We’re coming up on a year with our Chevy Equinox, and it’s my daily commuter. Range with AWD maxes out around 280 miles, and we’ve taken it on a few road trips. Overall a very efficient car for us.
A little more on this: The Subaru dealer said that Subarus was late to the EV game because they didn’t need to do it to meet CAFE standards. This is consistent with the Kia dealer who told me that there are great deals in EVs right now, not just because of the expiring federal incentives, but also because they need to move EVs so as to be able to sell the giant vehicles they make most of their money on. The Hyundai dealer was brand new, didn’t know what a “brochure” was (he literally didn’t know that word) and was helpful enough, but pretty clueless. I mean, so clueless that I asked him how long he’d been working there. Also, his manager needed to talk to me at the end of the interaction, mostly to check that he’d done his job.
The Kia Niro is the smaller, and is kind of fun to drive. The Hyundai Ioniq is larger and has a worse turn radius, but it’s more comfortable, and has mostly nicer controls, and better rear visibility.
Last month I got a 2022 Ioniq 5. I am not super happy with the dealer’s communication on a few issues post-purchase, but I am thrilled with the car itself.
It rides very smoothly, its maximum charge is about 300 miles, and after a little bit of a learning curve with the interface, it works just fine. It is very roomy. The turning radius is taking me a bit of time to get used to, since I am used to cars that are tiny and turn on a dime, but other than that, it is just a delight to drive.
Sold…out…? I’m quite surprised, lol. For the first few years, they were one of the worst-selling EVs on the marketplace (they used to be much more expensive before Subaru lowered their prices). The one at our dealer sat there for month and months; there was so much accumulated dirt & hard water marks on the car by the time we bought it that we had to exfoliate it before we could see out the windows…
Anyway, it’s nearing the end of 2025 and the tax credit/lease offer, and the 2026 is about to come out, so I guess that makes sense? I’m still a bit surprised! I’ve only ever seen two or three of them on the road (vs the hundreds of other Subarus in our our mountain town).
Anyway, if you’re seriously considering one, they should be able to move one to you without too much effort? You can also check out the Toyota version, the bz4x, but I think those are pricier if configured to similar levels (i.e., with AWD). Friend has one and likes it a lot though. They’re basically the same car.
Well, they also don’t have much in-house EV expertise. They’re partially owned by Toyota, and their previous PHEVs and hybrids used Toyota technologies — though that’s changing for the 2025 Forester, I think. Meanwhile the Solterra is 95% a Toyota car, just with some Subaru trim. The 2026 Subaru EVs are also just rebadged Toyotas.
Yes, the EV stuff is all Toyota. But a lot of the other decisions are Subaru.
Anyway, the dealer isn’t going to ship me a car without a deposit, and I’m not going to put a deposit on a car i haven’t ever driven. And besides, it’s the first model year, and may be buggy. We had bad experience with a buggy EV (the c-max, also from the first model year) and don’t want to repeat that.
I believe the Hyundai Kona is going to be more comparable to the Niro, while the Ioniq 5 would be more a Kia EV5 which isn’t sold in North America (yet).
We have a Hyundai Kona EV. It’s similar to the Ioniq 5, but a little smaller and a little less fancy 
And cheaper. Definitely meets all your requirements, including Android Auto.
It’s worth looking at the two Chevy ones, the Equinox and Blazer (or maybe the BrightDrop cargo van, if you want a really silly named EV).
I’ve never even looked at one up close, so I can’t give any personal recommendation on them, but I’m seeing them on the streets pretty frequently. They’re selling very well, and I believe Chevrolet has shown more recent growth in EV sales in the US than any other brand.
I do have more experience with the two smaller offerings from Volvo. I’ve driven the ex40, and it is fine. It is very comfortable and easy to drive, but is definitely on the more boring appliance side of cars, which is exactly what some people want. It is crazy fast, though.
The biggest drawback on the ex40, and my understanding is also on the ex30, is that they use Google Car or Android Car as their interface. It’s workable, but quirky. It’s a perfectly nice mid-level luxury car, that unfortunately is designed around an Android tablet from 2017.
For the last 30 years my mom has mostly had RAV4s, with a Prius C in the mix, and the Volvo is far nicer from a luxury perspective.
We have, lease , a 2024 Ionic 5. Big battery but not awd. 220 miles real world in summer heat at interstate speeds. 250 around town, plenty of reserve miles. Hyundai and Kia have the fastest charging. Barhroom break, snack and 80% plus in 20 minutes. The 2025 has wireless AA. Plenty of physical controls. You could get in and drive both Kia and Hyundai withou an instruction manual. The turn radius on the Ionic 5 is not small; long wheelbase. Lots of camera warning info though. We have a 2025 Ionic 6, sedan, now in Hawaii. Huge range, wife loves it. Try the smaller Kia Nero as well. Might be the right size.
Go for the lease to get the incentive. Negotiate the down payment, miles and years. They will deal.
That is so much more complicated than negotiating a single number. I guess i need to build a spreadsheet to calculate the net present value. Sigh.
Yeah, the lease incentives are annoying, but they do save a lot of money.
I brought my laptop into the dealer and used that to negotiate it down several grand from their initial ask, showing them my numbers, the manufacturer’s, and their competitors’.
It’s a pain, but also a nice teachable moment for your daughter, maybe?
?? No, i wouldn’t drag my daughter into an auto negotiation. It’s not as if i feel like i know what I’m doing and want to impart that, I’d just be sharing the pain with her.
Forgot about this–this was a huge deal for me. I drive mostly around town, use maybe 5-10% of battery on a normal day; but I want to be able to take road trips on the rare occasion. My family lives about 200-250 miles away, and being able to charge in less than an hour is really important. We’ve figured out a good method:
- Stop at Jersey Mikes to pick up food.
- Drive to a nearby fast charger.
- Have a picnic while the car charges.
And yeah, in 20 minutes or less we’re back on the road.
Reading about other EVs that take an hour or more to charge, even at fast chargers, definitely steered me away from them.
Personal experiences: we have loved our Nissan Leaf plus. Five years now I think. No battery degradation with a range 210 plus. I am sure less in deep winter. Fits your size and range criteria.
PHEV side our newer Prius Prime is my daily driver and used for any road trips. Other than on road trips I am on EV mode 99% of the time.
But yeah there are many great EVs now at all price points.
Here is a review of the 2026 Leaf:
Brian
Have you booked at the new Nissan leaf coming out in 2026? My husband’s ready to buy one. Small, affordable, efficient: A lot to like about the 2026 Nissan Leaf - Ars Technica
I’m hoping to buy something before the end of the month, to benefit from the federal incentives that are expiring.
I don’t think this has already been posted: Car and Driver’s best EVs of 2025.
https://www.caranddriver.com/rankings/best-electric-cars
Short version: Tesla gets the best sedan, Porsche Taycan best luxury, Volvo EX30 best subcompact SUV, Ioniq 5N and Ioniq 5 best compact SUV, and Kia EV9 best SUV.
Might be worth a read! Their article, alongside Consumer Reports, is what convinced me to get the Ioniq 5.
I don’t think the Leaf qualifies for the Federal incentive even now. Still compare price post incentives and it might still be attractive. They’ve priced it to compete with vehicles that are still qualifying.
Again though, so many great choices!
Deliberately timed to make things difficult for the OP, Toyota and Subaru have issued a recall and halted sales of EVs made before June due to issues with the defroster.
It looks like it is a software fix, but also that it might not be ready until November. Still worth considering these cars, but definitely have a backup in mind.