It should be noted that this post was written in May 2023. Many things change quickly in the electric car market, so I share this with you as a disclaimer.

I wanted to share my experience of owning my first electric vehicle, which ultimately ended up being a 2022 Kia Niro. This post will be the first in a series about electric vehicle ownership.

In summer 2021, my vehicle was at a sweet spot in age and use. It didn’t have too many miles and also it wasn’t overly old. It was at a time when used vehicles were being sold at top dollar. I decided to see if I could get a good trade-in deal on my vehicle through Carvana. Turns out, Carvana gave me a price I couldn’t turn down, and it was a no-brainer to sell.

But, while used cars were at a premium during this time, so were new cars. Supply chain issues were causing inventory to be low. I decided if I was going to get a new car, because I was purposefully avoiding looking at very high priced used cars, I wanted to get something that I was going to have for many years. If I was planning on buying something that I knew I was going to keep for that long of a time, then I knew I wanted to look at electric vehicle options.

Doing some research

This is when I took on one of Eric’s habits, and I did a lot of research on electric vehicles. I knew I didn’t want a car/sedan. I wanted a mid-size SUV -style car. This choice alone limited my options in electric vehicles. Then, I was curious if I could find an all-wheel drive electric vehicle, but that proved to be pretty tough as well. One final major consideration for me was the price and related to that – government incentives. I knew that there were still some federal tax credits available, but it was dependent on the make and model. (There were only so many credits allowed per manufacturer with the incentives that were available during this time.) I wanted to qualify for the credit to help offset some of the high cost of a new car, so I scoured online for information to help me know if I could potentially qualify. I found that Kia still had some incentives left.

The final decision

Through all of this research, I decided I wanted to try the Kia Niro EV. (They do also make the Niro as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle [PHEV], but I knew I wanted to go full electric.) If you want to know all of the specifications on this car, check out Car and Driver’s feature page on this make and model. In the summer of 2021, I had been working from home for over a year, and I would be permanently working from home. With this arrangement, I knew I wouldn’t be putting as many daily miles on my car. I also didn’t foresee us going on long road trips.

What also helped me in my decision is that I couldn’t help but think of potential conversations decades down the road. I imagined an 8-year-old child in 2050 asking me, “Please, elderly person, tell me why you never let go of your gas car?” What reason could I possibly give them for continuing to contribute large amounts of emissions when energy efficient options were readily available on the market? This was my sign that it was time to switch.

Ultimately, the Kia Niro checked many of the boxes that I was looking for in making the switch to owning my first electric vehicle. The price was decent, I had a few dealerships nearby, and the range it offered per charge seemed good. You may have other considerations for what ultimately helps you in choosing to buy a car, especially an electric vehicle, but these were just a few of mine.

Want to read more? Part 2 of my series on the journey of having an electric vehicle will be coming soon!

Do you have questions about owning electric vehicles? I’m compiling a FAQs page and would love to know what questions you have. Send them to me at mschills@greenerliving.eco or share them below.