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Driving Electrified

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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 Incentives Go Green Performance Range Maintenance Compare

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 An Electric Car

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 A Hybrid Car

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 A Plug in Hybrid Car

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

Customers who purchase qualified residential fueling equipment prior to December 31, 2020 may receive a tax credit of up to $1,000.

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
car driving off

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
oil drum

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.

a performance car

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.

Man using car dashboard

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.

Person using smartphone

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
Car being charged

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

tools

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

charged-battery

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 electric vehicles

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

Model Year chevron-down Range chevron-down MPGe chevron-down Battery chevron-down Power chevron-down 0-60 chevron-down MSRP chevron-down
Audi e-tron 2020 204 mi 74/73 95.0 kWh 402 hp 5.5 sec $75,795
BMW i3 2020 153 mi 124/102 42.2 kWh 170 hp 7.2 sec $45,445
BMW i3s 2020 153 mi 124/102 42.2 kWh 181 hp 6.8 sec $48,645
Chevrolet Bolt EV 2020 238 mi 128/110 60.0 kWh 200 hp 6.5 sec $37,495
Fiat 500e 2020 84 mi 121/103 24.0 kWh 111 hp 9.0 sec $34,705
Honda Clarity Electric 2020 89 mi 126/103 25.5 kWh 161 hp 8.0 sec $37,540
Hyundai Ioniq Electric 2020 124 mi 150/122 28.0 kWh 118 hp 9.7 sec $31,235
Hyundai Kona Electric 2020 258 mi 132/108 64.0 kWh 201 hp 7.4 sec $37,995
Jaguar i-Pace 2020 234 mi 80/72 90.0 kWh 394 hp 4.5 sec $70,495
Kia Niro EV 2020 239 mi 123/102 64.0 kWh 201 hp 7.6 sec $39,495
Kia Soul EV 2020 111 mi 124/94 30.0 kWh 109 hp 9.7 sec $34,945
Nissan Leaf 2020 150 mi 124/99 40.0 kWh 147 hp 7.7 sec $30,885
Nissan Leaf Plus 2020 226 mi 118/99 62.0 kWh 214 hp 7.0 sec $37,445
Smart EQ ForTwo 2020 58 mi 124/94 17.6 kWh 80 hp 11.4 sec $24,650
Tesla Model 3 2020 240 mi 138/124 50.0 kWh 258 hp 5.3 sec $39,900
Tesla Model 3 LR AWD 2020 310 mi 120/112 75.0 kWh 346 hp 4.5 sec $49,900
Tesla Model 3 AWD 2020 310 mi 120/112 75.0 kWh 450 hp 3.2 sec $59,900
Tesla Model S 2020 285 mi 101/102 100.0 kWh 518 hp 4.0 sec $75,000
Tesla Model S Long Range AWD 2020 370 mi 115/107 100.0 kWh 518 hp 3.7 sec $85,000
Tesla Model S Performance AWD 2020 345 mi 104/104 100.0 kWh 518 hp 3.0 sec $96,000
Tesla Model X 2020 250 mi 91/95 100.0 kWh 518 hp 4.6 sec $81,000
Tesla Model X Long Range AWD 2020 325 mi 86/89 100.0 kWh 518 hp 4.4 sec $91,000
Tesla Model X Performance AWD 2020 305 mi 83/89 100.0 kWh 518 hp 3.4 sec $102,000
Volkswagen eGolf 2020 125 mi 126/111 35.8 kWh 134 hp 9.6 sec $32,790