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    • Driving Electrified

    Shopping for any vehicle can be challenging, but for first-time electric car buyers, it can be a whole new world. To help make the experience easier, we’ve created a helpful guide that allows car shoppers to learn about electric vehicles in the most simplistic and comprehensive manner available.

    Compare electric vehicles

    Types of electric vehicles

    ELECTRIC VEHICLES (BEVs)

    Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) run only on electricity from batteries charged by plugging into an outlet or charging station. BEVs have no gasoline engine and don’t produce tailpipe emissions.

    E-VEHICLE

    Electric-only motor

    No emissions

    Does NOT require gasoline

    Requires plug-in charging

    Some electric vehicle models are:

    Tesla Model S

    Nissan LEAF

    Fiat 500e

    See all electric vehicles

    CONVENTIONAL HYBRIDS

    Hybrids combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor, but they can’t plug-in because their batteries are charged from capturing braking energy that converts kinetic energy into electricity.

    HYBRID

    Gasoline engine and electric motor

    Some emissions

    Requires gasoline

    Does NOT plug-in

    Some conventional hybrid models are:

    Toyota Prius

    Honda Accord

    Toyota Highlander

    See all hybrid vehicles

    PLUG-IN HYBRIDS (PHEVs)

    Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are similar to conventional hybrids, except PHEV batteries can be charged by plugging into an outlet and PHEVs can substitute plug-in electricity for gasoline.

    PLUG-IN HYBRID

    Gasoline engine and electric motor

    Some emissions

    Requires gasoline

    Requires gasoline and plug-in charging

    Some plug-in hybrid models are:

    Chevy Volt

    Hyundai Ioniq

    Toyota Prius Prime

    See all plug-in hybrid vehicles

    Tax incentives

    Depending on your location, and your personal tax situation, you may qualify for Federal, state, and local tax incentives for driving an electric vehicle.

    Federal incentives

    $2,500 - $7,500 Federal Tax Credit

    Tax Credit for the purchase of a new plug-in electric drive motor vehicle. Credit amount depends on the car’s battery capacity.

    Up to $1,000 Federal Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit

    state incentives

    Arizona

    Reduced Vehicle License Tax and Carpool lane access.

    California

    $5,000 grant (based on income eligibility)*

    *Review eligibility prior to applying

    $1,500 California Clean Fuel Reward for all new electric vehicles registered in California.

    Colorado

    $2,500 tax credit for purchase of a new vehicle.

    $1,500 tax credit for lease of a new vehicle.

    Connecticut

    $1,500 rebate for new vehicles with a base price under $42,000.

    Exemption from state emissions testing.

    Reduced vehicle registration fee.

    Delaware

    $2,500 rebate for new vehicles with a purchase price under $60,000

    Florida

    Funding may be available for home charging installation assistance.

    Hawaii

    Carpool lane access and reduced rates for electric vehicle charging.

    Idaho

    State exemption from vehicle inspection & maintenance program.

    illinois

    EV exemption from state emissions testing; reduced registration fees.

    Louisiana

    $2,500 income tax credit.

    Maine

    $2,000 rebate for new vehicles with a base price under $50,000.

    Maryland

    $700 rebate on wall connectors and installation.

    Qualified vehicles are exempt from emissions testing.

    HOV lane access.

    Massachusetts

    $2,500 rebate for new vehicles with a purchase price under $50,000.

    Nevada

    Reduced rates for electric vehicle charging.

    AFV Parking Fee & state emissions testing exemptions.

    New Jersey

    Sales tax exemption.

    10% discount on off-peak toll prices on NJT & GSP through EZ-Pass.

    New York

    $500 rebate for new vehicles with a base price over $60,000.

    $2,500 rebate for new vehicles with a base price over $60,000.

    State emissions testing exception.

    North Carolina

    State emissions testing exemption & HOV lane access.

    Rhode Island

    State emissions testing exemption.

    Vermont

    Depending on income level, up to $5,000 rebate for purchase or lease of a new vehicle with a base price under $40,000.

    Washington

    A retail sales tax reduction is available on the purchase or lease of a new vehicle.

    Washington DC

    Excise tax exempt.

    Reduced vehicle registration fees.

    Tax credit for 50% of costs of home charging installation, up to $1,000.

    Local incentives

    Arizona

    SRP & APS offer reduced electricity rates based on time-of-use charging for EV owners.

    Phoenix & Tucson offer exemptions from emissions testing for all-electric vehicles.

