The Best Electric Cars For 2023

Do you want to learn more about the electric vehicle market? We’re glad to help you. Every time a new electric car comes out, the technology that makes it work gets smarter. Ranges keep growing, taking away any reason to be afraid. It looks like the infrastructure for charging is ready to go.

It can be hard to find the right electric car for your lifestyle and budget. Do you want something cheap with fewer features, or do you want to pay more for something with nicer features and enough range for road trips without having to stop and charge? How should you decide which electric car is best for you?

We can’t tell you for sure which EV is best for you, but we can help you narrow down your options. See, we’ve driven almost every kind of electric car on the market in the US right now, so we at Roadshow have a better-than-average idea of what’s good and bad about EVs right now.

Even though Mini is new to the EV game, its first attempt is great. What it lacks in overall range, it makes up for by being fun to drive and a great place to be, and it does all of this at a price that is surprisingly low. We also love those wheels that look like electrical outlets.

Even though the Mini SE can only go 110 miles on a single charge, you can be sure that those 110 miles will be some of the most exciting you’ve ever had. The good news is that a 50-kilowatt fast charger can charge your phone to 80% in about 30 minutes.

The Chevy Bolt comes in second because its handling and interior quality aren’t very good. However, it has an impressive amount of range for a car of its size and price. If you want an American EV, you might want to wait until the Bolt gets a big update for the model year.

In terms of price to range, the Bolt is still a great choice. It’s a great choice as long as you don’t mind that it’s a little on the small side. You can get around with the help of 200 horsepower. If you’re willing to spend a little more and need more range, the Bolt is a great choice.

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is also new to the electric vehicle platform game, but it does a great job for its first time out. Even though the Mach-name E’s might make some people look twice, the car is very useful and comfortable, with a large trunk that can hold up to 29 cubic feet of cargo when all the seats are folded down.

You can get a Mach-E in a number of different ways, but even the base model is fun to drive and lives up to the Mustang name. With 290 hp in RWD mode or 346 hp in AWD mode, the Mach-E has no trouble getting out of its own way. The chassis and the cabin are both very good. The Mach-E is one of the best electric cars all around.

When it comes to electric cars, the Tesla Model 3 is the best choice, and for good reason. It’s fun to drive, looks great, has a huge range, and the people who own it are very involved in their community. It had to be our second choice because of its higher price (when the FSD bundle was added), poor build quality, and lack of service centers in some places.

Even though the Model 3 has a lot of flaws, it is still a beautiful car to drive. Electric power makes it easy to pass or merge, and the chassis is more capable and athletic than it should be. Even though the inside is simple, there is a lot of storage space in the two trunks. Since the Model 3 is a Tesla, it has the best range of any car on the market. With the cheapest version, you can still drive 263 miles between charges. With the Long Range version, you can drive 353 miles. There will be some charging stations that won’t be used.

On paper, the Porsche Taycan doesn’t look like a very interesting car. Even though it’s an expensive Porsche, the estimated range is terrible. A Taycan is a whole different story, and we’re sure it’s the best EV you can buy right now. Aside from long trips, its real-world range, build quality, and how it drives can’t be beaten.

The Taycan’s official range is 227 miles with the performance battery option, and that’s for the 4S model. Even if this were true 100% of the time, it would still be enough for most people most of the time. Even though the base model of the Taycan only has 400 horsepower, it offers a driving experience that no other electric car on the market can match. Once Porsche fixes the range problem, there will be a lot to keep an eye on.

The Porsche Taycan is a good-driving EV in an awesome pink wrapper

There’s no doubt that the Tesla Model S has the longest range of any car on the market right now. It’s also an old platform with quality control problems that are well-known and often criticized. It was fun to drive in the past, but no one has yet gotten behind the wheel of the remodeled version.

Even though Tesla can’t quite match Porsche’s handling or build quality, there’s a reason why the Model S is as well-known as it is. It’s still a comfortable, ridiculously powerful luxury EV, and if all you want to do is take very long trips without stopping to charge, it’s the way to go.

The new Plaid Plus version takes everything about rapid EVs to a whole new level. Tesla says it can go more than 520 km on a single charge, has more than 1,100 horsepower, and can go from 0 to 60 mph in less than two seconds. Will this really happen the way Elon Musk says it will? No one knows, but if it did, that would be awesome.

People who are looking for their first electric car are likely to want something that isn’t too expensive. Even though EVs are still more expensive than cars with internal combustion engines, there are a lot of great ones that cost less than $50,000. The Hyundai Kona Electric is our favorite of these. We chose the Kona because it has a great range, a body that looks like a small SUV, and a great warranty.

The Kona Electric has a very good range of 258 miles and a drivetrain that makes 201 horsepower. It also comes in a package that most families can use. Even with all the seats folded down, the trunk is big—19.2 cubic feet to be exact—and it comes with a lot of niceties. In other words, it’s a Hyundai. We’re not even going to talk about the warranty. If you like the way it looks, which we do, and you can stretch your dollar far enough, the Kona is almost a great first electric vehicle.

