This Electric Vehicles fact sheet (PDF) serves as an intro to EVs. The first page summarizes the cars available on the market now, and the second page goes through the basics of electric vehicles. If you do just one thing while visiting this website, do this: grab this PDF and take a long look at it later. It’s two pages, designed to be printed out double-sided and handed out.
But you can get this information from national news sources, right? Why refer to this list from some guy on the internet? Here’s why:
This fact sheet is quite dense since it is summarizes of a lot of information onto one sheet of paper. Some of the shorthand used in the sheet:
August 2025 update note
Well, here we are: Trump and Co killed the tax credit that had been revamped and improved only three years ago. You now have until 30-Sep-2025 to take advantage of the $7500 of federal support for buying a new EV (and the $4000 for a used EV). And you shouldn’t dawdle, because dealer stock (both new and used) is already getting picked over by shoppers who realized this before you did.
With that in mind, this update has been accelerated from the usual September timeframe. Here are the notable changes.
The Honda Prologue has now been added to the chart. This is Honda’s first serious EV, something that Honda brand loyalists have been waiting for, and it appears to be a hit. It’s based on the Chevy Blazer (GM’s Ultium platform) so right out of the gate it’s a great EV, with good reviews and brisk sales already. Note that the Acura ZDX is on the same platform. That said, generally you should think twice about buying the first EV from any carmaker, since they may start to fall apart or be poorly supported after three years, and so these new models are great for leasing.
Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 is now being built at the huge new plant in Savannah, and Kia has the EV6 and EV9 models rolling out of West Point GA, so if you get one of those you’re scoring a win for the home team. All three qualify for the tax credit, and all three now have the Tesla/NACS port and can directly use most of the sites in Tesla’s vast nationwide “supercharger” DCFC network — no adapter required. (See however my “perfect EV checklist” that points out that a Tesla/NACS port is not that important, and that insisting on it is a novice move, just like insisting on 300+ mile range.)
The old Nissan Leaf is still on the chart, but this might be the last update that keeps it. Nissan is about to start delivering the new Gen3 Leaf to US dealers, and with a sub-$30k starting price (and even lower when the base S trim comes out), the Leaf will be the new EV price leader, especially with the loss of the tax credit that currently allows the Chevy Equinox to claim the top of the table. Nonetheless, an “old” Gen2 Leaf is an OK choice, as long as you understand that its Chademo DCFC port is a dead-end and so the EV can’t be relied on for roadtrips, unlike literally every other model on the market.
The Polestar 2 sedan has dropped off the chart; apparently they have suspended sales of the car while they revamp it. The Polestar 3 mid-size SUV is now available and you’ll find it in the fine print with the more expensive EVs, and the new Polestar 4 compact SUV is coming soon.
There are lots of new PHEV options! That smaller PHEV chart on the backside of the sheet now lists multiple new crossover SUV options from Kia (x2), Dodge and Mazda. The more expensive SUVs (from the Germans, mostly) are now in the fine print there. BMW continues to offer many PHEV options, and Lexus now has two as well. However, you should note that PHEVs have more complicated drivetrains (literally two of them) and are more prone to failure, definitely worse than EVs now, and this is especially true for the units made during the first year of model production.
Given the sudden attention to EVs due to the impending loss of the tax credit, much of the rest of this website has been reviewed and updated. First and foremost, the EV tax credits page here has been completely revamped, with links to lots of great resources including great ones from Plug In America. Further though, the following pages have also been revamped this month: state fees and HOV lane access, EV leasing, and guidance for buying used, both generally and specifically about the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Chevy Bolt and Tesla models. By the time you read this, it’s likely that the home charging and public charging / roadtrips pages will have been similarly overhauled. All of these pages are linked at top of of every page on this website, either in the left-side menu or right-side menu.
EV veterans here in Georgia will recall the rush to buy EVs in the spring of 2015 just as the Georgia tax credit was coming to an end, so we’re feeling some deja vu right now. The summer of 2025 is one of those uniquely great times to be in the market for an EV, so again, as stated at the top, don’t just take these MSRPs as a given, because manufacturers (via their dealers) may be heavily discounting the model you’re interested in. Seriously, just google your model name of interest and “discount” and see what news comes up, or if you’re smarter you’ll check out the Electrek links at the top of this page. Pick your favorite car and then go shopping — you may be surprised at how low they will go! But don’t wait until the end of September, because the dealer stock is getting picked over and snapped up.
General comments on purchasing, leasing and buying used
For a full decade we had been discouraging the purchase of any new EV — we recommended that you only leased new EVs. This was because EV technology was rapidly improving, including the range (in miles) and the charging speed (in kW), and you didn’t want to be stuck with a suddenly inferior car that was also plummeting in resale value. However, starting at around 2019-2020, EV technology reached a point where we think it’s now OK to buy outright instead of lease — the technology continues to improve, but it has slowed down from the torrid pace of the 2010s. New models now typically offer at least 250 miles of range and at least 100 kW of DC Fast Charging power. Those two minimum numbers mean the car is good enough for pain-free roadtrips, and you’ll be much less likely to regret the purchase years from now. That said, you may have your own reasons for wanting to lease (or try out a “lease takeover”!), in which case you should check out the leasing / lease takeover page on this website for more guidance specific to EVs.
Pretty much all carmakers are now exploiting the lease loophole that gets you the benefit of the full $7500 tax credit, even if their EVs might otherwise not qualify for it when purchasing. So even if a car does not seem to qualify for the tax credit, you should look seriously at leasing because the carmaker is probably throwing in $7500 off on that. You can always buy the car at the end of lease (or not even wait until the end and do the buyout right away) and you’ll have still effectively gotten $7500 off on the car. See the lease page for more.
Some of the car pages on this website (linked on the right side) have detailed information about finding a great value in a used EV. When evaluating a specific car that’s listed for sale, it can be difficult figuring out exactly which options the car is equipped with. The seller may have provided insufficient photos, or some features can only be discerned from photos if you know exactly what to look for. The “used advice” information on the car pages is to help you research used cars, literally a specific used car with a specific VIN. See the new used EV page here for basic guidance on buying used (including the warranty gotcha) and then for specific option / trim information on the dedicated pages for the Chevy Bolt, BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and multiple Tesla models. If you’re buying used, don’t skip this guidance!
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