    California

    PG&E, SCE, SMUD and SDG&E all offer reduced electricity rates based on time-of-use for EV owners.

    Anaheim Public Utilities offers up to $1,000 for residential EV charging and $2,000 for EV infrastructure.

    Antelope Valley Air Quality Management offers a $1,000 EV purchase rebate for eligible customers.

    The City of Burbank offers a $500 rebate for home EV charging installation.

    The City of Glendale offers a $500 rebate for home EV charging installation.

    Los Angeles Department of Water & Power offers a $500 rebate for home EV charging installation.

    Pasadena Water and Power customers can receive up to $1,500 in incentives for buying/leasing an EV, and businesses

    can receive up to $50,000 for installing public EV chargers.

    Sacramento Metro Air District offers up to a $9,500 rebate for eligible customers.

    San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District offers a rebate up to $3,000 for eligible customers.

    Hermosa Beach, San Jose, Santa Monica and San Anselmo offers free parking at all city metered parking, participating garages, parks and recreation centers.

    SDG&E offers a rebate up to $1,000 for teachers and first responders who purchase an EV.

    Sonoma Clean Power offers up to $4,500 in rebates.

    South Coast Air Quality Management offers rebates up to $800 for EV home charging installation.

    Connecticut

    City of New Haven offers free public parking.

    Delaware

    DEC offers customers a $200 credit and $5/month credit for EV charging in off hours.

    Florida

    Jackson Electric Authority (JEA) offers a rebate up to $1,000 for the purchase or lease of an EV

    Hawaii

    HEC Maul Electric and Hawaii Electric Light Company offer reduced electricity rates based on time-of-use for EV owners.

    EV owners are also eligible for a number of other benefits including emissions test exemptions, free parking, HOV lane access.

    Indiana

    Indiana Power & Light offers reduced electricity rate plans for EV charging.

    Illinois

    ComEd offers 3 EV rate plans for residential customers

    Illinois Electric Co-op members may be eligible to finance their EV at 0.5% interest.

    McLean County residents are eligible for a rebate of 1% of the local share of state sales tax.

    Maryland

    PEPCO & Baltimore Gas & Electric offer reduced EV rate plans on time-of-use.

    Michigan

    Consumers Energy & DTE & Indiana Michigan Power & LBWL offer reduced EV rate plans based on time-of-use.

    Minnesota

    Dakota Electric & Connexus offer reduced EV rate plans based on time-of-use.

    Nevada

    NV Energy offers reduced EV rate plans based on time-of-use.

    New Jersey

    PSE&G offers reduced EV rate plans based on time-of-use.

    New York

    ConEd offers reduced EV rate plans based on time-of-use.

    Oregon

    Several municipalities & utilities offer rebates for customers who install home charging equipment including Central Lincoln PUD, City and Ashland, Emerald PUD, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Pacific Power and Portland General Electric.

    Pennsylvania

    PECO offers a $50 rebate to customers who purchase an EV.

    Rhode Island

    Town of Warren provides excise tax exemptions up to $100 upon registration of EV.

    Utah

    Salt Lake City EV owners have access to free metered parking & free public charging.

    Vermont

    Green Mountain Power offers a $1,500 rebate towards the purchase of an electric vehicle with a base price under $60,000.

    Virginia

    Virginia Dominion Power offers reduced electricity rates based on time-of-use for EV owners.

    Wisconsin

    Alliant Energy is offering a $500 rebate for EV home charging installation.

    Go green

    Electric vehicles significantly reduce a driver’s tailpipe emissions and therefore his or her personal impact on our environment. Reducing your impact on the planet will allow future generations to enjoy our blue planet to the fullest.

    Reduce pollution, produce zero emissions

    Electric vehicles are significantly cleaner and much safer for people & our environment than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. By driving electric, you’re helping to reduce air pollution from traditional exhaust systems; the type of pollution that can irritate and even cause severe health issues like asthma and bronchitis.

    Reduce dependency on fossil fuels

    Solving climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time, and driving an electric vehicle is one of the ways you can take action. Since fully electric vehicles use energy efficiently, they don’t consume any fossil fuels whereas a traditional internal combustion engine relies on gasoline made from fossil fuels pulled from the earth.

    Performance

    In the last few years, e-vehicles have set a high bar for performance and technology. With unbeatable built-in features and instantly available torque, you’ll have difficulty finding a traditional vehicle that can keep up.

    State-of-the-art technology

    Electric vehicles often come with tons of exciting features.

