Bad Recommendations

 Bad Recommendations? It's the only kind available:

EDIT Spring'23: Nissan Leaf not looking so good right now on the Fed.Tax.Credit front.  Nissan apparently hasn't bothered (subject to change) to get the IRS to certify the U.S. manufacturing of the car, and batteries. Both are made in TN. so it should qualify, but apparently the manufacturer has to do some work for that certification to happen. They seen to be focusing on their new vehicle, set to be built in Japan, where it isn't going to qualify anyway. Kind of a mystery. The Oregon rebate is dead until next year so that doesn't help much either, at least around here.
It looks like the Chevy Bolt/EUV still qualifies but they're shutting the plant down to start doing the SilveradoEV pickup. Almost all of the remaining production is spoken for, so that's mostly a dead issue.

EDIT Summer 2022: I'm getting repeatedly asked if the Nissan Leaf (which I have voted for with my dollars three times now) is still a good deal and "Should I get one?"
The answer is, as usual, It Depends.
As a LOCAL TRAVEL ONLY machine, you can't beat it.
$19,000 for a new, reliable, capable vehicle? Sign me up! ($21K ex.Oregon) There is definitely going to be a 2023 model year and they kept the $27.8K base price for the 40KW version. There seems to be a really high probability of the 2024 model year happening as well, so the vehicle should be parts-supported through 2032 at a minimum. The reliability has significantly improved over the earlier models, one of the advantages of a long production run. 11 years at this point.
With the other players you will spend at least $10K (and more probably $20-30K) more for an EV and if you are buying it for local use only you will basically be getting nothing for that extra money. It has equal drive-ability and space as a Chevy Bolt (and is MORE 'made in USA') and while the Hyundai/Kia and Teslas do have a bit more room and comfort for long distance driving, remember we're getting this for  LOCAL TRAVEL ONLY, where that doesn't matter and the additional range of those competitors doesn't matter either.
If you're looking for a long distance travel machine, get a Tesla Model Y. $60K. Yes that's THREE TIMES as much money but a long distance capable EV is realistically $50K and up.   Even the bigger battery version of the Leaf (which I have now) suffers from slow charging speeds and unreliable charging infrastructure. Only in the rare case of regular 100-120 mile commute does the bigger battery Leaf make any sense. In that case the $25K for that version is pretty much viable. If you're under 80 miles of regular range requirement per day then the cheaper 40KW version is fine. Please note that the Federal Tax Credit should reach phase-out for Nissan vehicles somewhere in 2023, especially if they get their new ($50K) EV into production. Don't dawdle around too much if you're going to do this.

Of course this is all based on finding one that is 

A: In stock (rare for 2022's) and

B: does not have 'Additional Dealer Markup' ... which is very rare right now

There's also the problem where in a scarcity situation the dealers

are only ordering the highest markup models.

We looked for over three months before finding the current one. ...In Vancouver WA

                    END EDIT, and a return to our regularly scheduled programming. ;-)

Gas prices got you down?
        So everybody and their brother is out looking at EVs.
....but that means there's lots of demand.
        Right at the same time as supply constraints.
Guess what that means for prices.
MSRP if you're lucky.
                   [Dealers/MFGRs are screwing with that number. An example we track had an MSRP of $27.9K and dozens in stock at various Seattle area dealers (looking in Oregon is almost a waste of time) and now the MSRP is shown as $28.9K with like one or two units 'coming soon']
And that $35K 'introductory price' Tesla Model3 is currently almost $50K, plus several months wait.

So, what to do? If your gas powered vehicle (yes, I hate to say this) is paid for, in good shape and gets reasonable mileage (30MPG+) then I'd just hold on to it. Even a used car that gets good mileage is hard to find right now. Heck 10 year old Honda Civics' are fetching pretty close to their original 'new' price.

What's available? Assuming you qualify for the federal $7500 rebate (or lease to get same, see previous posts) here's what you can reasonably expect to have a reasonable shot at actually getting. Sorted by price (and with state rebate price in [] brackets) Price shown includes rebate(s).
*= Serious availability problems

Nissan Leaf S Base  40KWh battery   $21.5K  [19K]
Nissan Leaf S ePlus 60KWh battery   $27.5K  [24K]
Chevy Bolt base                    $28K [25.5K]
Hyundai Kona Electric           $30K [27.5K]
Chevy Bolt EUV                     $32K [29.5K]
Kia EV6* and VW ID4*          $36K [33.5K]
Ford Mustang and Volvo/Polestar EVs are in a similar price range but very hard to get (years of delay)
Then there's the Tesla Model3 at $50K and the ModelY at $60K, plus months of waiting, but they live outside my economic universe.

You can still get a base model Nissan Leaf. Yes it's a 'refreshed' 12 year old design and the long-distance-travel charging infrastructure is, um, not so great. (see previous post) but it is a nice reliable ride for local trips. The 150-ish miles of range are plenty for local trips and the reliability has been very good since 2015 or so. You're looking at around $29K if you can find one. After Federal rebate (yes! still available!) it's $21.5K and state and local here would bring it down to $19K. Leases in the vicinity of $1-3K down and $100-200/mo. Not bad, and the longer range version is around $35K, but their unwillingness to support modern (CCS, like they've done elsewhere) charging is a serious blot on this model's future prospects. The longer (220 mi.) range ePlus units are about $6K more.

Speaking of serious blots, there's the Bolt. Nominally a GM product, about 60% of the content (and about 80% of the 'functionality') comes from LG of S.Korea. Chevy? Yeah, sure.
It's pretty much recovered from all that recall mess of them burning your garage down (-SO- last year) but since nobody trusts them they've actually reducing prices. The base Bolt (~250 range) had $5K chopped off it's price from 2021 to 2022. That puts it at $28K or so if you can find a base model at a dealer who hasn't jacked the price (good luck).  Have to admit, they did stand behind the product ... once the NHTSA got involved. Also note you're probably talking to a dealer that doesn't give a shit about EVs.
Be aware that GM squandered all their federal rebate money on the Chevy Volt (still a pretty nice ride) and you won't be getting any rebate there. Still these are a pretty good ride per$$. Make sure to sit in one for an extended period. I didn't like the seats AT ALL after about 40 min.

If you can find a Hyundai Kona Electric base model at a reasonable price (including rebate!) then these are a really nice ride and don't have the shortfalls of the above. Availability IS an issue so be prepared. I've also heard the dealers not stocking the base model hardly at all, but that may just be here. They do have a really nice warranty.

Everything else on the list has either terrible availability or prices outside my reality.

What about USED? We sold our 2018 LEAF for about $17K a year ago. Check out the new one (after state rebate) above. Yep. $19K. Hmmm, which to choose...
Even 2013-2014 Leafs with the old small (24KWh) battery are fetching $10K or so. Bummer.

A good economic case can be made for Teslas if you assume current trends in resale values. I know people who got some of the first Model3's and recently sold for basically what they paid for it. We can't assume that $Zero Depreciation is going to continue, but if it does -AND- you have a chunk of capital you can afford to tie up in that it could come out being a really great deal. YMMV.
Sure a nice ride though.