You can, of course, contribute to it if you’ve got some important facts to share!)
While creating that page, I thought it would be fun to also post a slideshow of 10 clean, electric cars you can actually buy this year. That’s how this post came about.
Notably, I’m leaving Tesla’s Model S and Roadster out of this slideshow, since they’re sold out (and probably beyond the price range of most of us anyway). Can you guess which 10 cars are on the list? (Write down the ones you can think of before clicking on to the next page ;)).
Head on over to the next page to see the 1st car!
The first car on the list is the Chevy Volt — heard of it? Of course you have….
The Volt isn’t a full, 100% electric car, but it’s got a battery with 38 miles of range, more than enough for most trips. (40% of all trips in the US are within just 2 miles of home, and 50% of US workers commute 5 miles or less to work. Over 99% of trips are fewer than 50 miles in distance.) If the battery runs low, the gas-powered engine can kick in to bring the range up to 379 miles, which is completely unnecessary in most cases.
On the battery, the car gets 98 MPGe, according to the EPA. In total, the average combined rating for the Chevy Volt is 60 MPGe.
The base price (or MSRP) for the car, before tax incentives (i.e. the $7,500 federal tax incentive for electric vehicles, or other state and local tax incentives), is $39,145.
(For those who happen to be in Europe, the European version of the Volt is the Opel Ampera. Its battery reportedly has 52 miles of range on a full charge, and the car has a range of 360 miles in total. The vehicle won the 2012 European Car of the Year award, and it seems to have a starting price of £28,995 in the UK.)
–> Car #2 on the next page
Heard of the Coda? That’s much less likely, but we have written about it a few times. And, unlike the Volt, this one is a full electric vehicle.
The 2012 Coda has an 88-mile range and gets 73 MPGe, according to the EPA.
The base price (before tax credits) for the newest model of the Coda is $37,250.
–> On to car #3
The Ford Focus Electric boasts a respectable 76 miles of range and an EPA rating of 105 MPGe.
The starting price (before tax credits) is $39,200.
–> On to car #4
Its 112 MPGe is a little better than the Ford Focus Electric’s, and it actually held the top spot for MPGe for a short time (for its class). Its 62 miles of range, meanwhile, is a bit less than the Ford Focus Electric’s and the Coda’s, but it still tops the Chevy Volt’s electric range, and is well more than enough for the large majority of trips we take (over 99% of them).
The starting price for the Mitsubishi i (before tax credits) is more competitive than any car on the list so far (and 2nd on the entire list) — $29,125.
–> On to car #5
The Nissan Leaf is perhaps the most famous electric vehicle to date. The Leaf struts a 73-mile range and 99 MPGe, for a starting price of $35,200.
To be honest, while this car doesn’t have the best MPGe, best range, or best price, I do think it’s the nicest looking (yes, a superficial feature, but an important one for the huge majority of car buyers) — it has a kind of special attraction to it, in my opinion.
But I’ve never driven the car, or any of the cars on this list, and I’m completely unsure of which car I’d go for if I were in the market for one.
–> On to car #6
The Wheego LiFe is one of the only cars on this list that we’ve never written about. I haven’t been able to find a MPGe rating for it yet, but it reportedly has a 100-mile range, one of the best around — that’s actually the best that I’m aware of for any non-Tesla pure EV.
The Wheego LiFe has a starting price of $32,995.
–> On to car #7
Again, its MPGe is not listed on the site and the EPA doesn’t have that rating listed, either.
–> On to car #8
This is one we’ve featured a few times. It has the best MPGe for a car in its class, 118 MPGe. It also has a respectable 82-mile range.
The Honda Fit EV is leasing as of this summer, and it will be on sale starting in December, with a starting price of $36,625.
For some reason, I think this is one to keep an eye on… we’ll see.
–> On to car #9
The second-to-last car on the list is an electric version of the eye-catchingly tiny SMART ForTwo.
The starting price for this vehicle, without the battery, is $23,686 as a coupe and $27,557 as a convertible — the battery in such cases is available to rent, starting at $81 per month.
Alternatively, the car can be bought with the battery at a starting price of $29,661 for the coupe or $33,532 for the convertible.
The 3rd/current generation of this car gets a good 87 MPGe. It’s range, coincidentally (or not), is also 87 miles.
–> On to the last car on this list… car #10
This car, in actuality, is probably outside the price range of most of us. The Fisker Karma clocks in at a whopping $102,000 starting price tag at the cash register.
Notably, this car also isn’t 100% electric. It has a decent 50-mile range on its battery, and 300 miles of range in total. However, for EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, it has quite a low 54 MPGe on the battery and 20 MPG on gas.
But Justin Bieber seems pretty happy with his chrome Karma, which he received (black) as a birthday present on Ellen a few months ago:
As received on his birthday:
So, which car would you go with out of these 10?
If you need a refresher, they are as follows:
- Chevy Volt / Opel Ampera
- Coda
- Ford Focus Electric
- Mitsubishi i
- Nissan Leaf
- Wheego LiFe
- Wheego Whip
- Honda Fit EV
- SMART ForTwo Cabriolet
- Fisker Karma
And, remember, you can head on over to our new Car Answers / EV Facts resource page for more info on electric vehicles.
For more, connect with me on Google+ or zacharyshahan.com.