    Pedestrian Detection

    Adaptive Cruise Control w/Stop and Go

    In-Car WiFi

    Remote Engine Start

    Forward Collision Warning

    Front and Rear Parking Sensors

    Lane Keep Assist

    Power Trunk/Liftgate

    4 yr / 50K mi Basic Warranty

    8 yr / 100K mi Hybrid/EV Warranty

    Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

    Spacious, Quiet, smooth, Green

    • Electric vehicles have more space available due to having fewer components than traditional vehicles.
    • Electric vehicles have quieter engines since there are less mechanical parts moving.
    • Phone calls, conversations with passengers, music, and podcasts are all much more enjoyable.
    • Fully electric vehicles don’t have any tailpipe emissions, however, plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids do — although it is much less than the emissions of a traditional vehicle.

    The safest option

    • Electric vehicles are often at the top of their class in terms of crash and safety ratings.
    • Electric vehicles have fewer components than traditional vehicles so there’s less opportunity for anything to break or go wrong.
    • Battery packs lower the center of gravity and offer additional rigidity to the frame.
    • Since electric vehicles are powered by batteries as opposed to traditional gas engines, they are less prone to fire.
    • Electric vehicles are federally mandated to carry separate warranties for their battery packs (8 years or 100,000 miles at least).

    Quick acceleration

    • Even lower-cost electric vehicles are fun to drive due to the instant torque and handling of electric engineering. In fully electric vehicles, all of the torque is readily available at 0 RPM.
    • The Tesla Model S Performance is the third fastest accelerating production car ever built reaching 60 mph in just 2.4 seconds. Only two other vehicles are faster, however, both cost over a million dollars and can no longer be purchased new.

    Range & charging

    Wait less, drive more, and save an average of $4,500 in fuel over 5 years. No more lines, dirty pumps or gassy fumes. With an electric vehicle, your peace of mind and extra time are priceless.

    Further than ever

    There are lots of mix-ups about electric vehicles, but the main one is the fear that you can’t drive very far, known as range anxiety. In fact, many electric vehicles can go over 200 or 300 miles on a single charge and the ongoing build-out of the national EV-charging network should help reduce any fears of running out of charge.

    Easily find charging

    There are 21,000+ public charging stations with 65,000+ individual charging outlets in the United States, as of late July 2019. But EV and plug-in hybrid owners don’t need charging stations the same way traditional vehicles need gas stations, because most of the time they’re charging at their own garage or workplace.

    Try the US Department of Energy station finder

    Charge from home

    EV and plug-in hybrid owners can charge at home by plugging in the charging cord that comes with the vehicle to any standard three-prong outlet. It takes a while, but you can charge anytime in the convenience of your own home. Alternatively, owners can install a wall charger for a much quicker charge.

    Try our Charging Time Calculator

    Maintenance

    A vehicle without all of the complicated moving parts in a traditional combustion engine doesn’t need all of the maintenance of a vehicle with a traditional combustion engine. Less moving parts with electric vehicles means less maintenance with electric vehicles.

    Less maintenance means Lower costs

    Fully electric vehicles don’t have a traditional combustion engine. As a result, 24+ mechanical components that would ordinarily require routine service are no longer a problem because EVs don’t have them. Choosing EV means bypassing oil changes, cooling system flushes, transmission servicing, and air filter, spark plug, and drive belt changes.

    Lithium ion battery warranty

    Whereas the standard warranty coverage for a traditional vehicle is 3 years or 36,000 miles with 5 years or 60,000 miles for the powertrain, electric vehicle’s lithium ion batteries are under warranty for at least eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

    Compare 2022 electric vehicles

    Reference the table below to compare the key statistics of some of the most popular electric vehicles.**

    Model Range chevron-down CTY / HWY chevron-down DRIVE chevron-down 0-60 chevron-down MSRP chevron-down

    Audi e-tron GT quattro

    		 238 mi 81 / 83 MPGe AWD 3.9 sec $102,400

    Audi RS e-tron GT quattro 20”

    		 232 mi 79 / 82 MPGe NA 3.1 sec $139,900

    Audi e-tron quattro 20”

    		 222 mi 78 / 77 MPGe AWD 5.5 sec $65,900

    Audi e-tron Sportback quattro 20”

    		 218 mi 76 / 78 MPGe AWD 5.5 sec $69,100

    Audi e-tron S 20”

    		 208 mi 72 / 75 MPGe AWD 4.3 sec $84,800

    Audi e-tron S Sportback 21”