We’ve talked about how we don’t like the way Model 3 is made, but what really kills it, in this case, is the price. The cheapest Model 3 you can buy is $37,990, but it only comes in white and doesn’t have any of the driving aids that come with the Full Self-Driving package, which now costs $10,000. Even so, both the driving experience and the range, which adds up to 263 miles, are excellent.

Even though it looks nice, the Model 3 is very useful. It has two trunks, so there’s plenty of room for all your stuff. However, some people may prefer the big hatch of an SUV or a hatchback. The Model Y might be a good choice for this, but we haven’t had a chance to test drive it yet, so we can’t say for sure. We’re also not sure how well the Model 3 will hold up for a family with kids, given how simple the inside is.

So maybe you want to buy your first electric vehicle (EV), and you have a little extra money to spend. In that case, the only EV we would recommend is the Porsche Taycan. It’s easy to use, responds quickly, can be used for all kinds of things, and can be changed in any way you want. A lot better than what the EPA said, so it should be fine for most users. All of the editors of Roadshow agreed on this one. The Taycan is hard to beat.

If you want to live large, the Taycan Turbo S can’t be beaten when it comes to performance, handling, and comfort inside. With 750 horsepower and a time of 2.6 seconds to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour, you won’t spend much time bored behind the wheel. If you do get bored, you won’t mind how easy the PCCM infotainment system is to use or how nice it looks.

You might be looking for an electric SUV in particular. There aren’t that many to choose from yet, and most of the ones that are out there are pretty small. So, we are once again recommending the Ford Mustang Mach-E. It has a lot of storage space, room for a lot of people, a decent range, great handling, and good entertainment features. The price is also pretty good.

Ford was smart to make its first all-electric car an SUV since SUVs are selling so well right now. Even better for the Blue Oval is the fact that the Mach-E is so easy to drive and live with. Even though it looks cool and has a sporty name, the Mach-E is expected to be a very useful midsize electric vehicle that almost any family can use. If you want something sportier, Ford will soon have a GT version of the car.

Audi’s E-Tron is an electric vehicle (EV) that, like the Taycan, doesn’t look as impressive on paper, but after driving it for a while, its price seems a lot more reasonable. It has a nice interior and great build quality, just like a high-end German SUV should. It’s a well-thought-out first try from Audi, and even though it doesn’t have a huge range, it’s a nice-looking car that can do everything an SUV can. Even with all the seats up, it can hold 28.5 cubic feet of stuff. It didn’t come in the first place because of how much it cost.

Audi’s E-Tron Sportback was also a standout, but we had to choose the SUV because it was the most practical choice. It’s just the right size for a family of four and all their stuff, and it’s easy to drive in a busy city. Besides the great Jetsons-like low-speed sound, it could be a Q5. It looks and feels like an Audi. Some people would rather keep things quiet than make a big deal out of them. It’s a blast to drive because it has 355 hp and all-wheel drive. If you can get your hands on one, I’m sure you’ll be happy with it.

Consider This Before Buying an EV

To switch to an electric car, you need more than just a new vehicle. Things are more difficult because you can’t just go to the gas station down the street, but we’re here to help.

Before you even think about looking for an electric car, you should think about how you’ll power it once you get it home and start using it. Even though every electric vehicle (EV) comes with an adapter that lets you plug it into any standard 110-volt outlet (at least in the US), modern EV batteries are so big that you could wait for a full charge for days.

If you own your own house, you should think about having a Level 2 charger put in. They don’t cost much by themselves, which is good. Even though you’ll need a contractor to put one in (because we’re talking about high voltages and currents), there may be tax breaks for doing so, especially if you switch to solar power at the same time.

You’ll use a charging network if you don’t own your own home. Check out the most well-known ones that are close to where you live and where you drive the most. If you have a Tesla, it’s not too hard to do this. The most popular open networks for charging electric cars are Electrify America, Chargepoint, and EVGA. If you have other models, you will need to do some more research. All of these services work in the same way, but the apps and prices are different. Level 2 charging or DC fast charging will be possible with these charging networks. The second option costs a lot more, but it’s a lot faster.

The next thing to consider is service and maintenance. EVs usually need much less maintenance than cars with internal combustion engines. Still, if you want a Tesla but don’t live near a Tesla repair center and something goes wrong, you might be in trouble. In this case, you might do better with an EV from a more well-known brand.

Tax breaks are a big reason many people switch to electric vehicles, and that’s fine. It’s important to remember that not all manufacturers are eligible for all of the incentives (Tesla, in particular), and not all buyers will be able to use the full federal incentive, even if it’s given. Before adding a $7,500 tax credit to your purchase, you should talk to a tax expert, even if the manufacturer tries to include it in the prices they list. Don’t forget to look into state and local tax breaks as well; don’t let money slip through your fingers.

We shouldn’t forget to talk about your electric car. Friends, family, and even strangers will ask you about it, especially if you live in a place where EVs aren’t very common yet. Some of those questions might sound silly or even stupid, but you’re going to hear them. Depending on how you answer, you might help convince those people that an EV could work for them too.

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