@Mutedog I just did a lot of shopping with my wife for a new EV, this was our experience. Probably 30 hours spent in-person at dealerships. We're in a lukewarm area for EVs. I'm mostly up to speed on EV tech so feel free to ask anything.

1 - Toyota - The Prius is compelling and one of  the better values, but lacks premium features (like connected car services, 360 degree view). Other cars like the Camry EV can be pursued, but probably would be only if you like the Camry already and want it as an EV. You can get some premium features a little cheaper than Honda.

2 - Honda - The Accord was nice, it competes handily against Toyota but again, premium features are hard to come by. Solid car though, worth a test drive.

3 - Ford - Skipped entirely. Mach-E apple actually fell surprisingly far from the tree but not a relationship we wanted to establish for years (she leased)

4 - Audi - Had none on hand, lead time in months.

5 - KIA - I already have an EV6, which I like, but the platform is common among KIA's EVs and the turning characteristics were annoying for my wife (they annoy me a little too but I already own it so I deal with it). EV6 is a solid car overall, good price if you do want premium features, 350kW charging and 77kW battery, plus 3600W (1800W times 2) Vehicle 2 Load (V2L) - the car has an appliance outlet inside and you can plug an adapter to the charge port to get another on a separate circuit. I paid $60k in 2023.

6 - Mini - We couldn't test one because there were none. My wife loved how they looked and how the ICE one drove, but we can't buy a car that wasn't there and we didn't wanna wait a couple months for one to get shipped.

7 - Chevy - lol. lmao. The guy didn't tell us they had an EV to begin with at all until we pointed and said "what's that?" and he left us to sit in it in 90 degree heat trying to figure out how to get it out of park. They will discontinue EVs if they can. AVOID.

1. BMW - This is what my wife ended up going with, a BMW i5. Similar specs to the EV6 but no V2L to speak of, and slower fast charging (200kW is still no joke though). It was filled with features and comforts though, so that's what sold her on it. I'm sure an i3 could be had for less by giving up features you don't need. She signed a lease at $70k. Be forewarned, BMW is known for their feature fuckery (they charged for heated seats and more recently they showed AN AD ON THE DASHBOARD). as it is, there''s nothing stopping the other companies from doing the same, but the fact is BMW is ahead of them.

My next EV I buy will be a BMW, though that might be in a long time because I still really like my EV6 (and I'm not going to lose the V2L capability household-wide. I've already run our fridge and my window A/C + servers on it during power outages before and i'm not giving that up unless i get solar + home batteries).