5 Upcoming Electric Cars We're Most Excited To See
Not many people realize this, but the earliest cars were electric. For the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, there was a thriving electric car market in the United States, with an entire fleet of electric taxis in New York City. It wasn’t until Henry Ford introduced his gasoline-powered Model T that the American auto-making industry experienced a sea change. 1997 saw the first mass-produced electric vehicles in nearly a century in the form of the Toyota Prius. Then, the 2010s saw Elon Musk’s Tesla again change the market, seemingly for good. In the next few years, some electric cars are hitting the market that are affordable enough to get anyone excited.
2018 Jaguar I-Pace SUV
Luxury automaker Jaguar has revealed that it is ready to jump into the electric vehicle market with both feet with their I-Pace SUV. With a release date set for 2018, the I-Pace is on target to be the first all-electric SUV to compete with Tesla’s Model X. It is projected to have a real-world range of about 250 miles per charge of its 90 kWh battery pack. The I-Pace will be no slouch on the road, either; the British automaker has said that it will be able to go from 0-60 mph in about four seconds. One of the best things about the vehicle is that its price should be comparable to the F-Pace, which starts at $40,990.
4. 2017 Hyundai Ioniq EV
2017 will see the launch of Hyundai’s much-awaited Ioniq. This unique vehicle will be sold with three different fuel options: hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all-electric. The all-electric model is said to have a real-world range of about 110 miles per charge. Though pricing has not been definitively revealed, Hyundai has announced an innovative new way to pay, at least in California. The Ioniq Unlimited plan is based on data plans that cell carriers offer and offers a way to bundle all of the costs involved with owning and maintaining an electric vehicle into one monthly payment. When buyers go to the dealership to purchase the car, they will be given the option of a 24-month or 36-month payment plan, which will include vehicle payments, maintenance fees, and charging costs bundled into one easy payment.
3. 2016 Citroën E-Méhari
The Citroën E-MEHARI might be the most whimsical electric vehicle to hit the market yet. Released in France in the spring of 2016, the E-Méhari is a fun, all-electric reinterpretation of the design of Citroën’s classic 1960s open-bodied beach buggy-style vehicle. The compact SUV is perfect for tooling around town or taking short trips to the beach. It comes in bright color combinations, such as red upholstery with yellow flowers and teal body, and will be able to go about 124 miles in the city or about 62 miles on the highway with one charge of its battery packs. This vehicle is very affordable at about $28,000. However, that price does not include the $88/month battery pack leasing fee.
2. 2018 Nissan LEAF
The Nissan LEAF is currently one of the most affordable all-electric options on the consumer market. The current LEAF models have a maximum range of around 107 miles, making them suited for urban driving but not much else. The recently-announced 2018 Nissan LEAF, however, is rumored to have a range of over 200 miles. The upgraded range is thanks to recent developments in Nissan’s battery technology aimed at making their LEAF range more suited to long-distance driving. The 2018 LEAF base models will have an MSRP of $37,500, but federal rebates in the United States will bring the overall cost down to closer to $30,000.
1. 2017 Tesla Model 3
Tesla quickly became the biggest name in all-electric cars after the debut of its Tesla Roadster in 2008. Four years later, Tesla Motors released the Tesla Model S which features a perfect 5.0 NHTSA safety rating and bears the distinction of having the third fastest acceleration out of all retail production cars ever built. Tesla Motors is making more waves in the electric car world with the announcement of the 2017 Tesla Model 3, which is the first economy EV to hit the market at about $35,000 before tax incentives. It will be able to go about 215 miles per charge, and with Tesla’s Supercharger network already in place across the nation, cross-country road trips are a definite possibility.