So you’re in the market hunting your very first EV. More often than not, you’d encounter questions and doubts of whether the EV (say the Model 3) that your friend, or persons on social media recommended are what you really need? To be fair, you should NEVER trust anyone before your own research. This article is aimed at guiding you, and you have to ask some difficult questions to yourself.

Why you need an EV?

Ask yourself this question. For the glamour? For the environment? Or just the need for a fun ride?

To be honest, nobody would judge you for the answers given. For example, my personal answer is an honest and simple one; I just love the glamour and attracted to the sexy design of the car. If you’re wondering what car was that, that’d be the Volvo C40 (not the XC40 Recharge P8).

If you have a concrete answer justifying the need for an electrical vehicle, move on to the next question.

What is your budget?

EV Budget

I envy those in the states. In US, a Long Range Dual Motor Tesla Model 3 costs just 50k USD. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 range-topping Limited costs similiar to Model 3 as well. In Malaysia, the former would cost in the north of MYR 350k (81k USD), and the latter MYR 280k (65k USD)!

Anyway, back to the topic. What is your budget? This question matters as much as the former. You couldn’t be buying something that you couldn’t afford. You’d sacrifice the bells and whistles if you have solid reasons to save the earth. And go for something like the Hyundai Kona EV. It’s a pretty damn good car by the way, and cheap too.

Why not Tesla?

Tesla Model 3

This is a fun question to ask. I couldn’t help but to give a little nod to Elon Musk on that.

The biggest question on this question itself was the availability of Tesla. Not all countries have the privileges of having Tesla setup their offices, and made it officially selling their cars there. Tesla does not deal with distributors nor dealerships. In Malaysia, it was imported in via parallel importer, thus the jacked up price.

Tesla has its own merits. Mostly of its efficiency and advance software plus machine learning, that allows you to go driverless (in supported country). But the biggest gripe would be the quality they made the car. There were countless complaints of simple defects like trunks that don’t close, uneven gaps in panels and defects in the paint. These are the issues you wouldn’t encounter as often in traditional car makers.

Since 2021, there are lots of alternatives to Tesla. Hyundai, Volkswagen and Volvo. These are the most promising traditional car makers that have made their move to electrify their range of cars.

If you can skip Tesla, there are plenty of choices around now as mentioned. This question of Why not Tesla? is no longer that relevant now. Like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, some called it, the Model 3 killer.

How are you gonna charge your EV?

EV Charging

I’ll make this question easy. If you do not have a charger at home, nor even a plug for you to top up a range at turtle speed. I’d suggest to look for petrol car instead.

Unless if you have easy access to DC fast charger anywhere near your home, or office (here comes the WFH debate). And if the DC fast charger station doesn’t get crowded at all in your vicinity. You can consider an EV. Else, having an EV would be a nightmare for you to top up the battery.

Is the EV gonna be taken for a long trip?

This correlates to How are you gonna charge your EV?. More like, how was the availability of DC fast charging station in your country?

If the infrastructure wasn’t there along the highways. You might wanna look for some longer range of EV, like the Hyundai Kona EV and the Tesla Model 3 Long Range trim.

ABRP Route Planner

To make it easy, just for your own research-sake, download ABRP app to check your potential holiday destinations. Screenshot here as a reference of how a route plan looks like.

This would tell you the charging infrastructure availability along the route to your holiday destination. Once you have downloaded the app, and you found no charging facilities available along the ABRP route planner, I suggest you not to get an EV for sanity sake.

But. If your needs were catered only for city drive. Look no further from the likes of Mini Electric and Honda E. You do not need big and long range cars for city drive. Getting a small and budget friendly would be a wiser choice.

Decision Making

An electric vehicle is a big investment. It’s still relatively more expensive than an internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalent as of 2022. Being an early adopter needs thorough research and study (unless if you have unlimited fund). Do try out the EV before buying by doing a test drive. Have a feel of the balancing, power and the comfort. And lastly, the usual advice for buying an ICE car applies to EV as well; brand recognition, quality, warranty just to name a few.