3 TO CONSIDER

Nissan Leaf

There aren’t many electric cars available in the (relatively) lowprice end of the market. General Motors discontinued its Bolt EV, and although it plans to reintroduce the car with new battery technology, right now that leaves the Nissan Leaf with a base price of $30,000 before incentives. The estimated range won’t get you too far out of town — 149miles — and the creature comforts are about as basic as you’d expect in this price range. But the Leaf was the first true mass market EV on the road when it was introduced in 2010, it’s highly dependable, comes standard with several driver assist features and is quieter than you might expect. A true bargain.

Range: 149 miles

Cargo capacity: 23.6 cubic feet

Seating: 5

Horsepower: 147

Torque: 236 pound feet

Hyundai Ioniq 5

A sister car to the Kia EV6, built on the same platform, but with starkly different designs. Reviewers at all the car mags love the Ioniq, and so do I. Other cars in the category include the Tesla Model Y, the Ford Mach E, and the Volkswagen ID.4. All deserve consideration. The all-wheel drive version of the Ioniq 5, with a range of 256 miles, is an excellent all-around car that balances jaunty acceleration, a quiet ride and driver comfort. It looks cool, too, in a retro kind of way. The streamlined Ioniq 6 is fresh on sale and landed Car & Driver’s EV of the year. Base price is $49,000 before incentives.

Range: 303 miles

Cargo capacity: 27.2 cubic feet

Seating: 5

Horsepower: 320

Torque: 446 pound feet

Porsche Taycan Turbo S

If budget is no obstacle, never mind Lucid, Mercedes, Audi, BMW or Rivian. My pick is the Porsche Taycan Turbo S — the high end of the thoroughly expensive Taycan line, this one starts at $189,000. Sure, at 323miles as gauged by Edmunds, it falls far short of, say, Lucid’s 400 to 500 mile range. And the software was buggy and the user interface a work in progress. But what a drive!

Range: 323 miles

Cargo capacity: Irrelevant

Seating: 4, sort of

Horsepower: 750

Torque: 774 pound feet