I remember the first time an electric car seemed like it might be something I might want someday, albeit as a toy. It was the launch of the first Tesla Roadster, which had the looks and cool of a Lotus but was all electric. The neck snapping acceleration combined with whirring sound which made it sound like something from the future made it seem like the future of performance cars was was electric. The $120k price tag put it up there with a high end sports car though so it was something for a successful future...
GM announced the Chevrolet Bolt shortly after the Tesla Roadster, and while a four door hatchback doesn't exactly get the pulse racing it looked more futuristic than other hatchbacks, was electric powered (for the most part) and made that cool whirring sound. I was living in London at the time and had a very short test drive of the UK version (which is badged as the Vauxhall Ampera) at a car show. It was my first time in an electric car much less driving one and the way it just seemed to glide around silently and smoothly had me convinced electric was the way of the future. GM was even smart enough to realize that a non existent charger network would be a problem for anyone wanting to go further than their local area so they kept the battery small (just 50 miles or so of range to cover daily use) and spent they money saved on a small gas engine and tank that would kick in to generate electricity when the car ran out of juice giving it essentially unlimited range.
Unfortunately I lived in an apartment and had no way to charge the car so it just wasn't a possibility back then. In the years that followed I moved to the USA, leased a gas car, moved into an apartment in New York City and dumped the car, before finally ending up in Texas where I leased the Land Rover.
Tesla have released 4 cars since that original Roadster, the first being the Model S which was the first time a fully electric car seemed like a realistic possibility as a daily driver vs just a performance toy but it as still pricey at $90k. They followed this up with the Model X "SUV" which was even more expensive so it seemed like electric cars just weren't dropping in price but then they launched the Model 3 which was $40k-$50k but I wasn't too keen on the styling and the fact it was a sedan really killed the practicality. Finally they launched the Model Y, a crossover with plenty of cargo space, face lifted looks over the Model 3 and it started shipping last year at just under $50k. I was interested but legacy car makers were starting to get into the scene albeit with offerings that didn't quite stack up to Tesla as electric cars, but were better at the build and design part. I particularly liked the Jaguar iPace but the efficiency and thus range was disappointing, and it didn't have the cargo space of the Y despite costing $20k more...
Then Kia announced the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 which came in around the same price as a Model Y and while their range wasn't quite up to the Tesla it seemed good enough, and the 1980's aesthetic of the Ioniq 5 was a really tempting proposition! It wasn't clear exactly when they would be available for delivery in the USA and I was still concerned about the charging infrastructure for non Tesla's which involved several third party networks, all of which required a different app to use and often seemed to be left out of order...
For my first electric car it made sense to go with the smoothest experience, the leader in terms of all the things that were important for an electric vehicle, namely efficiency, range and a nationwide charging infrastructure that just worked. So that meant Tesla, practicality and price wise it meant a Model Y, and their website promised delivery in 9-12 weeks. So I placed my order on June 6th, submitted the financial details today June 25th now the lease on the Land Rover was closed so now the wait begins...
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