Electric Vehicles

I have two EVs, both Nissan, a 2017 Leaf and a 2023 Ariya. Both were purchased used, and I think both are great.

The Leaf has a 40kWh battery and has an in town range of 170 miles (generally flat roads and ~45mph speeds.) It's an older car, so no touch screen. If for some reason you'd consider a used Leaf, check two things: 1) battery state of health, aka it's capacity, and 2) 8sphow many years/miles are left on its capacity warranty. Since the Leaf has no battery cooling system, their batteries degrade substantially faster than newer EVs. Mine degraded enough that Nissan replaced it and upgraded it, since they stopped making the 30 kWh battery packs it originally had. I got lucky there. One other drawback is the older models use Chademo plugs for rapid charging, which is already rare and is being phased out.

The Ariya is fancy compared to the Leaf. It has a mid-sized touch screen, but there are physical buttons for the climate controls and a knob for the volume. It's very spacious inside and comfortable, perhaps too comfortable. It has a stupid big battery with a cooling system that provides over 300 miles in range, I think it's 87kWh. That's the main reason I chose it, seemed like the most battery for dollar that wasn't Tesla.

Look for deals on used EVs. You can still find fairly low milage vehicles for decent prices.