I just bought my first EV (yay!) and thought I would share my shopping experience in case it helps anyone. It’s long…

Importantly, if I lived somewhere other than where I am now, I might have made a different choice. I lived in San Diego for quite a few years, and now live in western Mass. Might have made different choices if I was still in SD.

What we looked at/drove:

1a. Hyundai Ioniq 5. The first to look at… we didn’t drive it the first time because my husband veto’d it. He thought it was too small (it’s not) and was still not sold on 100% electric. More on this later.

1b. We also looked at the Santa Fe PHEV at the same dealer. The trim felt a bit cheap, but I wasn’t really serious about it because I knew I would eventually win the all EV battle.

2. Volkswagen ID.4. Also didnt drive. I liked the look of it, husband didn’t like the trim. For a small SUV/crossover, the trunk seemed a bit small for golf clubs. Dealership seemed really invested in selling EVs - they had a EV specialist that was busy when we were there, but even the non-specialist seemed very well informed. Husband was still holding out for PHEV, so he might have just been grumpy when we looked at it.

3. Nissan Ariya. First one I drove, took out the FWD version. More than any other car, it felt like an ICE. Both in the interior appointments (which maybe some folks like) but also in the driving feel. Sure, it was zippyier than our ICE, but I expected a bit more and was kinda disappointed. I suspect the AWD might have felt better. A rare FWD instead of RWD for an EV non-AWD version. No “real” one pedal driving. I wasn’t sold for these reasons… (The very young salesman did tell us a nice story during our drive about how last summer he hitchhiked all through western Mass because he was growing weed in the forest).

4. Ford Mustang Mach e AWD. I really liked this car. A lot. Really, really a lot. It was definitely the experience I expected and wanted from an EV while driving. The seats themselves were probably the most comfortable. Nice large screen, but still with tactile buttons. Plenty of storage. They only had high end models that were $65k plus. They also had an EV specialist, who clearly LOVED cars, including his own Mach E, and honestly was indifferent about selling cars - he just knew a lot and loved his, and would happily chat cars and EVs all day long. Pretty good experience. Really, the only negative was price point (especially since MA has a rebate for cars under $55k only).

At this point, I (and salesman) have inundated my husband with enough info he is willing to go all electric.

5. Tesla Model Y AWD LR. Really fun car to drive. Seats felt a bit stiff/uncomfortable to me, and I really hated that there was no console over the steering wheel with basic info like speed (which the S and X both have). The center screen is very nice, but it felt distracting to the point of unsafe to have to look to my right to see and/or change anything. Lots of storage space. The price point is almost unbeatable now, with the price drop plus state and federal rebates. And of course the fast charge network is unparalleled. Other than the fact that Elon Musk is completely nutter butters, my other concern is that the closet service center is 2 hours from my house. While I know they are mostly remote for service, I had a concern that if I did need work done at a service center, it would mean taking a whole day off work. I almost bought this car though, regardless.

6. Kia EV6. This was also very comfortable and was very fun to drive. In a lot of ways, felt similar to the Mach E, but I liked the Mach E better. Salesman here was a bit clueless. I asked about one pedal driving, and he said “what do you mean?”. I asked him “you know, when you don’t use the brake?” He looked absolutely horrified and said ,“uh, you have to use the brake”. In the end, it was nice, but too pricey to justify over the Tesla.

7. Subaru Solterra (& Toyota bZ4X). Longtime Subaru ICE owners, so had to check this out. Also felt sluggish, similar to the Ariya. No glovebox really frustrated my husband (whatever). All the cars have voice control, but I liked saying “Hey Subaru, turn on the heat” instead of hitting a button first. But, feeling so sluggish, never really considered it - especially since they had none in stock and expected a 4 month wait. The Toyota is the same car - also none in stock.

8. Volvo C40 and XC40. Didn’t drive, just looked at/sat in. We didn’t drive them because they were so much pricier than the Tesla it was hard to justify, but they were really nice. Felt very premium and comfy inside. If you want a nice vehicle, I would drive it. Felt a step up from both the Mach E and Kia which were plenty nice IMO.

9. Genesis GV60. Didn’t drive this either, for the same reason - it’s a premium car and I just couldn’t justify the price - but the differences, sitting in it were noticeable.

10/1. Ioniq 5 AWD SEL (again!). So we were at the joint Hyundai/Genesis dealership kicking tires and a salesman came and started chatting. We said we were gonna go Tesla (more or less decided at that point, despite my dislike of the interface and 2 hr drive. Salesman tells us about a $7500 manufacturer rebate… which puts this into range of the Tesla. My husband is less grumpy about all electric now, and suddenly the car is much more appealing to him, size-wise. (He put his golf clubs in the back on the test drive and was well satisfied, they can fit crosswise no problem).

We test drove it, and it felt good. I liked the console a lot more than the Tesla, and had a good experience at the dealership. They seemed knowledgeable about the car. Will let me use their lvl2 and lvl3 chargers for free. (Free EA charging isn’t that useful for me in my area, unless I drive into Boston I guess).

Now owners of a Ioniq 5 AWD SEL and absolutely love it. Feels good driving, I like the console, plenty of rear storage.

If I lived in a city (like SD) that was close to a Tesla service center, I might have bought a Tesla right away, in spite of Elon and console, but I am very happy (so far!) with my decision. If the Mach E had a dealer incentive/model to bring it to 55k, I would have got that - really loved the feel of that car. The Tesla & Mach E felt the most “zippy” on the road to me, with the EV6 and Ioniq very close behind. The Solterra and Ariya were noticeably sluggish, comparatively speaking.