    		 185 mi 64 / 66 MPGe AWD 4.3 sec $90,050

    Audi Q4 50 e-tron quattro 19”

    		 241 mi 100 / 89 MPGe AWD 5.8 sec $49,900

    BMW i4 eDrive40 18”

    		 301 mi* NA RWD 5.5 sec $55,400

    BMW iX xDrive50 20”

    		 324 mi* NA AWD 4.4 sec $83,200

    Chevrolet Bolt EV

    		 259 mi 131 / 109 MPGe FWD 6.5* sec $31,000

    Chevrolet Bolt EUV

    		 247 mi 125 / 104 MPGe FWD 7.0* sec $33,000

    Ford Mustang Mach-E Select SR RWD 18”

    		 247 mi* NA RWD 5.8 sec $43,895

    Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Perf. ER AWD 20”

    		 260 mi* NA AWD 3.5 sec $67,995

    Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE SR RWD 19”

    		 220 mi 127 / 94 MPGe RWD NA $39,700

    Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE AWD 19”

    		 256 mi 110 / 87 MPGe AWD 5 sec $47,150

    Hyundai Kona Electric

    		 258 mi 132 / 108 MPGe FWD 7.9 sec $34,000

    Jaguar I-PACE EV400

    		 234 mi* NA AWD 4.5 sec $69,900

    Kia Niro EV

    		 239 mi 123 / 102 MPGe FWD 7.5 sec $39,990

    Lucid Air Dream Edition Range 19”

    		 520 mi 126 / 125 MPGe AWD 2.7 sec $169,000

    Lucid Air Dream Edition Performance 21”

    		 451 mi 110 / 111 MPGe AWD 2.42 sec $169,000

    Mercedes EQS 450+ (RWD; 20”)

    		 350 mi 97 / 97 MPGe RWD 5.5 sec $102,310

    Mercedes EQS 580 4MATIC (AWD; 21”)

    		 340 mi 92 / 99 MPGe AWD 4.1 sec $119,110

    MINI Cooper SE

    		 114 mi 119 / 100 MPGe FWD 6.9 sec $29,900

    Nissan LEAF S (40 kWh)

    		 149 mi 123 / 99 MPGe FWD 7.4* sec $27,400

    Nissan LEAF e+ SV (62 kWh)

    		 215 mi 114 / 94 MPGe FWD 6.5* sec $37,400

    Polestar 2 Single Motor 19”

    		 270 mi 113 / 100 MPGe FWD 7 sec $45,900

    Polestar 2 Dual Motor 19”

    		 249 mi 94 / 84 MPGe AWD 4.5 sec $49,900

    Porsche Taycan (79 kWh) 19”

    		 200 mi 76 / 84* MPGe RWD 5.1 sec $82,700

    Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo 20”

    		 202 mi 74 / 73 MPGe RWD 2.7 sec $187,600

    Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo 20”

    		 202 mi 74 / 73 MPGe RWD 2.7 sec $187,600

    Rivian R1T (Large pack, 21”)

    		 314 mi 74 / 66 MPGe AWD 3 sec $67,500

    Tesla Model 3 RWD 18”

    		 272 mi 138 / 126 MPGe RWD 5.8 sec $44,990

    Tesla Model 3 Perf. LR AWD 20”

    		 315 mi 118 / 107 MPGe AWD 3.1 sec $58,990

    Tesla Model S LR AWD 19”

    		 405 mi 124 / 115 MPGe AWD 3.1 sec $94,990

    Tesla Model S Plaid 21”

    		 348 mi 102 / 99 MPGe AWD 1.99 sec* $134,490

    Tesla Model X LR AWD 20”

    		 348 mi 107 / 97 MPGe AWD 3.8 sec $104,990

    Tesla Model X Plaid 22”

    		 311 mi 94 / 88 MPGe AWD 2.5 sec $125,490

    Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD 19”

    		 330 mi 127 / 117 MPGe AWD 4.8 sec $58,990

    Tesla Model Y Perf. LR AWD 21”

    		 303 mi 115 / 106 MPGe AWD 3.5 sec $63,990

    Volkswagen ID.4 Pro 19”

    		 260 mi 107 / 91 MPGe RWD NA $40,760

    Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S 19”

    		 240 mi 104 / 89 MPGe AWD NA $45,260

    Volvo XC40 Recharge

    		 223 mi 92 / 79 MPGe AWD 4.7 sec $55,300
    * Estimated or unofficial value **All information is current as of Febuary 2021