Matthew Oliver
EV roundup: Top picks for 2023
Electric cars have come a long way in just a few years. You don’t have to sacrifice practicality or driving enjoyment anymore. Maybe you’re looking for a car with room for everyone’s swim bag. Or maybe you’re looking for a car that can get to the Grandparent’s house for the holidays without stopping to recharge. Whatever you’re looking for, we worked with Motortrends Best Of list to whittle down the ten best EVs for 2023.
Best electric cars of 2023
If you’re looking for the best electric car, we have a couple of great options for you. The 2022 and 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV blow its competitors out of the water when it comes to the nexus between price and range. The Nissan Leaf, long touted as the least expensive EV out there, comes in at 2k over the Chevrolet’s budget and a good hundred miles of range under. As we’ve mentioned in other blogs, the Nissan Leaf is a great car to get used, but if you’re looking for a new car, the Chevy Bolt EV is where it’s at.
Both the Kia Niro and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 have great 60-month warranties and feature decent ranges. The Niro has a little more horsepower, but the Ioniq 5 has more storage room.
Tesla’s 2022 Model S has a nice price tag of $46,990 MSRP for their standard version. But that standard version comes with a 272-mile range, 306 horsepower, and 48 months of warranty, so it gives you a lot of bang for your buck. For premium styles, the price isn’t that much more but you could go 358 miles at a time, which rivals the range of some of the best luxury cars out there.
Best electric trucks of 2023
The 2022 Ford F-150 has a reasonably priced standard model, but their premium models, with the extra towing additions, really show what this model can do. With a max towing capacity of 11 thousand pounds and a range of 230 miles, this truck can keep going all day. And speaking of all day, The Ford F-150 can provide three days of power (or ten days used sparingly) to your home during an outage or disaster situation.
The Rivian T1T has a larger payload of 2,000 pounds, and a decent warranty of 60 months. Premium models for the Rivian can also extend its range significantly. The Hummer, which is priced like a luxury vehicle, has the highest range of the three but the lowest max towing capabilities.
Best luxury electric cars
If you’re looking for range, luxury vehicles have you covered. The best electric cars of 2023 do luxury, and they do it well. The premium Lucid Air offers 520-mile range with a combined total horsepower of 1,111. All that gets you a top speed of about 217 mph. In addition to the luxury interior, specific extra packages offer back seats that recline. For all these reasons, the Lucid Air won MotorTrend’s 2022 Car of the Year Award for 2022.
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS - Class offers a nice range of 350 miles, and gets to 60Mph in 5.4 seconds. This model made waves with the Hyperscreen that extends across the dashboard for a full touchscreen that incorporates all the normal gauge displays and infotainment options in just one large screen. It offers fingerprint recognition so that driver preferences can be saved and then the car adjusted to meet the needs of the current driver in just one touch.
The 2022 Tesla Model S, though, is really trying to go places. Their range is 405 miles, with 670 horsepower, and the standard model comes in at just under 105K. Tesla’s banking that their drivers want to be pilots. They’ve redesigned the steering column so that instead of the normal steering wheel, drivers will be using a yoke instead. The Model S cannot steer itself–yet, but it’s got a huge number of driver-assist features that might look like it does.
What's the takeaway?
Buying any new car is a big decision, so make the decision that’s right for you and your needs. Think about what you’ll need from this car down the line.
If you need to refinance, RateWorks can help get you better terms so you can enjoy the car you have and prepare for whatever is coming up the road. Get a free quote today!
