Have three choices become four? (or five?)

[LTLFTcomposite]

No love for the i-MiEV?

Not one bit. The motivation for the question is what is available now to suggest to someone interested in going non-petroleum in a non compliance car state. Has to be something manufacturers and dealers have enough commitment to at least stock a few, no snipes please. Also only things remotely worthy of recommendation.

 

[Pipcecil]

Even some of the compliance cars are semi-compliant. Like the spark being in California and Oregon, but no other state. The Honda Fit was available in 8 states. The accord plug in was available in california and new york. Some of these cars are just all over the place and it really makes me wonder the manufacturer's justification. Like the Kia Soul EV is being offered in "select states" because they are the only states with "good" infrastructure for charging...yet, despite the Soul having CHAdeMO, it is being offered in states without CHAdeMO and missing states that do (like Texas and Tennessee). From an outside perspective, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to their choices. And then cars like the plug-in prius being offered in 15 states, at that point you might as well offer it everywhere.

For cars that are currently out AND being offered in all 50 states in the US (or should unless all the dealerships in those states don't offer by choice...that's harder to track down):

BEVs:
Misubishi i
Nissan Leaf
Smart fortwo ED (it was limited, now available everywhere)
Ford Focus Electric
BWM i3
Tesla Model S (since you really just order it online)
Mercedes Benz B-Class Electric Drive

Plug in Hybrids:
BMW i3 REX
Chevrolet Volt
Ford Fusion Energi
Ford C-Max Energi
Cadillac ELR
Porshce Panamera S E-Hybrid
Porsche 918 Spyder

Limited cars:
BEVs:
Toyota Rav4 EV
Chevrolet Spark EV
Fiat 500e
Honda Fit EV

Plug-in Hybrids:
Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid
Toyota Plug-in Prius

You can easily see the manufacturers that don't care about plug-in vehicles as a whole: toyota and honda since they have both BEVs and PHEVs that are compliance cars and not available everywhere. The odd on in my opinion is the chevy spark. GM went all in with the volt and following up with the ELR available everywhere. Its odd the would limit the spark's availability.

 

[donald]

Just to think a bit more outside of the box (ie. USA) you might think about import options ... you could import a Renault Zoe from Norway (the only place Renault let you buy the battery instead of renting it).

I believe it is now possible to also buy the battery outright for the Kangoo ZE too. You can get that in a 5 seater combi version, with a 800kg payload.

The Fluence ZE is also still available, albeit no longer made or offered in Europe it is available in the form of the Samsumg SM3.

BYD is another manufacturer you might consider.